Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Wyshina Harris, tragic loss


Last Saturday morning at about 7:00 a.m., Wyshina Harris, our dear friend and former team member here at Central Dallas Ministries was gunned down on her way to work. A wonderful person, a great mom, a hard working community leader, Wyshina Harris was murdered in cold blood on her way to work.

When she worked with us here at CDM, she provided wonderful direction for the children in our After School Academy located in Turner Courts, a Dallas Housing Authority development where she lived for a time. More recently she had moved with her children to a house in far East Dallas.

No doubt many of you have seen the stories about this heinous crime. Read the initial report in The Dallas Morning News here.

Wyshina leaves two precious children, Jordan, second grader, and Jazmine, a seventh grader (pictured above).

Earlier this week I received a message from Janet Morrison, Director of Education Outreach and Wyshina's former supervisor, that read in part:

Education and seeing her kids succeed was so important to her. I know that she would want to know that they are completely taken care of. We are assuming that Jazmine and Jordan will stay with their grandparents here in Dallas, but nothing has been finalized yet. I have been trying to think of ways that Wyshina would have wanted to see her children taken care of in her passing. Sylvia and I decided that the best way would be to set up a trust fund of some kind so that the kids will have be taken care of. We are currently looking into the details of setting it up. After I talk to Wyshina's parents, I can let you know more about what they decide will be the most helpful.

DONATIONS
If you would like to donate money (in lieu of flowers…or in addition to flowers) to secure a fund for Jordan and Jazmine, please make checks payable to Central Dallas Ministries with Wyshina Harris in the memo line. You can send the checks to Central Dallas Ministries, Attn: Jenny Fogel, P.O. Box 710385, Dallas, TX 75371. Or, if you would rather donate online, go to
www.centraldallasministries.org/donate and click on Wyshina Harris in the drop down menu. (Note: if "Wyshina Harris" hasn't been added yet, click on Education and then email me to let me know the amount you donated so that they can make sure your funds are designated correctly).

To read more about this wonderful person and what a great loss our community has experienced in her death visit Janet's blog at http://janetmorrison.blogspot.com/. You'll be able to see a number of photos at Janet's site. Those of us who counted Wyshina as a friend will smile and cry at once.

May God have mercy. May the violence stop.


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7 comments:

Odgie said...

I can't tell you how sorry I am for your loss. She sounds like a remarkable woman.

Brandon Scott Thomas said...

me too...so sad! Bless those kids.

Lynn Leaming said...

Larry,
I don't watch the news because it is too depressing for reasons such as this. I had not heard this story. My sympath goes out to all of you at CDM and my prayers are going up for Wyshina's children and families. May the God of all comfort bless all with His presence.

Jeremy Gregg said...

The only comfort is to know that her love gave us more than the loss of her life can ever take away.

May God hear your prayer, and bring an end to this senseless violence.

Larry James said...

Ads and irrational posts will always be removed from this site.

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Larry James said...

Non-sensical comments are always removed.