Pasos for Oak Cliff, a non-profit, is set up by Jesse Acosta, a high school teacher, and Alejandra Zendejas, a math tutor. We both consider ourselves sneakerheads.
As sneakerhead educators and members of the community, we are fully aware that parents and guardians struggle to supply some basic necessities for their children - this is especially true when it comes to shoes.
As a result, we decided to turn our LOVE for sneakers into a proactive start up - Pasos for Oak Cliff. The goal of Pasos for Oak Cliff is to give students new shoes. The lack of good quality shoes leads to discomfort, ridicule, bullying, and isolation. We can prevent that from happening, but we cannot do it alone, we need YOUR SUPPORT.
SNEAKERS ARE AN OPPORTUNITY
At Pasos, new stylish sneakers are an opportunity to increase confidence and academic achievement. Children with worn-out shoes are more likely to experience bullying, isolation, and low morale. Our shoe drives intentionally target children from families experiencing temporary financial hardships or that are unhoused.
Our handpicked stylish shoes help student feel ready to learn.
Of guardians reported an
increase of confidence in
shoe recipients
Of guardians reported that
their child wanted to go back to
school after receiving new shoes
of children loved their
new stylish shoes
STYLISH SNEAKERS
Our sneakers are more than just a pair a shoes. We curate every pair of shoes we give out to make sure they are comfortable and most importantly, stylish. This is crucial to us as sneakerheads.
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The right pair of shoes can build confidence and boost academic achievement.
Our motto is "we won't buy what we wouldn't wear."
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"You have taken one less stress from me with this help for my kids."
- Single mother of four children
HOW IT WORKS
We partner with local schools, community members, homeless shelters, nonprofits etc. to identify the students that need our assistance.
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We host two big shoes drives a year - one before back to school and one before Christmas. We distribute between 500 to 600 pairs of shoes per annual drive, for a total of 1,000 pairs of shoes per year.
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We also host smaller drives for individual schools throughout the year and distribute about 100 pairs per drive.
