Pivot: a person, thing, or factor having a major or central role, function, or effect; to turn on or as if on a pivot.
Nothing defines our last fiscal year more than the word “pivot”.
Family Houston recognizes a fiscal year of July 1 to June 30. What started as a year focusing on our strategic initiative to increase visibility and unrestricted revenue, ended with one of change, pivoting our entire service delivery model just to stay “open”.
As families adapted to homeschooling while juggling their regular day-to-day, and the economy slowed and many lost their income, Family Houston stepped up to ensure they had the resources needed to navigate the stressors surrounding them. We find strength in the resilience and determination of the individuals and families we serve. Through the courage of our clients, the commitment of our staff, and the confidence of our supporters, Family Houston continues to guide families to finding stability.
As has been the case for more than 116 years, Family Houston pivots to meet the needs of our community. We do not know what tomorrow will bring; however, we are committed to continually evaluating our surroundings and our programs to meet the needs and do what is best for our community.
Charly Weldon, MBA Stephen Costello
President & CEO Board Chair
*Charly Weldon photo credit: Elizabeth Conley, Houston Chronicle / Staff photographer
Basic Needs
More than 40% of Houston-area households have lost income as a result of the COVID-19 crisis.
Get to Know Jevonte
37-year-old Jevonte is married and has two children. He was working odd jobs to make ends meet for his family but as the pandemic spread those jobs were no longer available. He was increasingly worried about how he would pay rent. He used his savings the previous month to pay for their bills. He reached out to Family Houston and began working with a case manager, Gloria. She was able to provide him enough financial support to pay his rent and avoid eviction. Jevonte and his family were also struggling to purchase food so Gloria assisted him in applying for SNAP benefits and the Food Scholarship program through the Houston Food Bank. Because of this, Jevonte was able to breathe a little bit easier and focus on getting back on his feet.
1,643 households served.
43% of Case Management clients improved food access.
Mental Health
Nearly 40% of US adults are currently struggling with mental health or substance abuse.
Get to Know John
John had been making great strides in counseling prior to COVID-19. He worked on improving issues regarding social anxiety, self-esteem, and identifying ways to become more independent. When the pandemic hit, John’s anxiety spiked as his heart conditions made him more vulnerable to falling ill. John was quick to transition to telehealth services to find ways to cope with the unknown new concerns and regulations that were occurring globally. John worked diligently with his counselor to acknowledge his fears and find new ways to empower himself. John learned how to protect his physical health while still engaging in self-care activities such as long walks in the park. Although, the pandemic causes a lot of uncertainty John remains committed to tackling his anxiety and strive for wholistic wellness!
14,126 counseling sessions provided
69% of clients improved or maintained their hopefulness about their future
Financial Stability
Half of adults who say they lost a job due to the Coronavirus outbreak are still unemployed.
Get to Know Valentina
Valentina started financial coaching in February with the goal of purchasing a home. In order to reach this goal she was going to need to increase her credit score drastically. Valentina’s financial coach worked with her on a multitude of things in order to increase her score enough to qualify for a mortgage loan. Through hard work, consistent meetings with her coach, and patience Valentina paid off all of her credit cards and was able to have negative and inaccurate information removed from her credit report. She recently received her letter saying she had qualified for the loan, and Valentina is now scheduled to close on her new home!
1,605 clients served.
71% of clients increased their household income.
A Look Back
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion are fundamental to our values and have been deeply rooted in our history for more than one hundred years. We are intentional about our mission and our work to make our communities accepting and welcoming places for all to live and thrive. Individually we are unique, and together we are Family Houston.
COVID-19
When stay-at-home orders were put in place we quickly transitioned to offering our services remotely. Through generous funding we were also able to provide financial assistance to those struggling due to the effects of COVID-19.
Pillars of Strength
While we had to pivot our annual fundraiser from an in-person event to a remote giving campaign, we exceeded our fundraising goal.
Award for Excellence
We were awarded a Better Business Bureau Award for Excellence.
As Seen In
The resources and knowledge our employees have can help individuals lead a successful and stable life. We want our community to have access to that information so we focused on making connections with the media. We were featured over twenty times in a variety of media outlets this past fiscal year. The Houston Chronicle published an article we wrote on Suicide Prevention and Community Impact highlighted our success navigating COVID-19.
Social Media
We focused a lot of our efforts on social media by creating an Instagram account which we grew nearly 200%. We also continued to build our Facebook audience and began hosting Facebook lives which helped us increase our followers by 17%. Much of this growth came after the start of the pandemic since we could no longer connect with our clients, donors, and the community traditionally.
Scroll through the image gallery for a look back on our year!
Wonder Women
Our Intake team poses with masks on that were made and donated by volunteers.
Team Zoom
Part of the Family Houston team smiling for a group photo via Zoom.
Facebook Live
Shelly Long and Karina Zapata are sharing information on a Facebook Live about our veterans program.
