Friday, June 26, 2020

Thank you for these notes


It’s tough right now. People are coming to CCSC for food and help in finding a job, and their lives are upended. There is much suffering and human need. 

Yet there is also much goodness in the community. The CCSC staff and volunteers are serving sacrificially, fueled by the generous donors who are helping us to feed families, keep them in their homes, and coach them through a job search. Many donors are writing kind, personal notes on their checks or on-line giving forms. It’s often a please help someone who is hungry, or thank you for staying open to help people or a simple thank you. 

There are a few notes that have stood out:

I received a stimulus check from the federal government under the CARES Act, but I’m not the person these funds were intended to benefit. Please use this money to provide food or rental assistance for people who have suffered economically as result of the coronavirus.

Then there is this one from a former client: Thank you for your community outreach and support. Your wonderful community helped us after the flood. We are grateful.

And finally this one: With all the upset due to COVID-19, there is much to be grateful for as we have been well. We seniors mostly stay home, away from crowds, and wear masks and gloves if we have to go out. We are greatly blessed and our immediate needs have been met. So when we received our stimulus check, we both agreed we did not need it….When we see on TV all the people standing in line for food and other assistance, we cannot forget how much CCSC is doing throughout our own community in the Houston area. You are much closer to those in desperate need, especially at the food pantries. We know you will put our small contribution to work blessing others. We pray that all employees and volunteers at CCSC will stay well. We also pray for early success with vaccines and treatment that might put an end to the number of people in desperate need. May God bless you with His presence.

This blog is a thank you for however you are supporting CCSC, whether it is by time, prayer or gifts. Thanks especially to those who send us notes filled with love. We’re sending that love right back to you.



Thursday, May 7, 2020

Mother Teresa was right


One of my favorite quotes is from Mother Teresa, and it is: We can do no great things, only small things with great love.

We at CCSC are living that quote right now. The suffering in our community is hard and deep, and we can’t do the great things needed to quickly alleviate it. But we can do our part by fulfilling our mission, and this is where you are helping us to live this quote well.

We are feeding triple the number of people we normally help, with no sign of this slowing down. People who never envisioned themselves without wages are finding us.

We cannot purchase large quantities of food, so we depend upon the people in our churches and community to shop for us when they shop for themselves. And it’s working because many individuals are dropping off donated food at our church food drives and food pantry locations. The cumulative effect of all this individual goodness translates into a significant number of families receiving food.

A friend suggested I make a list of things people could do (other than donating to us) that could help, so here goes:
  •     Do you have a housekeeper who is no longer cleaning your home during this time? If so, please consider paying her as if she is coming to your house. Consider it paid time off, a standard benefit employers offer. By doing this, you may be alleviating hunger for someone close to you.
  •     Ditto if you’ve put off having your lawn done. Your lawn guy (or girl!) may be feeding a family. A former neighbor’s long-time lawn guy, who did not have a high school degree, put both his children through the University of Houston from his lawn service.
  •     If you don’t live near CCSC, donate food to your local food pantry. Most food pantries across the country are unable to purchase at the volume they need.
  •     Be patient with the people around you, whether it’s the grouchy person in line ahead of you at the grocery store or whether it’s someone you live with. We all need a little grace right now.
  •     Seek out spiritual nourishment for yourself. Life is always uncertain, but we amble along its surface and typically only face the randomness of it when we have to. Don’t let a crisis go to waste: let it deepen your Christian faith.

Regarding the latter, if you don’t have a church home, let me recommend the 39 churches part of CCSC. If you click here, they will pop up: https://www.ccschouston.org/member-churches/. Some are traditional, some progressive, some are high-church, and some are low-church. They vary in size and theology, but they are committed to CCSC’s work which means they are outwardly focused. Right now, you can check a church out by watching a live sermon on-line, join a remote bible study, or reach out for a personal prayer.

Finally, if you’re reading this, then you’re in the CCSC world. Thank you for that. We could not carry out our mission without you. You can do no great things, only small things with great love.

Michelle Shonbeck
Executive Director



Monday, November 5, 2018

Some things bloom in their own time

Last spring, I planted two vines from seed in my garden, and both were supposed to begin blooming within 10-12 weeks. While the foliage was gorgeous, we went through the rest of spring and all of summer without seeing a flower. And then in early October both began blooming. My back fence now has deep blue Morning Glories opening up with first light, and the front of the house has large, white Moon Vine flowers that open at sunset. These plants surprised me in their own time as did a client we worked with about ten years ago.

