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Northwest Assistance Ministries is celebrating its 25th (Silver) Anniversary in 2008 and activities recognizing the community’s long-term support of NAM will take place throughout the year beginning with an Interfaith Service at 3:30 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 10, at Cypress Creek Christian Church.
The church is located at 6823 Cypresswood Drive. To R.S.V.P. for the service, call Cherise at 281-885-4582.
Since 1983, NAM has progressed from a concept drafted on a napkin to one of the city’s largest social service agencies. An early venture in social ministry, NAM has led the way in providing services and piloting programs that now are accepted standards followed by other organizations.
NAM’s founding congregations were St. Dunstan’s Episcopal Church, Northwoods Presbyterian Church, John Wesley United Methodist Church, Kinsmen Lutheran Church, Hosanna Lutheran Church, Congregation Jewish Community North, Wildewood Baptist Church, Cypress Creek Christian Church, Klein United Methodist Church, and Plymouth United Church (U.C.C.).
NAM was based on a hypothetical model developed at the University of Houston, but nothing like it had been done before, said Rabbi Robert Sharff of Congregation Jewish Community North. Sharff and the Rev. Glenn Wilkerson of Cypress Creek Christian Church were involved in NAM’s beginnings and still are associated through their congregations.
Rosemarie Hornsby, a University of Houston student, outlined the concept of social ministry on a napkin when she met with Rev. Wilkerson at a local restaurant. He invited her to a clergy association meeting and the process began that led to the creation of NAM. The 10 congregations signed articles of incorporation in October of 1983. Hornsby became NAM’s first director in 1984.
“We hoped the coalition would be a way for congregations to pool their resources to serve the poor and underprivileged people in our area,” Rev. Wilkerson said. “We hoped it would be an answer for congregations who wanted to be involved in providing services that addressed the systemic causes of poverty as well as addressing individual human needs….It’s been wonderful.
“We set aside our theological differences and pooled our resources in a manner to better serve the will of God in addressing the needs of the poor. We all basically have the same goals…to reach out in the name of our faith and serve people.”
Rabbi Sharf said, “We had no idea what on earth we were getting ourselves into and how it would turn out. Spiritually, it has been uplifting. We overcame something that could have overwhelmed us.”
“NAM’s first year budget was less than $150,000 which was targeted for rent and set-up costs,” said Carole Little, NAM President & CEO.
Rabbi Sharff served as treasurer and collected receipts from the thrift shop and cash donations from the food bank in a shoe box and deposited them in the bank every Friday. Now, NAMs 2007-2008 budget is projected to be $8.92 million. Last year, the organization touched the lives of more than 103,000 people through its Assistance Program, Food Pantry, Meals on Wheels, Children’s Clinic, Interfaith Hospitality Network, Rotary Learning Center and Workforce Development Program, Family Violence Center, Counseling Center, Fifty Plus Senior Center, and Resale Shops.
In the intervening years, 37 additional congregations have joined with the original 10, along with 18 Service Partner organizations and more than 130 business Community Partners to support programs and services to help area residents in need. NAM has moved three times and now owns the four-story building at 15555 Kuykendhal near FM 1960. The congregations took a leap of faith when creating NAM. The area was prosperous and many of the congregations were new. Many were living one paycheck beyond their means however, and when the economy crashed, many families put their house keys under the door mat and left. It seemed like entire subdivisions were in foreclosure. The county had no presence in the area in terms of social services and no other social service agencies served Northwest Houston.
“NAM has been successful because our executive board and staff members work hard to be fiscally responsible with the funds the organization receives and to be responsive to the community’s need for services,” Little said. “We have stayed true to our mission of neighbors helping neighbors throughout the years and our supporting congregations, organizations and businesses recognize our efforts to be fiscally responsible while helping families in need toward self-sufficiency.”
If you would like to see how far NAM has come, please call Jamie at 281-885-4609 to schedule a tour.
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