Meet Houston Missions: Family Hope Fulshear

On Meet Houston Missions and The Simmons and Fletcher Local Missions Podcast, your host, Paul Cannon, talks with Bob Patton, the executive director of Fulshear Outreach and Development Corporation D/B/A Family Hope Fulshear. Family Hope Fulshear started in 2014 when a group of pastors and community leaders came together to address the need for family services in the Fulshear-Simonton areas.   
Family Hope Fulshear provides five main types of services, food, furniture, education, assistance, and events, to people who are seeking aid during difficult times.

Family Hope Fulshear Projects

One of their biggest services is the food pantry and food fairs they host at multiple churches. Their food pantry is located off Fry Road and 1463 and helps feed about 200 families a month. The food pantry is open Monday through Thursday from 9 A.M. to 2 P.M. Moreover, Family Hope Fulshear has three locations: Parkway Fellowship, Saint Faustina Catholic Church, and the Knights of Columbus Hall, where they run food fairs once a month that help feed over 1,000 families.
 
Additionally, Family Hope Fulshear runs special events throughout the year to supply various necessities to their community. One event they host is a Back-to-School event where they collect pairs of shoes for children who either do not have any shoes or are wearing old, beat-up shoes to wear for school. Last year, Family Hope Fulshear collected 1,266 pairs of shoes to give to children in need. Another event Family Hope Fulshear runs is the Hope Fair, which brings in businesses and presenters who are looking to hire immigrants seeking jobs. This year, Family Hope Fulshear is holding an event called the Bean-a-Thon--an event where volunteers package bags of rice and beans to give to families in need.

Additional Services

Family Hope Fulshear also provides services such as education and disaster (storm or serious car accident) relief aid to those in need. The organization holds classes for cooking, parenting, finances, and other courses for people seeking to learn life necessities. Additionally, the organization helps sign up immigrants for English courses at the Houston Community College so they can become contributing members in the United States.

Volunteer Opportunities

Family Hope Fulshear typically needs about 100 or more volunteers a month. With only five part-time staff members, Family Hope Fulshear relies heavily on volunteers from the community to package beans and rice, run the front desk at the main office, collect groceries, and run events. Some events, such as the food fairs, need around 100 volunteers each in order to ensure everything gets done in time to hand out the groceries to people. Since the organization is always hosting new events, it is a great place to look into if you are a high school or college student who needs volunteer hours for a club. Many of the volunteers at Family Hope Fulshear are kids looking to meet volunteer hour requirements for NHS, NCL, FCA, and Boy Scouts. If you are interested in volunteering, you can reach out on the Family Hope Fulshear website or call their office phone.
 
Financial Needs

In order to help as many people and families as possible, Family Hope Fulshear needs donations and support. Last year, they spent about $50,000 a month ($600,000 total) on groceries for people in need. While that may seem like a lot, that budget means that the 1,000 families they help each month only receive about $50 worth of groceries to use.
 
Contact and Info

  (832)-332-5163
https://www.familyhopefulshear.org
[e-mail].