Bethany House is a residential home, a 501 (c) 3 nonprofit organization, that helps the homeless and other needy people in Laredo and Webb County in South Texas. Founded in 1982 by Roman Catholic Father Charles M. McNaboe (1929-1996) as a public kitchen to provide lunch to, initially, seventeen poor people.
The facility evolved into a permanent location in the city center at 819 Hidalgo Street as a result of donation of land by the family of Maria B. Leyendecker. The main mission of this facility is to provide warm food at no cost to the poor. There is also a thrift store and Vintage for clothing, the latter designed to provide higher quality clothing for the poor looking for work. Kitchen lunch soup evolves into a meal service three times a day. Bethany House offers additional services for return food and for "Kid Kid", outreach for children, mostly in public housing centers and at Lamar Bruni Vergara Boys and Girls Club.
In August 2002, Bethany House acquired a second property nearby to establish Guadalupe and Resource Center Lilia Martinez and Emergency Shelter, named for the late philanthropic partner of Laredo.
Since the national recession began in late 2007, more families sought help from Bethany House, according to its director, Barbara Kazen (1941-2011), wife of US District Judge George P. Kazen. In November 2008, Laredo observed "National Famine Awareness Week and Homelessness." Laredo's Mayor Raul Salinas leads a public march to draw attention to the suffering of the needy: "Right now, we live through very difficult times, but Laredo is a very special city.This is a city where people who are not always willing "Give t-shirts from their backs to help others. We have to get through this crisis. We have to think positively. "
About a third of Laredo's population lives in poverty, but donations from residents and business groups outside Bethany's budget have allowed settlement homes to expand their operations. For example, in 2008, Mrs. Kazen received a grant from the United Parcel Service to help the organization establish services for the unemployed.
Bethany House remains open until Christmas 2009 with additional mattresses placed inside the cafeteria to meet high capacity requirements. Each year Bethany House serves about 300,000 meals and over five million pounds of food.
In January 2014 Bethany House launched the Barbara A. Kazen Hope Center, a new complex that will provide nine additional temporary housing units for needy families. The $ 2.3 million project covers about 10,000 square feet.
In June 2014, Fanny Stavoroswki of Laredo received the National Jefferson Awards Foundation award in Washington, D.C., for his twenty-five years of work on behalf of the homeless through Bethany House. In 2013, more than 361,000 meals are served at Bethany House. Stavorowski contributed to this effort by raising funds for the organization. In June 2015, Manuel Santos received the Jefferson award for his thirty years at Bethany House. Santos, who works in food delivery for Bethany House's home-tied program, also collects Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Award for her personal commitment to positive change in society. The current director of Bethany House is Rosario Flores, who has been a center for 21 years.
Video Bethany House (Laredo, Texas)
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Source of the article : Wikipedia
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