I know this woman's story well because I was her coach at JobNet and became quite close to her. "Pat" worked hard and found several part-time jobs to provide for her family, but it was a struggle, so she eventually left Houston to see if another city could give her a better quality of life. All of us who worked with her were concerned she was leaving a fairly good support system with her church and CCSC, but Pat was certain this was her path.

We kept up for a few years until we didn't. And then Pat walked in a few weeks ago - beaming and happy to be back at CCSC. When she moved, Pat found a full-time job with benefits that gave her and the children health insurance. She said the classes she took at JobNet and the lessons she learned from all the volunteers helped to target her job search, so she felt that from a distance, we had helped her to achieve her goal.

While Pat's income was modest, it was enough. Both her children graduated from high school, and one is in college; the other opted to go straight into the workforce, and he has married and given her a grandchild. She is stable and was visiting family in Houston when she popped in to let us know the rest of her story. 

All the volunteers who worked with Pat wanted to see her find success in Houston, but she followed her instincts and moved. And in time, her life eased up, and she found the stability she was looking for, blooming in her own time.


Friday, June 22, 2018

This volunteer makes happiness and warmth

We have a sewing friend who makes blankets for CCSC's clients. She's 96 years old, and her daughters are important to the project: they purchase the materials for their mother, bring them to her so she can make the blankets at home, and then deliver the completed blankets to us.

They select fabrics that are whimsical children's patterns or lovely adult prints. It's clear that much love and intention goes into this process. Last month, the daughters delivered 50 blankets, and there's a picture of some of them below.

Earlier this week, a woman who came in for food also asked for a blanket, saying in the same breath that she knew we wouldn't have any since it was summer. Yet thanks to our dedicated "home volunteer", we were able to surprise this woman with a beautiful, handmade blanket.

Volunteering is about sharing your time and talent for a greater good, and it doesn't have to be done on-site. If you have an idea on how you could help our clients, please contact Volunteer Coordinator Erin Donohue, edonohue@ccschouston.org.


Friday, May 11, 2018

Coincidence or divine providence?

I ran into a long-time CCSC friend, who reminded me of a story from the 1990s that made a strong impression on him.

A client had come to Emergency Services-Central needing food. His only mode of transportation was a bike with a basket that carried his food. A few days after visiting us, his bike was stolen, so he called, wondering if we ever had bikes donated. Our answer was a regretful "no"; this was not an item donated often.

And then an hour later the CCSC friend called with a bike to donate, asking that we give it to a client in need. I shared the client's story with him, and we then had this philosophical conversation about God's work in this world. The client wept when we called to let him know we had a bike, and a friend dropped him off to pick it up. It was a happy ending.

The story had slipped my mind until I ran into the donor who had not forgotten the new life his bicycle received and the providence in the sequence of events.

So what do you think: Is it wonderful coincidence or God's providence?


Friday, May 4, 2018

This was a happy Friday

On this particular Friday, a gentleman came in needing some personal hygiene items and clothing to stretch his budget for the month. Nothing else. When the volunteer pulled up his file, she saw that we had helped him a year ago when he was homeless. Back then, we helped with food and several other resources, and then connected him to our JobNet program. So he told her the rest of the story: he found a job, then got an apartment, and has now purchased a car. He told her how grateful he was to have found our ministry because we were the starting point in rebuilding his life.

And then a few hours later, a former client arrived with a donation, discreetly letting us know the help she received stabilized her, and she was now good. And wanted to express her gratitude by helping us to help another.

If you're reading this blog, you're most likely a volunteer and/or contributor to the ministry, so please know that a couple of happy people visited us on a recent Friday, and their happiness is a result of your investment of time, talent, and resources.


Thursday, April 5, 2018

He found a job

He's one of the many people who have been helping Houston recover these last six months. He's worked construction by rehabbing homes damaged by the storm.

The work is slowing down, so he began a job search to return to his chosen field: caring for others. He has worked with the homeless, the dying in a hospice, and with a summer youth program helping disadvantaged young people. His job search was stagnant at the time he came to JobNet. Our team helped him refresh his resume and re-tool his job search plan, and he was soon interviewing with several different organizations.

He's now accepted an offer with another nonprofit organization that also helps job seekers. Before leaving, he let JobNet Manager Mickey Hammond know how much the support, encouragement, and practical help propelled him forward.

While he may no longer be a client, this is not a good-bye: he will be working for an organization we collaborate with, so he'll be sending new job seekers our way.