We Are Expanding Prevention Services in our Community

February 5, 2020 by Mayda Salgado

Strengthening Families… Expanding Prevention Services in our Community

We are excited to announce the award of a Texas Health and Human Services Commissions grant, Strengthening Families Program (SFP) that began at the first of September and will be in place for a full five year cycle. Sites for the program include selected elementary and middle school campuses in Houston ISD, Spring Branch ISD, Spring ISD and Aldine ISD. Families are referred by counselors and Communities in Schools staff. They are also recruited at school events like Open House Night, Coffee with the Principal and school fairs. The aim is to strengthen family resiliency skills at a crucial time of development for young adolescents.

SFP offers sessions for six to ten families per group over a ten week session at each site. The sessions are held during the school year and in the summers at community center sites. Participating children and their parents meet separately for an hour, have a break and snack time together and then reassemble for a combined group of children and adults for an additional hour. These groups are led by two separate facilitators. The topics change from week to week and include research and skill -based lessons: the daily practice of complimenting the good and elimination of harsh criticism; making family rules and reward systems for good behavior; creating family traditions, learning about and engaging in social services available in the community; learning how drugs and alcohol hijack the brain; problem solving through win-win negotiations and pre-problem solving to stay out of trouble and many other beneficial family techniques. The vocabulary used is age appropriate and the overall intention is to build resiliency in children and families enabling them to reach their full potential, one of Santa Maria’s overriding goals.

We are pleased to introduce our staff recently hired to lead SFP. Please help us welcome Luz Daris Mosquera who holds a Bachelor’s in Social Work and a Master’s of Science in Community Education and Development and Luz Nelly Barrera with her Bachelor’s in Social Work. They serve as our facilitators and program leads. Both Ms. Mosquera and Ms. Barrera came to us after distinguished service at Escape Family Resource. They work directly with Teresa Garcia, Senior Director of Intervention and Prevention Services, expanding the wide array prevention services we offer.

With children facing the introduction of substance experimentation as early as elementary school, this researched-based program goes a long way to build the resiliency of families in many parts of our community. It is the face of RecovHERy.

Twitter For Good Elevates Houston

January 21, 2020 by Mayda Salgado

Twitter For Good Elevates Houston

One Day -13,000 Volunteer Hours

Last week the city of Houston welcomed about 4,400 Twitter employees (Tweeps) from 35 of their different global offices. They gathered in Houston for one of their “Twitter For Good” staff meetings. They chose to come to Houston because of the resiliency Houstonians showed after Hurricane Harvey.

Twitter, with the help of Volunteer Houston -a program of Interfaith Ministries for Greater Houston that connects individuals, groups, and companies with non-profit agencies to transform the Greater Houston community through volunteerism- coordinated a major logistic effort to deploy about 4,000 volunteers in one day to 51 different nonprofit organizations. At each agency the Tweeps tackled several different projects leaving behind refreshed and refurbished areas. Together, they provided over 13,000 volunteer hours in just one day! This was the biggest Twitter For Good event ever! Santa Maria was honored to be among the selected sites.

Even before the volunteer projects started on Monday January 13^th, Twitter organized a Happy Hour to show the appreciation to the nonprofit organizations for partnering with them for Twitter For Good. This was a great opportunity to meet and network with members of the other nonprofit organizations and also it created an opportunity to connect with the top leadership staff from Twitter.

On Thursday January 16^th, two different groups of Tweeps contributed to Santa Maria with two different projects. The first group of 30 Tweeps repackaged baby wipes and laundry detergent into individual packages for our clients. This project was completed in the ballroom at Hilton Americas where over 400 energetic participants assembled to complete a variety of tasks adeptly organized by Volunteer Houston for a multitude of agencies.

The second group of 50 volunteers was transported to our Bonita House campus at around 11 am, where after having lunch and a brief introduction to our organization and some members of our leadership staff, they were able to tackle different projects such as: painting the interior of our building including 3 bathrooms, repainting one long hallway and our training room, a spot that even included detail paint work with inspirational quotes. They also helped to sort and organize clothing and linen donations in the store and storage unit.

