On this episode of the Simmons and Fletcher Local Missions Podcast, your host, Paul Cannon, talks with Andrea McClairne, the founder of JJ’s Home of Refuge 3:16. JJ’s Home of Refuge 3:16 was started in 2023 when Andera McClairne felt a calling from God to support, teach, and empower young women leaving the foster care system. The mission is based in the greater Houston area and provides assistance programs and support to young women leaving the foster care system and entering the world on their own. JJ’s Home of Refuge 3:16 aims to provide a safe place for young women to stay and learn valuable life skills so that they can learn how to successfully live independently without turning to darker professions. JJ’s Home of Refuge 3:16 offers mentorship, education, and life skills courses, counselors, and therapists to young women leaving foster care. Additionally, although they do not yet have a home, JJ’s Home of Refuge 3:16 hopes to build a home in the future where girls leaving foster care can turn to for guidance and support.

JJ’s Home of Refuge 3:16 Services

The organization provides many services that put young women on a path to being successful in their newly independent lives. JJ’s Home of Refuge 3:16 provides therapists and counselors to young women leaving foster care because they know that living independently can be difficult, and they want to provide the girls with a safe space to take care of their mental health so that they don’t have to face them alone.

Another service that JJ’s Home of Refuge 3:16 offers is life skills teachings and mentorship. Many of the young women leaving the foster care system are not prepared for life on their own yet. JJ’s Home of Refuge 3:16 meets with these young women to teach them basic survival skills, such as cooking, how to be successful in college, and budgeting. Additionally, JJ’s Home of Refuge 3:16 provides mentorship for young women learning how to be on their own.

JJ’s Home of Refuge 3:16 Future Goals

JJ’s Home of Refuge 3:16 is currently searching for a home to provide for the young women coming out of foster care. This house would serve as a transitional home where the young women could have a safe place to stay and prepare for life independently. The organization’s goal is to have the young women stay in this home for about a year and a half to help them get to where they need to be mentally and emotionally and teach them basic life skills.

Volunteer Opportunities

As a volunteer, you may help provide support and assistance to the young women leaving foster care by talking to them, helping them with classwork and studying, and teaching them basic life skills. Additionally, JJ’s Home of Refuge 3:16 needs volunteer therapists and counselors.

Contact: The website address is jjshomeofrefuge.org. You are also welcome to call them at (832) 603-9145 or email info@jjshomeofrefuge.org.

The Simmons and Fletcher Local Missions Podcast is presented by Simmons and Fletcher, P.C. Paul H. Cannon is a partner in the firm.

This episode of Meet Houston Missions features Bill Nash, the co-founder of Building Bridges of Hope. Building Bridges of Hope was founded 43 years ago after Bill’s son was miraculously healed from cancer. It is a music-driven mission that seeks to help children overcome difficult lifetime events. They have two primary mission events today—Champions Kids Camp and Texas Best Music Fest.

Champions Kids Camp

Building Bridges of Hope’s main mission event still today is that they partner with the Carolina Creek Christian Camp near Huntsville to provide children who survive traumatic events such as serious car accidents, illnesses, or other personal losses with an opportunity to attend a camp with kids dealing with similar life events. This partnership has been ongoing for 23 years now. In the first year, Building Bridges of Hope took 30 children to camp. Champions Kids Camp today is a summer camp that runs from Sunday through Friday and involves over 200 children and volunteers. Kids get to enjoy fun and fellowship with other kids dealing with similar traumatic life events. The camp is for children ages 8-12, however, many kids return to participate as leaders in training from ages 13-16. At the camp, children get to participate in numerous outdoor activities such as:

· Ziplining

· Learning to fish

· Swimming in the pool and the lagoon

· Motorboating

· Playing basketball

After each meal, the children meet in a group to sing songs and learn about Jesus. The camp takes place in July.

How to Help Champions Kids Camp

Building Bridges of Hope relies on scholarships to allow the children to go to camp regardless of their financial situation. Additionally, in order to run Champions Kids Camp, volunteers are needed to fellowship with the campers, teach them activities such as fishing or sports, and provide a safe environment. If you wish to provide a sponsorship or volunteer, read more below or visit Championskidscamp.org.

