Young Ambassadors: Mixer and Marathon
Spotlight: Jackson Hinds Gardens
Special Thanks: AIG American General, Ouisie's Table, and more
Events: MLK Day Ecumenical Service, Luncheon, and Gala
In-Kind Needs: Warm and Woolly Winter Clothing Drive
The holidays are here already. As another year approaches, we reflect on the overwhelming service that SEARCH provides for the community. Last year, SEARCH served 10,616 men, women, and children. We helped individuals and families get off the streets and enter their own homes. We taught men, women and small children to overcome obstacles of learning. We offered training and connected individuals to desperately needed jobs, and much more. These lives that are changed would not be possible without your help.
SEARCH and Its Tiny Treasures Programs wish you a Happy Holiday season and invite you to make this year’s gift giving touch a heart and make a home. Please make a contribution to SEARCH to continue our efforts of changing lives and ending homelessness. Your support is invaluable to providing homeless men, women, and children the opportunities to rebuild their lives. Visit our giving page for options on how you can make a difference.
Have a happy, healthy holiday!
6:00 – 7:30pm
At Karpas Properties
3355 W. Alabama, Suite 1200The Young Ambassadors are committed to SEARCH’s mission to change lives and end homelessness. We are driven and dedicated young professionals (age 25-45) who want to raise money and awareness for a meaningful cause. Our committees allow you to expand or exercise your skills, while our mixers offer an entertaining way to meet and network with fellow civic-minded young professionals. There are countless opportunities for you to make a difference and to make new friends!
- Hors D’oeuvres & Drinks
- Door prizes
- Photography by Modern Luxury Magazine
RSVP by December 1st to Joni Robertson at jrobertson@searchproject.org or 713-276-3064.
Sunday, January 14, 2007
Houston Marathon
SEARCH was excited to be selected this year as one of the official charities in the Chevron Houston Marathon’s Run for a Reason program. For our first year of this incredible program, we have set a goal to raise $15,000. If you (or someone you know) are planning to run the Chevron Houston Marathon, Aramco Houston Half Marathon, or Houston Press/Smart Financial 5K on January 14, 2007, we encourage you to sign up to run for SEARCH. Even if you don’t plan to run, you can still sign up to raise money!
Spotlight: Jackson Hinds Gardens
Jackson Hinds Gardens is an innovative single room occupancy program for homeless individuals that opened in September of this year. Operated through the Harris County Housing Authority and the Housing Corporation, the facility is subsidized and accepts homeless people both with and without an income. The main requirements to get into the housing program are an ID; a Social Security card; no felonies related to sex offenses, drug charges or acts of violence; and a desire to change.
As a “housing first” program, JHG does not require that clients be sober or off medications, as long as they have a willingness to enroll in drug and alcohol programs and work towards counseling and medication compliance.
Through the collaboration of SEARCH, Mental Health and Mental Retardation Association, U.S. Vets and Harmony House, a majority of the available housing slots were filled almost immediately. Other agencies, including Career and Recovery Resources, the Veterans Administration, the Gathering Place, Good Will and Harris County Social Services, have done their part to ease the transition by offering temporary assistance, helping clients apply for food stamps and providing other supportive services.
SEARCH currently has 48 clients at JHG. They are eager to bring a sense of community to their new home by organizing for town hall meetings, but as a new property, JHG does not yet offer enough seating for meetings.
The clients have other problems as well. Many lack transportation and necessary supplies. SEARCH and other agencies have stepped up to provide services, including on-site case management, food, transportation and other available resources. However, clients still have many household needs, including crock pots, microwavable dishware and utensils, cutlery, trash bags, toilet paper, toiletries and can openers.Read SEARCH's Client Success Stories
Special Thanks: AIG American General, Ouisie's Table, and more
AIG American General Shared the Holiday Spirit with Houston’s Homeless
SEARCH in partnership with AIG American General, held its 4th Annual Family Holiday Party. The party was sponsored and hosted by AIG American General. In attendance were more than 200 SEARCH clients and their families as well as AIG American General employees and their families. Homeless families were treated to a holiday party that featured activities such as: Secret Santa Shop, Stocking decorating, Wreath making, Cookie decorating, Face painting, Bingo games, Refreshments, and of course, pictures with Santa and Mrs. Claus.
Thank you AIG American General for another great event!
Ouisie’s Table 10th Annual Santa Party…
The evening was a huge success - Ouisie collected 90 brand new bikes and helmets for our homeless clients. For many children the bikes will be their best present ever but more importantly for many adults it’s a way of transportation to and from work. Thank you to everyone who supported Ouisie’s Table by attending the party and participating in the bike drive. Ouisie thank you for your continued support of SEARCH!
SEARCH would like to extend special thanks to all the individuals, families and corporations that sponsored SEARCH during the Thanksgiving holidays to ensure that everyone was able to enjoy a hot Thanksgiving meal and/or by providing a festive gathering!
AIG
Chevron
Ms. Patty Bender of Weingarten Realty Investors
Holliday Fenoglio Fowler, LP
Mr. & Mrs. Julius Karp
Several faith-based organizations will come together at noon on Monday, January 15, for an ecumenical prayer service commemorating the birthday of Martin Luther King Jr.
The service will be held at South Main Baptist Church, one of the sponsors of the event. Other sponsors include SEARCH, SEARCH’s Council of Congregations, and Interfaith Ministries.
The service renews a tradition that took place for about 10 years during the 1980s, when Houston Metropolitan Ministries (now Interfaith Ministries) sponsored a similar service.
This year’s service will have an additional purpose - launching a new community Call to Commitment: 2007 as the Year of Ending Homelessness in Houston and Harris County, Texas.
