Northwest Assistance Ministries pushes to expand services

After 32 years of serving those in need, Northwest Assistance Ministries is still moving full steam ahead — looking for more ways to promote further positive change in the area.

The nonprofit helps people by providing for their basic needs, including food, shelter, health, education, safety and financial education.

For its work, the organization was recently honored with the “Winner of Distinction Award” by the Better Business Bureau during its Awards for Excellence luncheon on May 13. This is the seventh year in a row that the organization has recognized the Northwest Assistance Ministries for excellence.

Instead of resting on its laurels, the nonprofit is looking to the future and planning to expand.

In January 2014, Northwest Assistance Ministries launched its “Roots and Wings Capital Campaign,” setting a goal of $5.37 million to build a retail and training center on its property.

A $250,000 gift from the Hamill Foundation brought the campaign to $4.9 million, and recent gifts of 450,000 from the David Weekley Family Foundation and $30,000 from the Medallion Foundation put the campaign at 93 percent of its goal.

The new retail and training center will allow Northwest Assistance Ministries to expand its programs and services, especially in the area of workforce development. The center will also provide a permanent home for the largest of the nonprofit’s three resale stores, which together generate more than $1 million per year.

Construction of the retail and training center will not begin until all funds have been raised.

Carole Little, president and CEO, explained that the organization’s mission is to meet basic human needs through “neighbors helping neighbors.”

She explained that the concept for the nonprofit was sparked in the 1980s, when Houston was going through an economic downturn spurred by changes in the oil and gas industry.

In April of 1983, 10 congregations came together for the cause: St. Dunstan’s Episcopal Church, Northwoods Presbyterian Church, John Wesley United Methodist Church, Kinsmen Lutheran Church, Hosanna Lutheran Church, Congregation Jewish Community North, Wildewood Baptist Church, Cypress Creek Christian Church, Klein United Methodist Church, and Plymouth United Church.

Dubbed the Northwest Assistance Ministries, the collaborative kicked off its operations by opening a resale shop and a food pantry. With a starting budget of $50,000 and only one paid employee, the group helped a few thousand people its first year and generated $10,000 through its resale shop.

Today, the nonprofit has grown to include 40 supporting organizations and several “service partners.” There are now 85 employees and 2,500 volunteers. The 2014-15 budget is more than $10 million.

The organization reports that last year it impacted the lives of more than 130,000 people through its programs in its service area, which now stretches about 242 square miles and covers 20 ZIP codes.

Little explained there is even a greater need for its services today.

“There’s still very little available in terms of service in northwest Harris County,” she said. “We’ve grown really out of a continued need and a demographic shift of urban poverty to the suburbs.”

Becky Landes, vice president of program services, explained that Northwest Assistance Ministries offers a variety of ways to help neighbors in need.

One of the longest running is Meals on Wheels — delivering prepared meals to the doors of seniors and other neighbors who are homebound because of disability or illness.

Meals on Wheels is part of the Houston/Harris County Area Agency on Aging network and Interfaith Ministries for Greater Houston. It is partially funded by the Harris County Community Services Department Office of Housing and Community Development.

More than 500 volunteer drivers drop off the meals six days per week. Drivers also deliver groceries once a month to lowincome seniors through NAM’s Senior Food program.

With each delivery, volunteers make time for conversation and assess their clients’ well-being.

“Our volunteers and staff also have the chance to check on the seniors during the day,” Landes said. “It’s very comforting.”

To help children in the community, Northwest Assistance Ministries houses a full-service pediatric clinic for infants through 18-year olds.

The clinic is operated through a partnership with the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston and also serves as a training facility for the school and other local universities and community colleges.

During the last fiscal year, the clinic provided 11,698 patient visits and 2,363 case management services for 3,026 children, as well as 1,119 immunizations.

In addition, Northwest Assistance Ministries runs the Family Violence Center, which offers a 24-hour hotline and telephone crisis counseling, as well as emergency shelter, food, clothing, transportation and medical assistance.

In partnership with the Houston Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, the center provides a safe place to stay for household pets while families seek refuge.

Northwest Assistance Ministries also offers a number of services for homeless and struggling families.

For the past two years the nonprofit operates the Joanne Watford Nutrition Center, a “choice food pantry” that operates much like a grocery store.

“In a typical food pantry, everyone gets the same bag of food,” Little said.

“This pantry allows you to choose the foods that are most important for your family. It’s more efficient. It’s really a cutting edge concept.”

Clients choose their own food from designated categories.

In the last fiscal year, the center served 18,073 people — including monthly grocery deliveries to 121 seniors.

The nonprofit offers a number of housing services, including financial assistance with rent or mortgages, help finding a place to live and case management.

“Our focus is on helping families that are on the edge of losing their housing,” Little said.

“If they have fallen through the cracks, we have a number of partnerships to help them rapidly find housing.”

One of the newer facets of this program is the “Homes for School Children” project — a partnership with the Harris County Housing Authority.

The goal is to quickly provide housing and intensive support to families with children in kindergarten through high school.

In its first full year, the Homes for School Children project enrolled 88 families.

“The program has been extremely successful,” Little said. “