Together these two groups combined contributed close to 400 volunteer hours to Santa Maria!

Another amazing way Twitter wanted to give back to the local nonprofit organizations in Houston, was through an in-person training to share Twitter best practices to develop a more effective and engaging presence on Twitter.

The impact this group of volunteers made in our community is immeasurable. We, at Santa Maria feel honored and truly grateful to Twitter and Volunteer Houston for partnering with us to make our beloved Houston a better place.

Please follow Santa Maria on Twitter, and all other social media platforms that you may be part of. We are also on Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn.

Three Tweeps with the lead volunteer coordinator for or project from Volunteer Houston.
Biz Stone, Co-founder of Twitter with Carmen Jones, our Senior Director of Operations and Housing at the event hosted by Twitter at The Grove in Downtown Houston.
Ned Segal, CFO of Twitter with Carmen Jones, Senior Director of Operations and Housing.
Tackling down the paint job in one of our hallways at Bonita House.
Two energetic Tweeps having fun while volunteering with us.
Sorting toddler and infant clothes by size.
Some detaill paint work with inspirational quotes.
Painting one of our bathrooms.
One of the Twitter volunteers helping us organize the garments at the non-transactional store we have at Bonita House.
Repackaging baby wipes and laundry detergent into individual bags for our clients.
A group of 50 Twitter volunteers tackled different projects at Bonita House on January 2020.
Twitter trainers Lauren Devoll and Andrea Pereira, Public Policy & Philanthropy Associates for Twitter with Mayda Salgado our Marketing Manager.
Twitter For Good Best Practices Training for Non-Profits to help us develop a more effective and engaging presence on Twitter.

2019 BHP Community Quarterback Award goes to Santa Maria for the 3rd year in a row

December 16, 2019 by Mayda Salgado

With the Community Quarterback awards, the Houston Texans and BHP recognize outstanding volunteers from local United Way agencies working to make Houston a better place. On December 8^th, during the Texans vs. Broncos football game, these awards were presented to ten volunteers from different nonprofit organizations around our city.

Robert “Mac” McMillan a Santa Maria (SM) volunteer was one of the nine finalists and was awarded a $5,000 donation to benefit our organization. This is the third year in a row that one outstanding volunteer from SM, has received this award.

Mac has volunteered at SM for over 17 years and since then, he has contributed to more than 9,000 volunteer hours to our organization. His work started when he joined the SM Board of Directors in 2002. Then, in 2005, Mac joined the SM Foundation Board, where he was also elected treasurer. Today, he still holds this position and has been responsible for keeping the SMF accounting books for 14 years.

In 2009, he retired from his full-time job at the Houston Chronicle and immediately began his volunteer work as in-house auditor/CPA for our Accounting and Finance Department. Mac has since volunteered an amazing average of 70-80 hours per month!

Because of his extensive previous public audit and accounting experience and knowledge, Mac has been an outstanding volunteer who takes on many different accounting tasks with joy. His input ranges from intense accounting strategy discussions to filing paid invoices. “He has been my sounding board for many years” Barbara Page, CFO says. “We get multiple fiscal audits a year, and Mac plays a big role in helping us be audit-ready at all times”.

We are so thankful for his nearly two decades of commitment to Santa Maria and for his constant support and contribution to the success of our organization. Please join us in congratulating Mac upon receipt of this is well-deserved recognition.

Another Santa Maria honoree includes the 2018 BHP Community Quarterback Award finalist Kathy Griffin-Grinan, who serves as Human Trafficking Director for Harris County Constable Precinct One. In 2017, Lisa Carpenter, a Santa Maria alumna and one of our Board members was also recognized with this award! We are certainly fielding a team of winners! Congratulations one and all!

