East Montgomery - News
Nonprofits in need
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| The cupboards at the Humble Area Assistance Ministries were almost bare before more than 50 volunteers from area Latter-day Saints churches arrived to unload and donate almost 500 food packs to the organization that they could hand out to residents. |
By JENNIFER SUMMER
The shelves are beginning to look bare as families constantly file through the door, looking for assistance after Hurricane Ike.
Nonprofit organizations throughout the community are dealing with the depletion of food and supplies due to the hoards of people applying for and seeking help.
A few of the organizations were already struggling with meeting clients’ need because of the current economic status but Hurricane Ike has added to the stress and left a few in its destructive wake.
FamilyTime takes a blow
Though FamilyTime Crisis and Counseling Center does not hand out money, just supplies and food, to clients, the nonprofit has received endless calls from people needing financial assistance with paying rent and bills after the hurricane.
“We have received a ton of calls about money, but that is not what we do,” executive director of FamilyTime Judy Cox said.
“We provide our clients with food, supplies and serve as a shelter for victims of domestic abuse. We counsel our clients on a variety of different subjects and if need be, we will provide them with a bag of food for their family.”
Because of the hurricane, the supplies and food that FamilyTime had have been greatly depleted, and a majority of their donations had to be thrown away due to damage from the storm.
The organization’s thrift stores located on Aldine Mail Route and Loop 494 in Porter were both destroyed and everything inside received damage either from water or mold and mildew inside the store.
“Unfortunately, we lost our donations and it has really put us at a deficit; we are hurting. Even before the storm, we were operating with limited resources. It is just tough,” Cox said.
The Door, FamilyTime’s shelter for abuse victims, was not damaged in the storm and all of the food donations they had received throughout the year were OK, as they only suffered a power outage for a few hours.
“We are really trying to hard to get back into the swing of things; it is just a difficult time for everyone,” Cox said.
HAAM’s service nearly triples
Humble Area Assistance Ministries only lost power for a day after Hurricane Ike and opened a couple of days after the storm, reaching out and supporting shelters around the community.
But for HAAM, this was not the first time they had to deal with an influx of clients because of a natural disaster.
When Hurricanes Katrina and Rita affected residents along the Gulf Coast in 2005, many came to HAAM for help. That helped the staff and volunteers know what to expect in regards to Hurricane Ike.
“While we were supporting the shelters like the one at the First United Methodist Church of Humble, we began to see a variety of different clients — some local, some transient,” Diana Garbis, executive director of HAAM, said. “We have nearly tripled the amount of clients we have seen since Hurricane Ike and our resources have depleted. We depend on the community.”
HAAM worked as a group with the Community Response Task Force, churches and emergency responders before and after the storm.
Providing clothing, food and other supplies to clients has kept volunteers very busy after the storm, though the organization is in need of more supplies and more volunteers.
HAAM has organized a volunteer orientation Oct. 4 for anyone who wishes to help HAAM with its overflow of clients or throughout the season when help is needed the most.
“All of our volunteers have been great and we are still in need of more to help us with our clients,” development coordinator Millie Garrison said.
Additionally, HAAM had a room set up where clients could use a computer to register for FEMA assistance.
“We have been swamped with people coming in to fill out FEMA paperwork. It has been wall-to-wall full of clients,” Garrison said.
Emergency assistance personnel and emergency food stamp workers have visited HAAM to assist clients with these needs while they visit the organization to pick up food and supplies.
“We are in the long-haul type of scenario where the family has always been on the edge and they lost all of their food or their jobs or homes with Hurricane Ike and we will be helping them out for months,” Garbis said.
“We try to be a good resource for the community. We have been very busy, serving almost 130 families a day. The great thing is we are collecting resources from the community that are staying right here and helping our fellow neighbor.”
NAM’s shelves are stark
Even without power at the Northwest Assistance Ministries building or their own homes, volunteers worked tirelessly for days after the storm providing food and other supplies for clients affected by Hurricane Ike.
“Our food sources are absolutely depleted and we have been facing a number of challenges each day,” Randy Cypret with NAM said. “We have had a lot of people that we have seen before and some we have not; we have been swamped.”
Since the hurricane, NAM’s Meals on Wheels program has served more than 6,500 meals while the food pantry has dished out hot meals to 1,191 adults and 1,394 kids and prepared more than 659 food orders.
The nonprofit has also distributed 4,940 vouchers for the resale shop so clients can stock up on clothes, accessories and items they may have lost for their homes.
