Source: Houston Chronicle

Progress continues on a HomeAid Houston construction project for Family Promise of Lake Houston (FPLH) in Humble. HomeAid has partnered with First America Homes, the home building division of Signorelli Company, on a 5,800-square-foot Life Skills Center that will provide a caring and positive environment for children and their families who have experienced a variety of crisis situations. These can include fire, flood, the death of a spouse, loss of a job, an eviction, or a foreclosure of a home.

The Center, named The Promise House will offer individual counseling, higher education and training classes, mentoring and admin offices. Families will have access to bath facilities, a family room, a teaching kitchen, children’s playroom and a dining room. The Promise House will also provide a safe haven for the four-legged family members as well thanks to the PetsSmart Foundation that is building a Pet Condo on the property. This will be the first homeless shelter that also provides accommodations for the entire family unit, including the furry ones.

Family Promise of Lake Houston is an agency that meets the immediate needs of homeless families while empowering them to attain self-sufficiency. During the day, families will come to their “home base” which is the Life Skills Center, where they will complete weekly goals — life skills classes, budgeting, parenting, and GED fast-track certification. They can access community resources to search for job training and affordable housing. The key to their success is the fact that every family is connected to the community through volunteers from church congregations as well as through mentors in the Family Mentoring Program. Families are able to build a new community network that helps them achieve their goals of independence.

“HomeAid is grateful to First America Homes for their support, their commitment to the work Family Promise does for the community and to HomeAid for sharing in our vision,” said James Miller, president of HomeAid. “This Life Skills Center will change the lives of families for years to come.”

Funders to the project include The William Stamps Farish Fund, Albemarle Foundation, Ascentium Capital and Avis Charitable Foundation. The PetSmart Charitable Foundation’s pet condo is allowing families to keep their pets as they work to improve their situation. That grant is part of a national agreement with the Family Promise organization.

HomeAid Houston is a 501(c)(3) charity of the Greater Houston Builders Association. The agency has been building transformational housing for homeless care providers throughout Houston and surrounding counties since 2003. The first shelter was dedicated in 2005. Since then, more than 70 projects, large and small have been completed, adding 400-plus beds and more than $14 million in real estate construction and improvements to Houston’s homeless community.

For more information about HomeAid Houston visit www.homeaidhouston.org or call 281-970-8970.