Read our Fall/Winter 2019 Newsletter

November 21, 2019 by Mayda Salgado

Download 2019 Fall/Winter Newsletter

Fall / Winter 2019 Newsletter

November 21, 2019 by Mayda Salgado

Healing For A Family

We hear a lot about the opioid crisis but often that information focuses on statistics, hard-hit communities and the causes of this public health crisis. Meet Holly, a woman who can put a face to the trauma and despair brought by opioid dependency but who can also shine the light on the hope and joy of the pathway to recovery and healing.

Her addiction began at age 13 with an over prescription of pain killers after a tonsillectomy. The pills eased not just her physical pain but the emotional one that she suffered after the death of her father at that tender age of preadolescence. She was not aware how deeply she was grieving, and there was no intervention to assist her to cope with the feelings of loss. Over the years and like so many others, she migrated to other drugs after she could no longer obtain those prescribed. She used cocaine, meth and later heroin in the search for something that would dull the pain and the tragic consequences of her addiction. Although early on she completed residential treatment, she was unable to continue sobriety.

Holly is the mother to three children, two born during her addiction. As a consequence of her dependency, her children were removed by CPS. She missed important milestones of their development. Along the way, she also experienced near death through overdose and traumas too numerous and private to elaborate on. She found the refuge and
help of Santa Maria after the birth of her third child. A caring physician insisted she have a plan for treatment before she was discharged from her maternity hospital stay. Her mother suggested Santa Maria, and Holly entered residential services coupled with medication assisted treatment, surrounded by the support she so desperately needed.

With the help of court liaison services offered through SMH she regained custody of her children. With guidance from her peer recovery coaches and counselors, she completed treatment, enrolled at Houston Community College and secured childcare for her children. She resides at Bonita House in the sober living apartments with her family. All of her family members have been strengthened by the many services available to children and families. Holly is studying counseling and is determined to become involved in the world of recovery services as her profession. Today, she shares a warm smile, thoughtful insight into her future and the hope she envisions for her children. She asked that we recognize the Santa Maria staff “Coach Patera and Coach Traci, Mr. Tommy Austin and Ms. Amelia Murphy, my inspiring team of counselors and advocates… I could not have come this far without them!”

She is the face of RecovHERy.

Download the Fall/Winter 2019 Newsletter

April Dawn, The Face of RecovHery

November 21, 2019 by Mayda Salgado

April Dawn was born in a small town in the hills of southeastern Kentucky, given a name that illuminated the light, beauty, and joy of a newborn’s arrival to the world. Somehow, her infancy and childhood became, instead, a nightmare of abuse that left her scarred permanently and alone with her pain and humiliation. April’s parents did not offer love and protection, but were responsible for her abuse. At the age of four, she was hospitalized for six months to heal internal wounds. At 13, she was “sold” to a man that took her away from her home and married her with parental consent. The time in between was a constant story of abuse at the hands of those who were supposed to guide her growth, treasure her spirit. There was no intervention.

To mask her searing emotional and physical pain, she learned to numb her feelings with alcohol, taking her first drink at age 9 and becoming a full blown alcoholic by age 10. By the age of 15, she almost died from alcohol poisoning and it still turns her stomach to think of drinking. She found opiates and meth as a replacement to numb her pain. “I knew I was numbing, when I felt sad, that was my clock… I knew it was time for more drugs.” She suffered through three abusive marriages and brought four children into the world. She had periods of sobriety, trying to be a good mother on her own. Although she was not actively using drugs, she did not did not receive treatment for her loss and trauma. “I had seven years sober, but I was not in true recovery….I know that now.” Her sobriety did not last. Eventually, she lost custody of her three children and a fourth died. Her life was again spiraling downhill.

