SEARCH's House of Tiny Treasures

The House of Tiny Treasures

More than one thousand classrooms across the state receive Texas School Ready! certification. It means that children are being prepared for kindergarten. Among the programs being certified is SEARCH's House of Tiny Treasures. Pat Hernandez paid a visit to the non-profit center for homeless children.
Click Here for more information and to listen to what KUHF 88.7FM radio aired about SEARCH’s House of Tiny Treasures.

In 1992, SEARCH opened the House of Tiny Treasures (HTT), Houston’s first licensed early childhood development center exclusively serving homeless children ages 1 to 6 years and their families. It was created in response to this critical need by parents attending employment and education classes. The program is open to any parent who is homeless and working or participating in a job or educational program. In order to allow families adequate time to stabilize and gather necessary resources, children may stay in the program for two years after the family has achieved self-sufficiency. Employed parents pay a sliding scale fee during this time of transition.

2 HTT children playing with yellow ball Because these families came from poverty, violence and instability, most mothers did not receive prenatal care. Many suffered from drug abuse and/or mental illness. The children, consequently, suffer from some form of developmental delay and/or emotional or behavioral problem. Many of the parents have backgrounds similar to their children and lack the skills or emotional strength to meet the challenges of parenting.

The goal of House of Tiny Treasures is to equip each child with the skills needed to reach his or her maximum potential while assisting families in attaining and maintaining self-sufficiency in order to break this cycle of homelessness. This is achieved through a comprehensive array of services delivered in a coordinated fashion by an interdisciplinary team of professionals.

Services include:

Transportation to and from the center
Breakfast, lunch and afternoon snack, which meet USDA nutritional guidelines
Developmental assessments
Speech and language, vision and hearing screenings
Speech therapy and enrichment activities
Art and play therapy
Parent education and therapeutic support groups
Psychiatric observation and counseling for adults and children
Case management for all families