A Texas native turned Broadway star did something good to support a Dallas nonprofit that helps the unhoused and those at risk of poverty.

Hailee Kaleem Wright knows that struggle because she’s lived that life.

“It’s something that, for me, it just kind of happened, and we had to band together. Me and my family had to band together to figure out how we were going to get through the hard times. And, I just, I find myself in this very moment just being like, I can feel how far I’ve come, and it’s from programs like this that we were able to get to that helped get me out, and so I’m so grateful for that,” Wright told NBC 5.

Wright was born and raised in Houston. She got the theater bug early. Her mom got a part in a regional theater production of Hairspray, and Wright jumped in, too.

It sparked her dreams, and Wright knew where she needed to be. Right after high school, she and her family moved from Texas to New York City to pursue the stage.

She’s now been in three Broadway shows – Paradise Square, Catherine of Aragon in SIX: The Musical, and Satine in Moulin Rouge! The Musical. During that pursuit, Hailee and her family were homeless twice.

She shared her story of resilience and hope at the 18th Annual Soup’s On Luncheon and Art Show benefitting The Stewpot.

“I’ve been sharing my story about being unhomed and unhoused because I feel like it’s so important to know that you don’t have to come from the same beginnings as what you think. You don’t have to have a lot of money to make it. You just have to have drive. Keep your hope alive, and you just really have to believe in yourself. I know it can sound cliché. But it is real,” Wright told NBC 5.

Eleven of Dallas’s best chefs prepared the soup for the sold-out crowd of 700 at Monday’s luncheon.

The art came from neighbors in The Stewpot’s art program, with 90% of the purchase price going back to the artist.

“For them to be able to see their work, and for somebody to purchase it, just is so uplifting. It’s also a source of income, but it, it really just really completes their, their passion for their work,” said Brenda Snitzer, the executive director of The Stewpot. “For 50 years, we have loved and served our neighbors, and they’re no different than any of us. They’ve just fallen on hard times, and so we just want to help them get back to what they want to do and their, their, their goals and all of that just like us.”