For Laura Ward, president and CEO of the nonprofit and one of its seven founders, the story is one of collaboration. The group partners with more than 300 local agencies to find the children who are falling through the cracks, she said.
With the coronavirus pandemic exacerbating demand for basic needs, like clothing and school supplies, that mission is more important than ever, Ward said.
“This is a time when we are so grateful that there are so many children’s organizations,” Ward said. “The need is more than any of us collectively have been able to meet in the last several years.”
Houston Children’s Charity was founded in 1996 by seven people who were already involved in philanthropy but were looking for a more flexibility to address what they saw as the most pressing needs locally, Ward said. The nonprofit provides clothing through an in-house closet program; it raises funding for the Texas Children’s Hospital; and it runs a donation drive every Christmas to collect toys.
Over the years, new programs have been implemented based on needs in the community, Ward said. After years of focusing on collecting toys and clothing, a pressing need for beds spurred the launch of the A Better Night’s Sleep program.
“Year after year for about three years, when I would be manning the phones, ... so many of the parents would say to me, ‘Could we get a bed?’” Ward said. “After about three years of telling people we don’t have a bed program, I thought, ‘Why don’t we have a bed program?’ Because evidently nobody else has one either.”
After two to three years of learning the best ways to collect and distribute beds, the nonprofit now has a program in place through a partnership with Texas Mattress Makers that provides beds to 100 children each month. Still, roughly 1,300 children remain on the waitlist, Ward said.
The demand for assistance rose during the coronavirus pandemic, which Ward said emphasizes the importance for nonprofits to work together. In addition to running its own programs, the nonprofit partners with existing organizations to help with distribution and to raise funds for administrative needs.
Collaboration can also help save money in that it prevents organizations from duplicating services, Ward said.
“I believe the future of all nonprofits is going to be collaboration,” Ward said. “I believe instead of having thousands and thousands of children’s charities in this city ... that organizations need to begin collaborating and sharing in one administrative cost rather than every organization paying people to do the same thing.”
With six people on staff, Houston Children’s Charity relies heavily on volunteers to keep operations moving, Ward said. Those looking to help the organization can fill out a volunteer form or make donations online, she said.
After 25 years, Ward said she hears the calling to help children louder than ever.
“My mission is to care for children,” she said. “That’s what I do and do best.”
Since its founding, Houston Children’s Charity has helped local families in a number of ways:
- 245 vans distributed for families of disabled, wheelchair-using children
- 80,000 toys distributed to children every holiday season
- School supplies given to over 40,000 students
- 30,000 articles of clothing, shoes and accessories provided
- $100,000 awarded every year in support of families at Texas Children’s Hospital
- 25,000 children have received mattresses, box springs, frames, pillows and blankets
- Provides support to more than 300 partner agencies across Houston
- More than 3.5 million children impacted in total
Houston Children’s Charity
1600 West Loop S., Ste. 610, Houston
713-524-2878
www.houstonchildrenscharity.org
