Bread of Life’s Catherine Garcia Flowers can empathize with those who have lost everything.
Bread of Life CEO can empathize with those who have lost everything
By Lindsay Peyton CORRESPONDENT
It took a hurricane to bring Catherine Garcia Flowers to Houston — and another to convince her to stay.
“There’s always a blessing in the storm,” she said.
Pastor Rudy Rasmus met the New Orleans native shortly after Hurricane Katrina pushed her to Houston. He was not surprised when she rolled up her sleeves and immediately went to work helping others in the city.
“I met her and almost immediately I was super impressed,” he said. “Even then, I knew that one day we were going to work together.”
Now, Flowers serves as CEO for the nonprofit Rasmus founded, Bread of Life, Inc. She spends every day helping people with disaster relief, which, she explained, includes catastrophes in everyday life.
“Whether you’re homeless, just got out of jail or are dealing with a natural disaster, we want to meet people where they are and teach them how to ‘fish,’ ” she said.
Rasmus founded Bread of Life, Inc. with his wife, Juanita, who is also his co-pastor at St. John’s United Methodist Church.
It all started with a ministry program aimed at helping the homeless population in downtown Houston, he explained.
“Homelessness in those days was an epidemic, primarily because of the Vietnam War and crack cocaine, then add Desert Storm to the mix,” Rasmus said.
Those three factors contributed to mental health concerns, he said. Without options for care, Houston residents lost their jobs and homes.
Rudy and Juanita, along with volunteers, responded by serving hot meals to the homeless, sometimes as many as 500 a day, for the next 20 years.
“Along the way, we added HIV services,” he said. “We started testing people in 1993 and were at the forefront of that challenge.”
Later, they started providing more basic services, including showers, laundry and case management. The couple also launched the Temenos Community Development Corporation in 2006, providing housing projects for the homeless.
“We realized the only way we could steady the tide was by providing housing,” Rudy said.
And in Flowers, he found a fearless leader who could stand at the helm of Bread of Life, Inc.
“My wife and I have been running a marathon for the past 26 years,” he said. “Now it’s a relay, and we’re able to pass the baton. We’re blessed to have a teammate who can take it, and in some cases, run even faster.”
Flowers had an ideal wealth of experience, suited to the work the organization does, he added.
Flowers is a first-generation American who spent her childhood between New Orleans and her parents’ homeland, Honduras.
Hurricane Katrina destroyed her home, as well as her parents’ residence in the Crescent City. “We all lost everything,” she said.
They came to Houston and settled where housing was available. Flowers was poised to serve her fellow New Orleans evacuees — since she represented Louisiana as director of governmental and community affairs for the state’s lieutenant governor.
“We had such a constituent base here,” she explained. “And social impact has always been my thing.”
Good Hope Missionary Baptist Church had an extra building that Flowers put to use — taking in tons of donations and working alongside Pastor D.Z. Cofield to distribute needed supplies.
“So many churches wanted to respond, but no one knew what to do,” Flowers said. “There wasn’t a road map.”
So she did her best to create one. She knew a number of minority churches also wanted to help but felt pushed out of the arena. She worked with the Red Cross to coordinate how each organization could join the effort.
“I really believe churches should be at the forefront of serving,” she said. “Churches should set the tone.”
Flowers also worked with the Houston Food Bank to create a distribution system solely for those fleeing Katrina.
The experience impacted her profoundly. When evacuees had nothing to eat, she explained, they were not able to take additional steps forward in rebuilding their lives.
“Food security is definitely something I wanted to address,” she said. “Any given day, there are 10,000 people who are hungry in Houston. I’ve gone to clients who literally have nothing, and a lot of people are in areas with no transportation.”
Flowers continued to run the specialized food bank for a year and then was recruited for Road Home, a federally funded program that brought Louisiana residents back to the state by offering them money to rebuild or sell their houses. She spent a year traveling around to reach hundreds of evacuees to explain how the program worked.
Then, Capital One acquired Hibernia Bank and hired Flowers to set up its community development program.
In 2011, she returned to Houston, after Mayor Annise Parker appointed her to create and manage the city’s department of neighborhoods.
