New Faith Church – Making a Difference in Central-Southwest Houston

Making a Difference in Central-Southwest Houston

Founded in 2003, the Community of Faith Foundation, Inc., was established by members of New Faith, to assist the New Faith Church with program development, administration, and assessment; and fundraising seeking: assuring the greatest impact on lives and effective use of the many volunteers, ready to serve the public.

The Community of Faith Foundation, Inc. (CFF) seeks to serve as a community resource, serving those in need; empower communities; transform lives; and rebuild families. The CFF mission is accomplished using the various educational and social service programs provided by the New Faith Church.

The New Faith Church is located in the heart of Central-Southwest Houston (CSW). Central-Southwest Houston contains a collection of subdivisions separated by underdeveloped land, old land fills, and many heavy industries. The neighborhoods are plagued with unemployment, single-parent homes, gang violence, juvenile delinquency, reduction in home ownership, and high school drop-outs. According to the 2000 Census, the population is 42,000, of which 15,000 are children (ages 0-19). The neighborhood is predominately African-American (56%) and Hispanic (36%). Nearly one out of every four people in CSW is without a high school diploma. One out of every three households lives below the federal poverty level. Seventy-four percent of the students at Madison High School are considered at-risk of dropping out of school (www.slehc.org/HNI/HNI_Summaries/CSW_Collaborative.cfm).

Who We Serve

The NFC has been serving the communities of Central-Southwest Houston for nearly 30 years. With it membership nearing 2000 families, New Faith provides outreach programs that are effective, consistent, and passionate. The programs have withstood the economic, ethnic, and various demographic changes occurring in the surrounding communities.

Programs

Many of the programs provided by the NFC fall under one of the ministries of the church: Educational Development, Age of Grace, Operation Faith Family, Rites of Passage and Arts and Drama. Following is a brief summary of some of the programs.

The Educational Development tenet provides educational and tutorial opportunities for all ages, as well as operates a licensed day care for infants to first grade. Additionally, scholarships are provided to deserving high school students who participate in a nine month development program.
Age of Grace provides activities, workshops, clothes, meals, and social gatherings for people over the age of sixty-five. In the surrounding community, ten percent of the population is members over the age of sixty-five, and those numbers are growing each year (http://cbtcws.cityofhoustin.gov/zipcodes).
Operation Faith Family helps individual households, by adopting those families, identifying their needs and assisting in the rebuilding process with that family. Never before has Operation Faith Family’s capacity to respond been greater then when survivors of Hurricane Katrina came knocking on New Faith’s doors. The volunteers set up daily food and clothing banks, where hurricane survivors could gather all that they needed. There were information booths, where packets (with important contacts, lists of schools and businesses, maps, etc), were given to them. New Faith introduced nearly 350 hurricane survivors to Houston and Central-Southwest Houston, through this venue (2005 Annual Report, New Faith Church).
The Rites of Passage helps youth (ages 11-18) create and accomplish personal and professional goals; teach responsibility and accountability, create a safe and engaging environment, and expose them to fresh ideas. The success of the girl’s Rites of Passage program, with nearly three hundred participants over the past eight years, has spurred the implementation of the boy’s Rites of Passage (2005 Annual Report, New Faith Church).

Needs Statement

On any given day, there are 50-150 youth gathered, to learn new projects; participate in the arts; and gain exposure to exciting ideas, places and people. These youth programs are geared toward contradicting the media images and concepts children are bombarded with daily.

Not all program participants are members of the church but rather, the community at large. These programs are meeting needs. The truth is in the numbers. Through the years, the programs have grown to accommodate even more participants, varying in age and culture. Indeed, CFF’s desires to expand the outreach programs beyond the walls of the church are coming to fruition. CFF is seeking youth serving resources to strengthen the existing programs, thus broadening its abilities. Youth serving resources are needed for educational programs: Scholarships, Tutoring, Mentoring, and Arts.