The Queen Mother

By Eva D. Coleman
Lifestyle & Culture Editor

Beyonce’s mom will be in the building. Tina Knowles is slated as a special guest for Viola’s House black-tie gala on Dec. 2, 2023 at The Statler Dallas hotel.

As the one who gave birth to Queen Bey, one of the most famous entertainers in the world, Knowles is not immune to challenges and supports those who seek to help others in need.

“I’m 69 years old so I’ve encountered every kind of crises there is either in my family or with people that I’ve known, and I know how lonely and sad and scary it can be if you don’t have the family support when you’re going through having a child,” Knowles said. “So, this is a great, worthy cause and I love to get involved when there is a great cause at hand.”

Viola’s House, founded in 2008 as a mentoring program for teenage moms, is a community stronghold in Dallas that benefits young women ages 18 – 24 who are faced with unplanned pregnancies. From essentials to shelter to education, they have a team of professionals that see mothers through on their journey.

“There’s no cookie cutter way to serve the moms, and the maternity home specifically; they all come in from different backgrounds,” Viola’s House Founder and Executive Director Thana Hickman said. “They have different needs, and so, our case managers put different programming in place based on their needs.”

From a welcome basket upon arrival to the Maternity Home, free diapers for up to three years and more, with future plans to add a childcare facility to their offerings, and a continued focus on sustained housing to support young moms, securing Tina Knowles as special guest for their 2nd annual charitable event themed “Love Rules Our City” was in line with their mission. 

“Sustainability looks like workforce development, skills training, certifications, continued education is the key as they grow and continuing to be connected to community and the village, which is why we love Ms. Tina because she represents the village that’s needed for young girls to come up and have a safe space,” Hickman said.

Knowles shared that she has always prioritized her kids and they have come first in her life. It’s an obligation she acknowledged early on in her journey.

“To me, motherhood has been the best job, the best opportunity that I’ve had in my whole life,” Knowles said. “I made a commitment when I had a kid that I might have screwed up a whole bunch of stuff but I didn’t want to screw up my kids.”

As a professed advocate of education, she takes her own advice, adding “So I became very educated on what not to do. As a mother, no one’s teaching you a class on how to be a mother, and so you have to do the research and talk to other mothers and try to get support, a support system, so that you don’t make mistakes, you know big mistakes, the obvious mistakes.”

Knowles’ pride and joy, Beyoncé, is a household name. She understands the benefits of being a mother with support. Many will sponsor and purchase tickets to express their commitment to support teen mothers via Viola’s House. You can too. Children are our future and just might turn out to be world-famous.

For more information, visit violashouse.org