Empowering Communities | Creating Opportunities
Our Major Partnership: Fluor Corporation
The Bethel’s Place-Fluor partnership began in 2012. The inception of the partnership began with the acquisition of a home beautification grant. The 2012 Fluor Home Beautification Project identified seniors, veterans, and disabled persons living in Fondren Southwest and surrounding area and attempts to assist them with home repairs and adjustments. Bethel's Place conferred with participants for the Home Beatification Project and visited homes of participants to assess the area of intended repair and the necessary materials for completion of the repair. Bethel's Place contacted approved, licensed, insured vendors to purchase material and to make home repairs. Bethel's Place verified that the work was performed and paid vendors. Pictures of the home improvements are placed in the Home Beautification Report and the Bethel’s Place website. To date, Bethel’s Place continues with the acquisition of the Fluor Grant in an attempt to refurbish the community.
Home Beautification: Before and After
Community Meals 4 You
The primary goal of the Community Meals 4 You program is to provide seniors, disabled, homeless, under-served along with minority children and youth from low-income families with nutritious meals and snacks and thereby decrease the impact of hunger in the community. One of the basic objectives of our program is to empower low-income individuals and families to make the best use of their food resources with the challenges they face. We have omitted the challenge of grocery shopping, food preparation and serving meals. Here our outcomes are measured by the number of people who avail themselves to the meals prepared. A challenge for our disabled population is transportation to grocery stores and limited mobility which precludes cooking. In this instance, our outcomes are measured by the increased number of disabled people we accommodate by delivering hot meals to their homes. Outcomes will be measured through the availability of fresh produce and healthy foods prepared and served, thereby increasing the number of healthy residents within our community.
As a result of Fluor's grant, approximately 100 youth and 100 children will be impacted weekly by the Community Meals 4 You program. Additionally, approximately 150 adults, senior adults and under-served will participate on a weekly basis. Each week three adult feedings will take place at Bethel's Place Empowerment Center while two feedings for children and two feedings for youth will occur in the CJ Children's Building. Due to mobility issues, approximately 50 disabled senior adults will receive hot meals delivered in their homes each month.
Structured volunteer opportunities have been implemented within programs at Bethel's Place Empowerment Center. These volunteer opportunities involve over seventy-five part-time individuals who contribute in the areas of their expertise and interests. Assignments range from greeters at the concierge desk, packers/distributors for the food pantry, volunteer opportunities for food preparation and servers in our Community Meals 4 You Program. Additionally, Fluor employees are given an opportunity to volunteer their time and service toward the implementation of the Community Meals 4 You Program.
Food Pantry Distribution: Fluor Partners with BHH to Serve the Community
Food Pantry Distribution: Fluor Partners with Bethel's Heavenly Hands to Serve the Community
Community Hot Meals
Fluor, Bethel's Place & Boxes of Love
Each year one week prior to Thanksgiving, Bethel’s Place, Bethel’s Heavenly Hands, Fluor and Boxes of Love Houston in conjunction with CRU Inner City launches its yearly thanksgiving dinner distribution through Thanksgiving Boxes of Love for the city of Houston. One Box of LOVE includes a full Thanksgiving feast and leftovers to feed kids out of school for a family in need.
Fluor STEM Lab at Bethel's Christian Academy
The Fluor STEM Lab at Bethel’s Christian Academy opened its doors on July 25, 2014. The lab was established to help improve math, science and literacy outcomes in an early childhood setting and thereby set students up for success in elementary school and beyond. STEM Lab activities are designed to increase higher-order reasoning and critical thinking skills, to facilitate play-based thinking, and to reduce the academic achievement gap associated with socioeconomic disparities. BCA students (ages 1-5/preschool and kindergarten) have year-round access to the Fluor STEM Lab. They have an instructional day from 8-11 a.m. and again from 3-5 p.m. The teachers will have full access to the lab during these hours. In addition, 100 youth from Bethel’s Place’s annual Summer Enrichment Program, designed to prevent the academic loss that sometimes happens during the summer months, will use project-based STEM learning activities.