Eventually, April was sent to inpatient treatment by Harris County, a condition of her probation for a possession charge. This offer of treatment over jail time turned her life around. She spent 30 days in the county program and was released with a determination to stay on a straight path. However, she found herself returning to a very unhealthy situation in a home in Baytown. She simply was not surrounded by the support needed to change her life, but rather the temptation to return to a life of misery. Without a safe place to stay and in danger of being at odds with her probation orders, she called her peer recovery coach Deborah who dropped everything and came to April’s side. Deborah was available because Santa Maria’s coaching team is attached directly to the county treatment program that April had just completed. Participants in the program are given a lifeline contact number to keep close and encouraged to reach out for any need or concern. Coach Deborah brought her to Santa Maria, recognizing that additional treatment and support were absolutely necessary. The staff at SMH coordinated with April’s probation officer and made sure she was compliant with court orders. April began her 60 day treatment in our intensive program.

While in admissions at Santa Maria, April said, “I saw a sign that read trauma informed care which I didn’t really understand, but I knew that my life was filled with violence and that I needed that.” Safe in her room and at the Jacquelyn campus. She could identify with every other client and learned much from their stories. With the help of her counselors, she began to rebuild her trust and confidence. She opened up in recovery, looking at the real reasons that she had become an addict. She found that she had suppressed her feelings for years and came to understand that the abuse, fear and humiliation were connected to her life choices. She became more resilient, believing she could live her life and thinking differently about her future. April began to envision a different kind of life.

Near the end of her program, she discovered that she needed to have faith in something outside herself, that she could not do it on her own. For months, her coaches and counselors had held her faith and her inspiration. She was angry with God, for the abuse and for the loss of her children. Again, a peer recovery coach guided her to her next safe haven. April moved to a faith-based treatment campus for the next period of healing. During her participation, she set down her anger with God and made an important spiritual and emotional shift. She discovered a belief system that had never been presented in her life. She blossomed.

Today, April Dawn is back at Santa Maria. She is hard at work earning her GED through our education program. She is living in sober housing on our campus at Paschall. She is enjoying reunification and some limited involvement with her children, thanks to the support of our CPS liaison services. They are all receiving family counseling and although she won’t regain custody anytime soon, she is healing with them through their efforts. She jumps at the chance to stay connected to the community of those in recovery. She is active in our PAC (Peer Advisory Council) and jumps at every opportunity she can to tell her story to others that are struggling. She dreams of a shot at working in technology, learning programming skills; a dream she never dared voice before.

After an entire lifetime of violence, trauma, addiction, and defeat April Dawn has worked with her team to create a supportive structure for healing and hope. That structure is as individual as her own story and has been “wrapped around her” for maximum success. It takes the extensive and dedicated work of an entire staff, in concert and with great compassion, to both recognize and provide all of the services a woman needs to be whole, perhaps for the first time in her life.

When asked how she feels, she says “Victorious, I am victorious. With drugs there is nothing but death at the end, but with recovery there is anything that I want.” She is the face of RecovHERy.

Exxon Mobil improves our facilities during two full days this Fall

November 7, 2019 by Mayda Salgado

We could not be more grateful to Exxon Mobil for partnering with Santa Maria and United Way of Greater Houston for the two amazing Day of Caring events that took place at our Bonita campus on September 5th and at our Jacquelyn campus on October 25^th.

The first group consisted of 90 volunteers from the Global Lubes group. The main project was to build a beautiful, large deck for our playground area. This effort took a lot of preparation. Our staff met with their lead team coordinator, Vivian Winston, weeks in advance of the Day of Caring to coordinate all the details and prep work. Three other volunteers, Paul Davis, Paul Graber and Jeff Howard visited our campus the day before bringing all the equipment to drill and complete the prep work required for our deck to be built the next day. In addition to this laborious project, other teams of volunteers tackled landscape improvements on all the main green areas and to painted two rooms, a bathroom and kitchenette in the residences of the Women with Children Program (WWC). One additional team of volunteers sorted clothing donations for nearly three hours. In total, this group of 90 Exxon volunteers contributed to more than 780 volunteer hours and about $6,000 worth of supplies. We would especially like to recognize Terry Neal, Global Lubes Operations Manager for leading by example and working alongside his team to make Santa Maria Bonita House a more attractive and functional home for clients and staff to enjoy.

