CCSC's Emergency Services Southwest
St. Luke's United Methodist Church, Gethsemane Campus
6856 Bellaire Boulevard
Houston, TX 77074

Saturdays in 2023 from 8:45 AM - 12:00 PM

June 3 (Diaper Drive), July 15

River Oaks Baptist and St. Paul Presbyterian Churches are teaming up to serve in the food pantry.  Southwest Emergency Services serves clients in crisis who live in zip codes 77031, 77036, 77072 and 77074 by providing a five day supply of food for people experiencing hunger or food insecurity.  Clients can also be referred to other agencies for long-term assistance.  The food pantry managers and dedicated volunteers come from local Christian churches in the area.  

If you are interested in helping, please contact Czarena Siebert at czarena.siebert@hpe.com.  She can give you the necessary training materials for the various volunteer positions, or you may show up and shadow an ROBC volunteer.  All are welcome, so bring a friend!  This is also a fun and rewarding way for young people to earn community service hours.

Traditionally, CCSC’s food pantries receive fewer donations of food and funds in the summer months—kids are home, people are traveling—so we always say a Christmas in July food drive would really help us to help others.  This year, however, it isn’t just the busy summer months impacting CCSC and those we serve, it’s the soaring costs of food and fuel.

CCSC’s food costs are up, as are the number of families needing food from our pantries.  In May of this year, CCSC gave out 51% more food packages than it did in May of 2021, and 37.5% of those served were children.  According to the Houston Chronicle, local food prices are up by 8.7 percent, year-over-year—that wasn’t in any of our budgets, including CCSC’s.

“At the beginning of the pandemic, when so many lost their jobs and needed to feed their families, the CCSC community jumped in and ran food drives that made it possible for us to continue to feed people despite supply chain issues. Right now, we need that same type of help,” said CCSC President & CEO Michelle Shonbeck.

If your church, organization, family or scout troop would like to run a food drive to help stock CCSC’s food pantry shelves we’d like to advertise it on CCSC’s social media. Contact CCSC Communications Manager Erin Donohue at communications@ccschouston.org to publicize your food drive, and contact Emergency Services-Central Manager Lydia Bias, emergency_1@ccschouston.org, to let us know your donations are coming. To see a list of what CCSC needs most, please visit our website. 

Thanks to 17 dedicated volunteers, the Louise J. Moran Vision Care Program has already assisted hundreds of students through vision screenings at CCSC partner campuses this fall. The goal of vision screening is to determine if a student requires further vision assessment.  Since approximately 80 percent of learning is visual, catching a vision problem early can have a profound effect on a student's school experience.

Over the summer, several CCSC volunteers took advantage of an optional certification course offered through the Texas Department of State Health Services.  Next, volunteers attended an orientation at the CCSC main campus to learn about our partner schools and sign up for screening dates over the fall semester. 

CCSC’s partner schools have many students with limited resources and considerable barriers to obtaining comprehensive visual exams.  Starting the first full week of September, volunteer teams begin identifying students who might need further evaluation.  Then, later in the fall, CCSC organizes field trips to the University Eye Institute on the UH campus where optometry professionals conduct thorough exams and fit glasses to those students needing them.

“Time and again CCSC volunteers are the first ones identifying that the child they are screening has vision issues," said CCSC Youth Services Manager Cathy Brown.  "For children who have limited resources, the field trip to UH is a game changer.  The eye exam and glasses are a direct result of the initial screening by our volunteers.  It's wonderful for all of us to know we have helped put a child on the path to a successful school year!” 

CCSC’s newest employment program provides free training to enable people to work as Caregivers to older adults and other populations who need assistance with daily activities.  This 50+ hour, non-medical training course covers relationship building, technical skills, hands-on support techniques, and dementia care.  The training also provides business and marketing strategies to find and keep clients.  Participants who successfully complete the course will be prepared to work for an agency, open their own business, and/or work directly for families.  Graduates also receive job leads, coaching, and other support.

This program is another example of how CCSC continues to work to help those in need. If you need a caregiver, or if you would like to volunteer to help with this training, please contact The Christian Community Service Center at (713) 961-3993.

Are you looking for a housekeeper or maid service in the Houston area?  Christian Community Service Center can help!  CCSC has a wonderful training program called Martha’s Way in which students are professionally trained according to leading industry standards to clean all areas of your home and provide stellar customer service, with impeccable attention to detail. Graduates of the 42-hour training are experts in eco-friendly and safe cleaning techniques and are ready to make your home sparkle.  Most of the students are also trained in how to run an independent housekeeping business.

So, if you are looking for someone to do regular housekeeping, hire a Martha’s Way  graduate!  Or, if you need help with one time, seasonal, or special event cleanings, hire a Martha’s Way graduate!     

When you hire a Martha’s Way graduate, you receive outstanding service, and you make a difference in the life of a budding entrepreneur.  

For information, please contact Ana Tappan at 713-328-0160.

3230 Mercer Street
Houston, TX 77027
713.961.3993

 http://www.ccschouston.org/ 

 https://www.senioradvice.com/assisted-living

https://www.payingforseniorcare.com/texas

Gano Mission Center
1815 Gano Street
Houston, TX 77009
713.227.1146

https://missioncenters.org/

3735 Drexel Drive
Houston, TX 77027
713.552.0420

http://www.amazingplacehouston.org/

330 Garden Oaks Blvd.
Houston, TX 77018
713.695.5437

http://www.kidsmealshouston.org/