Sponsorships

Every child who attends the camp costs $500.00. They attend via scholarships that are donated or supplied by grants. 40% of the children come from foster care. Building Bridges of Hope depends on individuals, churches, and businesses for sponsorships that determine how many children they can take to camp each year.

Volunteers

Building Bridges of Hope relies on volunteers to teach the kids skills and direct events at the camp.

Texas Best Music Fest

Texas Best Music Fest is a festival put together by Building Bridges of Hope to raise money for scholarships and raise awareness of Champions Kids Camp. They bring together musicians from across the country to put on a concert annually in June at Moes Place in Katy, Texas. Visit TexasBMF.com for more information on attending or volunteering to help with this event.

Golf Tournament Fundraiser

In addition to the above, Building Bridges of Hopes has a second fundraiser on October 21st each year which is a golf tournament. The tournament is held at the River Bend Country Club. To volunteer, sponsor, or enter a team contact Building Bridges of Hope by visiting bbofhope.org.

Meet Houston Missions is presented by Simmons and Fletcher, P.C. Host Paul H. Cannon is a partner at the firm.

The video for this podcast can be seen at Meet Houston Missions: Building Bridges of Hope.

On this episode of Meet Houston Missions and The Simmons and Fletcher Local Missions Podcast, Paul Cannon talks with Quincy Collins, founder of Families Helping Families. In 2013, Quincy and some friends helped out one family within his church that was struggling at Thanksgiving. From this, a vision was born with the goal of feeding as many families in need as possible in the Greater Houston area. What started out as a few friends and genuine compassion for their fellow man has grown exponentially today into a full-blown non-profit organization that provides a worth of food to thousands of people in need each year in the week leading up to Thanksgiving. The goal for 2024 is to feed 3,000 families.

What Families Helping Families Provides

Families Helping Families Sort box provides families in need with 10 pounds of chicken, ground beef, hotdogs, and the makings for a turkey dinner. It amounts to one week of groceries for a family in need. Families are sourced through local school systems, city health services, and law enforcement, who identify the families in need.

Each family is given a set time slot on the Saturday before Thanksgiving week in which to pick up their food at a set location. Any food not collected is given to alternate families and donated to Fort Bend Women’s Shelter.

How They Do It Today – Volunteer Power

Families Helping Families has partnered with HEB and a team of volunteer professionals from various fields ranging from shipping to logistics. They arrange refrigeration trucks to deliver the food to three distribution locations on the morning of Friday before distribution on Saturday. The team, including Quincy, is 100% volunteer. In addition to this team, they rely on 300-plus volunteers each year consisting of individuals, corporate teams, and organizational teams to gather on Friday to unload, sort, and pack the food so it can be delivered to one of three distribution points in Alief, Stafford, and Richmond. On Saturday, those volunteers return to help coordinate the cars arriving for appointments and hand out the food. They fill 300 cars every 30 minutes.

How You Can Be a Part of Families Helping Families

Volunteer

Families Helping Families welcomes volunteers. It is a two-day commitment to get involved. If you have a group or organization, they will make sure your team is stationed together to work as a group. To volunteer, visit https://www.fhfhouston.com/ and click on their volunteer sign-up link. From there, you can follow the organization in Eventbrite and be notified when it is time to sign up.

Donate

If you would like to donate as an individual or to participate as a corporate sponsor, visit the website. There are several levels of sponsorships and various types of recognition for your donation. Not only are the donations tax deductible, but 87% of all of the funds received go directly to purchasing groceries, and the other 13% goes to renting the equipment and organizing the event itself.

For additional information, email them at contact@fhfhouston.com.

Families Helping Families is a 501©(3) non-profit organization.

Meet Houston Missions and The Simmons and Fletcher Local Missions Podcast is presented by Simmons and Fletcher, P.C. Host Paul H. Cannon is a partner in the firm.