“By ending homelessness, we mean establishing an effective system to help homeless people in our community become productive citizens,” said SEARCH president and CEO Laurence J. Payne. “There are 14,000 homeless men, women and children on the streets of Houston at any given time. That may sound like a big number, but Los Angeles has nearly 90,000. Ending homelessness in Houston is an achievable goal that would not only benefit the homeless; it would also improve the quality of life of all Houstonians.”
Payne notes that last year, Houston showed the world the meaning of community spirit in helping thousands of Katrina evacuees. “We now need to do the same for our own citizens, and this year can be the year,” he said.
The staff, clients and volunteers of SEARCH encourage everyone to attend this very special event. For more information, call 713-739-7752, extension 165.
17th Anniversary Luncheon
Chair Nicole Perdue invites you to the newly remodeled Hotel ZaZa Houston (former the Warwick Hotel) on January 19, 2007. Author and advocate Dr. Robert Fuller will give meaningful insight to the plight of the homeless and creating a dignitarian society. His best-selling books All Rise and Somebodies and Nobodies have brought attention to the ranking system that exists in all cultures and the abuses and discrimination that can result. Robert is changing the way we view not only others, but ourselves as well. With your help, SEARCH can bring dignity back to the lives of the homeless men, women and children in our area.
10th Annual Celebrate the Children GalaDaynee & Ed Heller and co-chairs Jan & Alan Selbst invite you to join them on Saturday, May 5, 2007, at Hilton Americas for a high-flying evening of acrobatic audacity and limitless imagination, by none other than true Cirque performers! Your support brings self-worth and stability to the lives of Houston’s homeless children through our Tiny Treasures Programs. SEARCH cultivates the skills needed by these children to reach their maximum potential and break the cycle of poverty and homelessness. You don’t want to miss this spine-bending, mind-tingling spectacle!
This heartwarming story came from Outreach Case Manager, Mary Cortez
On November 14th, Don Hall and the Mobile Outreach team referred a chronically homeless man to me. He has been homeless for 15 years and is presently living under the bridge in the South Main and South Braeswood area. This person, we'll call him Q, has terminal cancer of larynx and has a difficult time talking and eating and tires very easily. Q has no income and no way to get any type of housing.
For the past two days, we have been very busy with this client. The SEARCH staff, with the help of interns Phoebe Lin, Florence Conklin and Andrea Marshall, moved mountains.
In the past two days, with everyone working to help Q and the client’s strong willingness, he has obtained temporary shelter at Turning Point. He has a chance to get into Shelter + Care housing. He has obtained emergency food stamps through December. Once the doctor at the SEARCH clinic signs the form from the food stamp office to verify his conditionand, his food stamp support will continue. He has applied for SSI and, with Ken Pumphrey’s help, that request will be expedited. Q has an appointment with a SEARCH doctor on December 6th, and an appointment at Ben Taub on December 7th.
Our client was treated with dignity and respect throughout the entire process. One more person off the streets! Hurrah for SEARCH!
Adopt-a-Family for the Holidays
Thank you so much to those individuals, families and corporations who have chosen to make the holidays brighter for our SEARCH families and programs! We would not be able to provide the homeless men, women and children we serve a magical holiday without your support.
Because of you, 53 SEARCH families have been adopted. There are many others, however, that you can help. Adults in three of our programs are working hard to re-build their lives. For these single men and women who don’t have the network of family and friends, this ordinarily special time of year becomes much more difficult. We need your support to assure our clients don’t feel left out or forgotten about this holiday season. If you or a group you belong to would like to adopt our single adults contact Nancy Rocha. She will email you a wish list that will include their names, ages, gender, clothing sizes and 2 wish list items; which normally consist of household items and/or clothing. These men and women are participating in one of the programs below:
1) Transitional Housing (9 adults) / Shelter Plus Care Housing for disabled individuals (16 adults): Provides homeless adults and families with rent and utilities assistance, case management and supportive services to enable them to live as independently as possible.
2) Path Program (39 adults): Program provides support to transition homeless persons with severe mental illness into mental health services and housing.
3) Mobile Outreach (11 adults): A multi-disciplinary team that engages homeless individuals throughout the Houston Metropolitan area, and helps them access life saving programs and resources.
Thank you for your consideration!
For more information about volunteer opportunities, please visit the Volunteer section of our website or contact Nancy Rocha, 713-739-7752 ext. 160 or nrocha@searchproject.org.
Warm and Woolly Winter Clothing Drive
This year, Flyte Boutique is assisting SEARCH in collecting warm winter clothing for those living on the streets of Houston. We need:
Between December 4 and the 29th, bring new or gently used items to Flyte Boutique at 2815 Westheimer or to SEARCH at 2505 Fannin.
If you don’t like the hustle and bustle of shopping during the holiday season, you too can contribute! In this season of giving, please help us give the gift of a home to those in need. Please consider donating:
Please mail checks to:
SEARCH, Development.
2505 Fannin
Houston, TX 77002
Or donate online.
Donations are accepted Monday – Friday, 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. at SEARCH. Please contact Nancy Rocha prior to donation delivery or should you have any questions or concerns. For more ways to help, please visit the Get Involved section of our website.
Over the Thanksgiving holiday, KUHF aired a story on the Company Kitchen and SEARCH. Click here to read about the broadcast and listen to audio.
If you would like to receive our FANS Newletter, please send
an email to info@searchproject.org or call 713-739-7752.
©2005-2007 SEARCH All Rights Reserved.
SEARCH Homeless Center is a proud member of the United Way.
