A tribute to the angels who remind us to fight for what’s right

Acouple of days ago, I was a ball of stress and exhaustion, weaving mywaythrough crowds of last-minute shoppers, wav- ing off kiosk cosmetic offers and holding mybreath to see if that rectangle of magic plastic would keep working — all the while thinking: None of this is Christmas.

No, Christmas is the glow of my daughters’ faces singing hymns at the candlelight service. It’s the celebration of the birth of Christ, a weary world rejoicing. It is family, friends, board games, and my mama’s homemade Chex mix.

And, angels. Let’s not forget the angels.

There are the ones in myown life I thank God for every day. The two little angels whose sleepy smiles fill meeach morning with love, purpose and gratitude. The friends and family who ground mewhen I’m falling, pull me up when I’m stuck or simply sit beside me and listen, without judgment, when that’s all I need.

Then there are the ones I get to meet through the course of writing this column.

There’s a lot of bad news in this business, a lot of tragedy, greed and injustice — all of which needs attention. But it’s the good stories, the good people who fight for what’s right, that keep me going and remind methat change is a journey, but in the long game, love works. Sometimes it even wins.

This column is a tribute to those angels, including:

• Foster mothers Angela Sugarek and Carol Jeffery, who are still trying to adopt two troubled little boys with a history of abuse and neglect, desperately in need of a forever home. As I began re- porting in April, the women, both Houston public school educators praised as model foster parents, saw the boys removed from their home after reporting outcries of abuse, allegedly by an older sibling living elsewhere whom the younger boys were required to visit. The boys were returned to the foster mothers, but some at Texas’ child protective agency seemed to hold a grudge, refusing to sign off on adoption, investigating the mothers for giving one

boy a pedicure, and even revoking their right to consent to medical treatment. The foster mothers have never stopped fighting, investing their own savings in legal fees and the boys’ intensive therapy sessions. The strength, resolve and sheer love of these women is inspiring to anyone, but especially those who understand how desperately Texas foster children need more parents like these. I pray state officials will let this family become official soon.

• Carlos Flores and all the other parents of special needs children across Texas who are fighting for their children’s right to adequate services in public schools. Flores, a network technician whose 9-yearold autistic son attends a Cypress-Fairbanks school, was one of many parents who turned out on a school night for a Houston listening session sponsored by the U.S. Department of Education. Parents, many with tears and frustration brimming, complained not only about Texas’ arbitrary 8.5 percent cap on special education services, reported by the Chronicle’s Brian Rosenthal, but on obstacles in obtaining adequate therapy and other accommodations even after a child’s special needs are acknowledged. Without parents who refuse to stop advocating, researching, demanding meetings and firing off emails, their children wouldn’t stand a chance at the quality education and future they deserve.

• Hannah Overton, the mother of five who was falsely convicted in the 2006 Corpus Christi death of an adoptive child with a rare eating disorder who actually appeared to have poisoned himself with salt. Overton was finally freed in 2014, after a team of attorneys, including Houston’s John Raley, worked pro-bono on her appeal. A recent documentary on her case focused on the impact of her needless incarceration on her children, who were allowed phone calls and visits through prison glass but no hugs for years. Overton, and her husband, Larry, aren’t just angels for surviving grave injustice with their family and their grace intact but because after the exoneration, the Overtons started an organization, Syndeo Ministries, that serves female inmates in the very prison where Hannah was confined. As she explained at a recent screening of the film in Houston: “Our goal is to help them to feel the need to change, to feel that they have someone out in this world.”

• Aaron Bishop at Northside High School and other college success advisers who work with thousands of students across Houston ISD, mostly from economically disadvantaged homes, to provide intensive support during the college application process and beyond. Bishop was hired as part of a program funded in part by the Houston Endowment. It’s the brainchild of another local angel for children, Rick Cruz, a district administrator who helped start the nonprofit EMERGE, which helps low-income students get into elite colleges. The key to the program’s success isn’t just a proactive strategy. It’s hiring people like Bishop, whose compassion and energy draw students in, earns their trust, and persuades them to attempt a goal that may seem scary and impossible. Bishop’s job goes far beyond filling out forms. He does everything from counsel reluctant parents to explaining airport security procedures to students headed to a far-off university. In guiding students toward their potential, he’s changing lives, and maybe even setting future generations on a new course.

• Judge Marc Carter, attorney Staci Biggar, staff Mary Covington and Patrice Jackson, Loretta Coonan with the Veterans Affairs medical center, and bailiffs Walker and Jackson. I didn’t mention all their names in a recent column on Harris County’s veterans court, but the retired U.S. Marine I featured, 1st Sgt. Arthur Davis, credits every single one with helping to save his life. Suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, the decorated combat veteran became a drug addict and found himself charged with aggravated assault after an altercation with a neighbor. But when the native Houstonian eventually found his way to veteran’s court, which offered a second chance to rebuild his life, he found a judge and staff who treated him not as an offender, not as a number, but as a person worthy of respect and redemption. Theirs was a tough love — they didn’t take his excuses or attitude, and stayed on him until he completed services and therapy. Davis got clean and became a mentor for younger veterans, a role he still serves informally whenever his cell phone rings with a call from a fellow veteran in crisis.

Sometimes, the work of angels inspires others to pay it forward.

I hope, in some small way, this column inspires you, reader. I hope it reminds you on this special day to take stock of the angels around you, to remember them when times are hard, and to reward their kindnesses by sharing some of your own.