The second group consisted of 106 volunteers from the Procurement Department. Their main project was to provide outdoor furniture for our garden and hallways, since we had a shortage of seating areas at our Jacquelyn House. The day started early and it was cold and rainy, but the weather did not stop this incredible group. They started working at 8 am on five different projects: carpentry, painting, landscaping, holiday decorating and cleaning. The heavy cleaning took place mainly in the sheds and with the pressure washing of the courtyard. The decorating was inspired by the fall and Halloween season. Their cheery decorations were spread throughout the reception area and big group room. The landscaping effort was spread throughout the green areas in our courtyard and back patio. Other teams worked on painting a few common rooms and offices. The biggest team focused on carpentry. Doug Fisher, did an outstanding job leading this team. For two months prior to the group event, he worked in his spare time, after work and on the weekends, to precut and prepare all the wood necessary so outdoor furniture could be assembled at our campus in just one day! They were able to provide us with twelve outdoor benches, six side tables and six picnic tables. The carpentry team also built a sturdy and high-quality gate around the trashcans. This addition made a positive impact on the appearance of our campus.

There were so many areas under construction and painting the staff planned a day off campus for our clients. We appreciate City Council Member, David Robinson and his office staff for providing tickets for an outing to the Houston Zoo. These tickets made a special day for our inpatient clients who returned home to a much improved and beautiful campus.

It’s been so wonderful to have such talented and committed volunteers at Santa Maria. We are truly grateful for all the hard work and dedication they put towards upgrading our facilities. Our clients, women and children are getting to enjoy the benefits of their hard work every single day. Our sincere appreciation!

Our community partners from UHDowntown visit Bonita House

November 1, 2019 by Mayda Salgado

We were happy to host our community partners from University of Houston Downtown on Wednesday October 28, 2019; Jonhatan Schwartz, Dean of College of Public Services, Ashley Blackburn and Judith Harris from the Criminal Justice Faculty.

We are honored of the collaboration we have with UH Downtown since 2015. We are proud to join our efforts to inspire a brighter future for treatment, response and success. We look forward to continuing to share our strengths and expertise to building on to our current partnership.

Volunteers from DOW Chemical visit Santa Maria

October 3, 2019 by Mayda Salgado

On September 13, a group of 30 volunteers from DOW Chemical, visited Santa Maria -Bonita House for a Day of Caring.

This group of volunteers were visiting Houston to attend the company’s annual Employee Resource Group (ERG) conference called “EMERGE”. This conference brings together more than 400 employees from 30 countries and diverse job roles, functions and businesses in Houston, Texas.

Through a partnership with Volunteer Houston, DOW Chemical employees, visited a total of nine local non profit organizations for a day of service projects throughout Houston. They selected Santa Maria based on our passion to serve the marginalized and at risk women and children. The project performed at our main campus consisted on painting the exterior wrought iron perimeter fence.

Thank you Volunteer Houston and DOW Chemical for your support to Santa Maria and the community in recovery!

Exxon Mobil brings more than 90 volunteers for a Day of Caring

September 26, 2019 by Mayda Salgado

On September 5^th we hosted a large group of volunteers from ExxonMobil at our Corporate Offices. This amazing group of people worked very hard to build a beautiful deck in our playground area. Make sure you look at the photos at the bottom of this article. They also did a great job beautifying our campus by landscaping all the main green areas. Two rooms were painted, one of them is the group room, bathroom and kitchenet of WWC (Women With Children) Residential program. A few volunteers even helped to sort clothing donations for about 3 hours. We are very happy and grateful for this Day of Caring from ExxonMobil. Altogether, they contributed to more than 780 volunteer hours and about $6,000 worth of supplies on these projects. We are truly honored to have them come serve the community in Recovery. Special thanks to Vivian Winston for all the communications and prep work done that made this project possible. Shout-out to Terry Neal, Global Lubes Operation Manager for leading with example and working alongside all his team to make Santa Maria a nicer looking place for staff and clients to enjoy!