“Our food pantry has been completely wiped out and we have received aid from FEMA, the Houston Food Bank, but we have just been so busy; it has been hard to keep up,” Cypret said.
Each person who comes to NAM to receive help is screened and must be selected to receive help.
“Normally in times of crisis, our numbers of clients do rise as we are seeing now and we do see a lot of people we do not normally see,” Cypret said. “We need all of the help that we can get, in any form. We are just so thankful for the support we have received thus far.”
Mission aids the hungry
Along with other nonprofit organizations, Mission Northeast opened its doors to serve residents food and water in conjunction with the Salvation Army and the Montgomery County Food Bank.
The Mission served more than 4,500 people hot meals in its four days of service and many area organizations jumped in to make sure the needs were met.
“It was a wonderful opportunity to minister to the needs of everyone. Our regular clients [came] plus local residents who had run out of food and were hungry too,” executive director of The Mission Lorie Young said in an e-mail.
Supplies for the food distribution came from The Mission’s inventory including frozen meats and non-perishable foods, and the delivery of supplies was made and picked up from the Montgomery County Food Bank.
The Mission was helped by numerous volunteers from the Montgomery County United Way, 30 regular Mission volunteers representing Second Baptist, Humble Area’s First Baptist, Kingwood First Baptist, La Hermosa Bautista, High Point Fellowship, Woodridge Baptist, Kingwood Park girls softball team and Silver Stars, New Caney High School JV cheerleaders and students, Bethel Baptist, St. John of the Cross Catholic, National Charity League-Livable Forest, Kingwood Bible, Calvary Christian Church and many members of The Mission staff.
“The Mission feels blessed in so many ways. As the families worked their way through the long line, we heard, ‘Thank you for what you are doing,’” Young said. “No complaining, just gratefulness. Our hearts have been touched as we have worked our way through this together as one community.”
FamilyTime Crisis and Counseling Center
FamilyTime is currently accepting donations at its main location at 101 Main Street in Humble. For more information, call 281-446-2615 or log on to http://www.familytimeccc.org.
HAAM
Volunteer orientation will be held at HAAM Oct. 4, starting at 10 a.m. For more information, call 281-446-3663 or log on to www.haamministries.org.
NAM
Northwest Assistance Ministries is located at 15555 Kuykendahl Road in Spring. For more information, call 281-885-4555 or log on www.namonline.org.
Mission Northeast
The Mission is located 22098 Loop 494 in New Caney. For more information, call 281-354-1200 or visit www.missionne.org.
Nonprofit organizations throughout the community are dealing with the depletion of food and supplies due to the hoards of people applying for and seeking help.
A few of the organizations were already struggling with meeting clients’ need because of the current economic status but Hurricane Ike has added to the stress and left a few in its destructive wake.
FamilyTime takes a blow
Though FamilyTime Crisis and Counseling Center does not hand out money, just supplies and food, to clients, the nonprofit has received endless calls from people needing financial assistance with paying rent and bills after the hurricane.
“We have received a ton of calls about money, but that is not what we do,” executive director of FamilyTime Judy Cox said.
“We provide our clients with food, supplies and serve as a shelter for victims of domestic abuse. We counsel our clients on a variety of different subjects and if need be, we will provide them with a bag of food for their family.”
Because of the hurricane, the supplies and food that FamilyTime had have been greatly depleted, and a majority of their donations had to be thrown away due to damage from the storm.
The organization’s thrift stores located on Aldine Mail Route and Loop 494 in Porter were both destroyed and everything inside received damage either from water or mold and mildew inside the store.
“Unfortunately, we lost our donations and it has really put us at a deficit; we are hurting. Even before the storm, we were operating with limited resources. It is just tough,” Cox said.
The Door, FamilyTime’s shelter for abuse victims, was not damaged in the storm and all of the food donations they had received throughout the year were OK, as they only suffered a power outage for a few hours.
“We are really trying to hard to get back into the swing of things; it is just a difficult time for everyone,” Cox said.
HAAM’s service nearly triples
Humble Area Assistance Ministries only lost power for a day after Hurricane Ike and opened a couple of days after the storm, reaching out and supporting shelters around the community.
But for HAAM, this was not the first time they had to deal with an influx of clients because of a natural disaster.
When Hurricanes Katrina and Rita affected residents along the Gulf Coast in 2005, many came to HAAM for help. That helped the staff and volunteers know what to expect in regards to Hurricane Ike.
