Mission Starts New Grant Initiative, Needs Writers

The Mission of Yahweh recently recruited Dr. Robert Brecht to lead a new Grant Initiative to help acquire ongoing financial support for its programs.

An important part of this initiative is finding a number of volunteer proposal writers to work with Mission personnel to develop funding requests targeted to specific agencies. These agencies may be charitable foundations, churches or government agencies.

This opportunity affords volunteers the opportunity to write grants on areas that are of particular interest to the writer as well as the Mission’s priorities. To learn more, email Dr. Brecht at.

College Education Now Possible for Mission Residents

An exciting new partnership with Cy-Fair Community College is opening the doors of opportunity for Mission residents to earn their GED and college-level occupational certifications.

Thanks to one-on-one guidance from Cy-Fair counselors, several women are now attending, or scheduled to attend (pending financial aid) Houston Community College, Cy-Fair College and Academy of Health Care Professionals.

Mission director Dee Johnson says, “My dream is to identify three or four career certification tracks that will be the most beneficial – training programs that will allow our women to transition out of homelessness into permanent housing, with good-paying jobs to sustain them.”

Mercy House Grand Opening

HomeAid’s Gulf Coast Rebuilding Fund, Ameriquest Mortgage Co., and HomeAid Houston have partnered to build two transitional housing projects that will benefit Hurricanes Katrina and Rita evacuees. The Mission of Yahweh was honored to be the campus designated for one of the two projects and is proud to announce the completion of the transitional dormitory, Mercy House.

Mercy House provides a 4,000 sq. ft. 16-unit transitional refuge for women and children in crisis as they continue to re-build their lives in the aftermath of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. In addition to shelter, residents will have access to emotional and psychological counseling, daily children’s programs, personal care programs and continuing education classes provided by The Mission of Yahweh.

Summer Outreach was a shining success!

Thanks to the hard work of our volunteers, The Mission was a bright place in the community this summer. The Summer Outreach program reached out to children of up to 12 years of age at The Mission and within surrounding communities. A wide variety of activities that covered positive mental, physical, and spiritual health helped the participating children improve their academic, emotional, and social skills.

Classes offered included: reading and literacy, social awareness, health, study skills, introduction to art and music, computer skills, and drug prevention and awareness.

The Grand Opening of The House of Joy
Children's Recreational & Educational Center

Thanks to a generous donation by The Children’s Fund, Inc., The Mission of Yahweh will host the ribbon cutting for The House of Joy. All CFI members, Mission donors, volunteers and interested parties are invited to attend!

Summer Programs
With the opening of the House of Joy Children’s Recreation and Education Center, planning is in the works for a summer-outreach program designed to help the Mission kids and kids in the community surrounding the Mission of Yahweh. Programs will include a wide variety of activities which will cover mental, physical, spiritual and emotional/social development of participating kids. The target will be primary school-aged children up to 12 years old, and will reach community kids as well.

We Need Volunteers
If you or someone you know has time available this summer for a few hours a day - we would love your help. Whether it is for one week or all 3 months - we need your help! The Mission is seeking instructors and helpers for the following classes that will be offered at the new House of Joy Children's Recreational and Educational Center. The programs will not only reach the children at the Mission but will reach the community kids as well. We are also seeking help with developing class curriculum and teaching material. If you know of someone who could help with developing material for this short program, please contact Julie Pitts Mount at 713-459-8104 or Yvette Turner-Hill at 713-429-0394.

Construction Begins on New Mission Transitional Dorm

The groundbreaking ceremony for The Mission of Yahweh “Mercy House” Shelter in the Storm was held on Thursday, 19, 2006, at 2:00. Through HomeAid America, the nation’s largest builder of housing for the homeless, and ACC Capital Holdings (the parent to Ameriquest Mortgage, AMC Mortgage Services, and Argent Mortgage), a 2-story 16-unit “transitional” (1-2 year stays) refuge for women and children will begin immediately. The purpose is to help these individuals rebuild their lives in the aftermath of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. The occupancy permit from the City of Houston will be for 64 individuals.

The construction of Mercy House would not be possible without the generosity of the Greater Houston Builders Association community and their charitable division, HomeAid Houston. The selected builder captains are Doyle Stuckey of Doyle Stuckey Homes (also the builder the The Mission’s Main House in 1981) and Green Mountain Building Company. Other building and development partners are Amegy Bank, Capital Heating and Air, Integrity Concrete, D&R Signs, Direct Marketing Network, Goodman Manufacturing, Suncoast Post-Tension and Tarkett.

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