After that, Flowers’ commitment to public service surfaced in a number of ways. She returned to Honduras for three years, working on a presidential election, before becoming part of an educational campaign for the Affordable Care Act and writing the community engagement plan for the Houston Super Bowl 51 Host Committee.
Flowers was considering moving back to Honduras to explore a completely different passion, beekeeping, when she got a call from Rudy about how she could join Bread of Life, Inc.
“Rudy called me and said, ‘You’re not supposed to go to Honduras now, because I really need you,’ ” she recalled. “We’re kindred spirits. It was easy for me to say yes.” Rudy gave her a blank slate. “I told her that she could create the most amazing foundation she could imagine, and she took the job,” he said. “Three or four weeks later, the storm started brewing in the Gulf. Harvey tore up Houston, and she mobilized all the experience she had from Hurricane Katrina.”
Flowers knew how to jump in and take action. She spent the past year getting needed donations and distributing supplies.
Since Rudy already had a working relationship with Beyoncé and her mother, Tina Knowles, the three were able to start fundraising. Other celebrities like Tyler Perry and Ludacris joined the effort.
In addition, Matthew 25: Ministries out of Cincinnati sent 18-wheelers full of donations to Bread of Life, Inc.
Flowers coordinated everything, Rudy said. “The gym at St. John’s was filled to the rafters with relief supplies,” he said. “Catherine’s skills kept all of that moving over the last 12 months.”
In addition, Flowers continues to provide leadership on a variety of Bread of Life programs, from providing meals and services to leading art projects to hone job development skills.
The organization also leads a re-entry program for former inmates who want to return to regular life.
“They come back and get a double punishment,” she said. “We provide a case manager and everything you would need so you don’t get lost in the system. If you show up, we’re going to help you help yourself.”
The nonprofit also offers a free medical clinic and disaster relief supplies. “We address any disaster,” Flowers said. ‘If there’s any way we can help, we do.”
Rasmus said that Harvey highlighted existing problems in Houston. “Disasters expose challenges in the system for the poorest people in the city,” he said. “It exposes the needs people had before the storm.”
Flowers agreed, adding that before Harvey, affordable housing was already a critical need in Houston.
“A storm can totally take you out, just like a life or medical issue can bankrupt you,” she said. “We have to build capacity so our community can grow and be better.”
She is convinced that Houston can become a model for the rest of the nation, showing how to band together and continue to help others, even while staying focused on its own local issues.
“Together, we can serve more and do better,” Flowers said. “I’m committed to this. It’s the fabric of who I am. It’s what I love, and it’s what gets me up in the morning.”
Rasmus said that Flowers, too, is an inspiration.
“The best way to handle our own pain is to serve others,” he said. “I’ve watched Catherine move through her own difficult situations and be saved by serving in an amazing way. She’s one of those people who has served without recognition for a long time.”
Flowers said her biggest focus is helping those who cannot speak for themselves. She serves on the board of nonprofit organizations, including Fruition Technology Labs and Houston Coalition for the Homeless, as well as the Net Charter School. She is also a courtappointed special advocate.
She asks that others consider joining similar efforts — whether donating and volunteering for Bread of Life, or simply reaching out to those in need.
“If you see someone in need, refer them to our services,” she said. “We provide tools to make them successful.”
Melvin Gray, a board member at Bread of Life and an Episcopal priest, said that Flowers has made a world of difference at the nonprofit.
“For a couple of years, we were drifting,” he said. “We were trying to discern our next steps. It was a real moment of grace when we hired Catherine.”
The timing was also a godsend, Gray added.
“She was a whirlwind of activity, and we were able to dive into relief efforts under her guidance,” he said. “Suddenly, Bread of Life was operating on a scale we never had before.”
Gray saw her manage 400 trucks full of donations from across the U.S., and under her leadership, 100,000 Houstonians receive the care they needed.
“With Catherine’s leadership, we saw we could be a long-term player,” he said. “This is going to take years, and she’s a visionary. Not only does she have organizational capabilities but she has experience in this specific environment.”
The bright light in the storm, Gray said, was the way Houstonians came together. “Harvey brought out the best in so many people,” he said. “And Catherine represents that fully.”