“While we were supporting the shelters like the one at the First United Methodist Church of Humble, we began to see a variety of different clients — some local, some transient,” Diana Garbis, executive director of HAAM, said. “We have nearly tripled the amount of clients we have seen since Hurricane Ike and our resources have depleted. We depend on the community.”
HAAM worked as a group with the Community Response Task Force, churches and emergency responders before and after the storm.
Providing clothing, food and other supplies to clients has kept volunteers very busy after the storm, though the organization is in need of more supplies and more volunteers.
HAAM has organized a volunteer orientation Oct. 4 for anyone who wishes to help HAAM with its overflow of clients or throughout the season when help is needed the most.
“All of our volunteers have been great and we are still in need of more to help us with our clients,” development coordinator Millie Garrison said.
Additionally, HAAM had a room set up where clients could use a computer to register for FEMA assistance.
“We have been swamped with people coming in to fill out FEMA paperwork. It has been wall-to-wall full of clients,” Garrison said.
Emergency assistance personnel and emergency food stamp workers have visited HAAM to assist clients with these needs while they visit the organization to pick up food and supplies.
“We are in the long-haul type of scenario where the family has always been on the edge and they lost all of their food or their jobs or homes with Hurricane Ike and we will be helping them out for months,” Garbis said.
“We try to be a good resource for the community. We have been very busy, serving almost 130 families a day. The great thing is we are collecting resources from the community that are staying right here and helping our fellow neighbor.”
NAM’s shelves are stark
Even without power at the Northwest Assistance Ministries building or their own homes, volunteers worked tirelessly for days after the storm providing food and other supplies for clients affected by Hurricane Ike.
“Our food sources are absolutely depleted and we have been facing a number of challenges each day,” Randy Cypret with NAM said. “We have had a lot of people that we have seen before and some we have not; we have been swamped.”
Since the hurricane, NAM’s Meals on Wheels program has served more than 6,500 meals while the food pantry has dished out hot meals to 1,191 adults and 1,394 kids and prepared more than 659 food orders.
The nonprofit has also distributed 4,940 vouchers for the resale shop so clients can stock up on clothes, accessories and items they may have lost for their homes.
“Our food pantry has been completely wiped out and we have received aid from FEMA, the Houston Food Bank, but we have just been so busy; it has been hard to keep up,” Cypret said.
Each person who comes to NAM to receive help is screened and must be selected to receive help.
“Normally in times of crisis, our numbers of clients do rise as we are seeing now and we do see a lot of people we do not normally see,” Cypret said. “We need all of the help that we can get, in any form. We are just so thankful for the support we have received thus far.”
Mission aids the hungry
Along with other nonprofit organizations, Mission Northeast opened its doors to serve residents food and water in conjunction with the Salvation Army and the Montgomery County Food Bank.
The Mission served more than 4,500 people hot meals in its four days of service and many area organizations jumped in to make sure the needs were met.
“It was a wonderful opportunity to minister to the needs of everyone. Our regular clients [came] plus local residents who had run out of food and were hungry too,” executive director of The Mission Lorie Young said in an e-mail.
Supplies for the food distribution came from The Mission’s inventory including frozen meats and non-perishable foods, and the delivery of supplies was made and picked up from the Montgomery County Food Bank.
The Mission was helped by numerous volunteers from the Montgomery County United Way, 30 regular Mission volunteers representing Second Baptist, Humble Area’s First Baptist, Kingwood First Baptist, La Hermosa Bautista, High Point Fellowship, Woodridge Baptist, Kingwood Park girls softball team and Silver Stars, New Caney High School JV cheerleaders and students, Bethel Baptist, St. John of the Cross Catholic, National Charity League-Livable Forest, Kingwood Bible, Calvary Christian Church and many members of The Mission staff.
“The Mission feels blessed in so many ways. As the families worked their way through the long line, we heard, ‘Thank you for what you are doing,’” Young said. “No complaining, just gratefulness. Our hearts have been touched as we have worked our way through this together as one community.”
FamilyTime Crisis and Counseling Center
FamilyTime is currently accepting donations at its main location at 101 Main Street in Humble. For more information, call 281-446-2615 or log on to http://www.familytimeccc.org.
HAAM
Volunteer orientation will be held at HAAM Oct. 4, starting at 10 a.m. For more information, call 281-446-3663 or log on to www.haamministries.org.
NAM
Northwest Assistance Ministries is located at 15555 Kuykendahl Road in Spring. For more information, call 281-885-4555 or log on www.namonline.org.
Mission Northeast
The Mission is located 22098 Loop 494 in New Caney. For more information, call 281-354-1200 or visit www.missionne.org.
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