Working From Home
Clinical Director Adrian Lira is all set up to work from home as we transitioned to this new set up.
Young Leaders
Shelly Long, Manager of Communications, attends a luncheon with United Way Young Leaders.
Fox26 Interview
Monee Cheney sits on the set of Fox26 after her live interview talking about financial tips for the holidays!
Live Interview
Financial coach Brenda Velasco after her live interview with Telemundo sharing information about our financial stability program.
Young Professionals
Some of our young professionals at their holiday party!
Check Presentation
The Charity Guild of Catholic Women holding their check sign of which the funds will go to support the children of this community!
KHOU Tour
Case Manager Karina Zapata sits at the anchor desk while on a tour of KHOU. Our partners from Combined Arms arranged this behind the scenes tour for their partners!
Back to School Fair
Senior clinician, Jorge Mendoza, is sharing information about Family Houston services at a back to school fair
Our Family
Sao Lorn
Sao Lorn is a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC), Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT), Certified Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) Therapist, and STRONG STAR Network Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT) Provider. He is extremely committed to his clients and proactive in addressing their needs. Sao is such a positive addition to the team!
Gloria Semien
Gloria has been part of Family Houston for over twenty years. She is a case manager who cares deeply about her clients. During her time at Family Houston she has proven herself to be a team player, dependable, and professional. She also continuously pushes herself to grow and during her tenure at Family Houston she has earned a Master’s Degree and is the chair for our internal Learning and Growth committee.
Brenda Velasco
Brenda has been with Family Houston for nearly four years. She is a bilingual financial coach who is professional, honest, and reliable. She is always willing to step outside of her comfort zone to share her knowledge and the services Family Houston offers with the public by participating in numerous interviews on a variety of networks.
Volunteers
Volunteer Spotlight
Brothers, Lee and Nathan, are two high school students who wanted to make a difference in their community and develop their skills. Over the summer they thoughtfully researched and organized data on local Houston high schools that have service hour requirements for their students. Additionally, Lee and Nathan began developing an Amazon wish list of commonly requested items by clients. This list can be shared with donors to make direct in-kind contributions to Family Houston clients. They initiated ideas and considered carefully how to best approach their work. And this was all done completely virtually! We are so grateful to Lee and Nathan, and to Family Houston Board Member, Julie Shochat, who helped facilitate this connection, and we look forward to ways that we will implement their work while we continue to grow our volunteer initiatives.
Internship Program
Our Director of Volunteer Programs has been working tirelessly to expand our internship program. The goals of this program are to give students and new graduates valuable experience working with a well established non-profit. In 2020 we welcomed our first set of interns in the communications and facilities departments. We also offer a limited amount of highly sought after counseling internships through specific school partnerships. Learn more about this program.
Thank You
Top supporters
View all of our generous donors
| Bank of America BDO USA, LLP Bob Woodruff Foundation Jill and Bill Carter Chapelwood Foundation Charity Guild of Catholic Women Citi Community Development Foundation Debbie and Stephen Costello Gene Graham Greater Houston COVID-19 Relief Fund Healthcare & Nursing Education Foundation H-E-B | Independent Financial John P. McGovern Foundation JP Morgan Chase Foundation David Pitts PwC Revenew International/ Traci and Kris Westbrook The Brown Foundation, Inc. The Cullen Trust for Health Care The Ellwood Foundation Total Wine & More Wells Fargo Foundation |
What Our Partners Say
“Family Houston has been a strong ally of Combined Arms for over three years now. They have been a critical partner in providing resources for our Intake Team to use when serving at-risk veterans. Also, Aleshia Tripps has been a volunteer leader in the Essential Services Collaboration Committee and is soon to be the Chairwoman. We owe a lot to the fantastic staff of Family Houston!”
-Bryan Escobedo, Systems Director at Combined Arms
Financials
Revenue
- United Way 66%
- Program Fees/Miscellaneous 17%
- Contributions and Grants 11%
- Service Provider Contracts 6%
- Special Events 3%
Expenses
- Program Services 77%
- Management and General 14%
- Fundraising 9%
- Building Operations 0%
Get Involved
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Volunteer
Learn about our volunteer opportunities including our young professional program.
Board of Directors
Charly Weldon
PRESIDENT & CEO
Stephen C. Costello
BOARD CHAIR
Bo Bothe
Kevin Dunlap
Deborah Roth Grabein
Joan Baird Glover
Dion Hobbs
Sergio V. Leal
Nelsy Gomez Lipford
Edna Lopez
Ronald K. Martin
Julie Shochat
Alex Taghi
David M. Underwood, Jr.
Kris Westbrook
Daniel Williams
SECRETARY & TREASURER
FAMILY SERVICE FOUNDATION
Locke Bryan
Penny H. Butler
Gary Daugherty
David G. Dunlap
Catherine M. Garcia-Prats
David Pitts
David A. Pluchinsky