6725 Reed Rd., Houston, TX 77087
281-445-9696/FAX 281-501-2723
A message from Maureen
As we continue to move toward summer, one cannot
help but be aware of the growth and energy that
springtime brings. Angela House is no different than
the rest of creation, the grounds are blossoming and
as you will observe in the reading the rest of our
newsletter our residents are also flourishing. Our
new space affords so many opportunities for
expanded programming and occasions to welcome
visitors and volunteers, it is impossible not to be
infected by the energy and hope.
The Angela House residents were guests at the Albert
Schweitzer Fellowship luncheon. Schweitzer Fellows teach
classes like yoga and cooking at AH
The generous support of so many members of our
community is critical to our mission and we are most
grateful. Last month we celebrated the arrival of our
first resident on April 4, 2002 and on May 6th, we
welcomed our 297th resident. Our success rate
continues to hover at 76%. Since implementing our
Healthy and Whole Program in 2013, we have found
that 81% of the women who remained in the program
at least four months have not returned to jail and are
maintaining their sobriety.
On April 30th we welcomed former resident, Kearn
Ardoin as speaker at our “Lunch with a Graduate”.
Kearn completed the Angela House program in
June 2006 and was an inspiration to all in
attendance. Thank you, Kearn…you make us
proud!
Houston City Council Member (District I) Robert Gallegos
joined us for our Lunch with a Graduate event in April. We
appreciate his support and the time he took out of his busy
schedule to spend with us at Angela House. Our wonderful
graduate and speaker Kearn Ardoin is pictured front row,
second from left.
From a Resident
By Toni
My name is Toni. I am
the oldest resident here at
Angela House. What
Angela House gave me
was hope. To believe in
Toni. The way I had lived
was the road to death. But
today I’m able to hold my
head up. And I have a
better life. I thank Angela House, my home for now,
until I’m able to stand and live the way it was
planned for me. So I give thanks for a house of angels
– Angela House.
Join us for FotoFinish 2015!
See the photography of our resident artists when
FotoFest presents FOTOFINISH 2015, the annual
student exhibition. Our residents are the only adult
students who are part of FotoFest’s Literacy Through
Photography program. Their teacher, Angie Dornier, has
helped them produce amazing work.
Location: Spring Street Studios, 1824 Spring St.,
Houston TX 77007
Public Reception: Sunday, May 17, 2-4 pm
Exhibition runs May 13-21, 2015
Gallery Hours: Wednesday – Saturday, 11 am – 5 pm
Have Shears Will
Travel
The Easter Bunny was here!
Members of the Road to Damascus Retreat Group visited
Angela House to share some Easter joy. The group made
gorgeous Easter baskets for our residents, and four
members delivered the gifts and stayed for a tour. We
hope they will bring their entire group to Angela House
for their next meeting or potluck, so we can thank them
all personally. Pictured: Cindy Huggs, Rita Ferguson,
Ellie Disser and Laura Reagor.
Congratulations!
We celebrate with our Program Coordinator,
Tammie Brown, as she accepts her Bachelor of
Science degree in Human Services from
Springfield College. Yeah Tammie! We are so
proud of all your hard work and dedication.
Barbara
Goodson
began the charity Have
Shears will Travel to
share her talents with
others
in
need.
Recently she and her
traveling hair salon
came to Angela House
and performed some
magic! Our resident
Martha (shown here
with her beautiful new
do) said “I look ten
years younger, and I
felt so beautiful when Ms. Barbara was done!” We
are so grateful to Barbara and Have Shears Will
Travel.
Angela House May Newsletter 2015
Volunteer Spotlight – Toni Post
Angela House
receives over 300
letters per year
from incarcerated
women looking for
a place to live
when they are
released. For
almost 14 years,
Toni Post has been the front line for these women.
She answers their inquiries, follows up with them,
and keeps all the information up-to-date in our
database. We all look forward to “Toni Days” when
she is here with us, and hope to live and learn with
her for 14 more years. Thank you, Miss Toni!
From the Board
-by Board President Shelley Robson
The Board of Angela House is growing! We are very
fortunate to have added to our team this past
quarter. Please join us in extending a big welcome to
Stephen Loftin and Paul Antolik. Stephen is a founding
partner of Hicks Thomas LLP, one of Houston’s premier
litigation firms. Paul was a Senior Information
Technology Professional with Exxon Mobil, specializing
in cyber security. We are very fortunate to have their
talents on our board. We put them both right to work at
our strategic retreat in March and they have proven
valuable additions already!
On behalf of the Angela House Board, I would like to
extend our appreciation to Sister Maureen, Maria
Burdick, Teresa Doyle and Tammy Brown for all of
their hard work to gather information and participate in
all of the planning sessions for the Strategic Planning
Process. Angela House runs with a small staff and they
truly put every effort forward to help with this process
while still completing all of their many regular
duties. The Strategic Plan for the 2015-2018 will be
completed at our next board meeting on May 18th, we
are happy to share it with you if you are interested. A
special thanks to Sterling and Associates who helped
guide us through the process and ensure that we had a
solid plan that will map out the next few years. The
Sterling Team does great work.
We are now entering the world of social media, check
out our new Facebook page.........Keep up to date on all
the wonderful activities going on at Angela House!
Healthy and Whole
My name is Tracey Thomas, and I teach pharmacology
classes to the residents of Angela House as part of the
Healthy and
Whole
program. I
observed how
eager the
women were
to lean about
their health,
so I organized
UH College of
Pharmacy
students, in collaboration with Baylor College of
Medicine, to hold a Health Fair at Angela House. We
provided free blood pressure and blood glucose
screenings and presented information about mental
health, nutrition, smoking cessation, HIV/AIDS,
stroke, diabetes and cholesterol. These women are so
committed to living a healthier life that they all want
to join our organization’s smoking cessation
program, so we will be setting up our smoking
cessation initiative at Angela House. This was an
amazing event, and I am so happy that we were able
to be a part of such a pivotal moment in these
women’s lives! Thank you to all those who attended
this health fair, Dr. David Wallace for being our
preceptor and Dr. Andrea Link for allowing us to
come to Angela House!
I began volunteering at Angela House to help me
practice my communication skills; however, I would
have never imagined that I would gain so much more!
Angela House has really opened my eyes in terms of
patient care and education and has helped me
become a more, well-rounded student pharmacist.
-Tracey is pictured in the photo above, seated at the top of the table
in the white coat, reaching out to help someone (of course!). Thank
you, Tracey, for sharing your talents with Angela House.
OUR WISH LIST
Gift Cards
o Kroger, Fiesta
o Walgreens or CVS
o Metro Bus QCards
POWER UP with Stream Energy!
Save on your electricity while helping your
favorite charity, Angela House!
At no extra cost to you, a percentage of your
payment to Stream Energy will come directly to
Angela House. There is a link on our website
(www.angelahouse.org) with more details on the
program and how to sign up.
Miscellaneous
o Postage STAMPS (Forever)
o Zipper storage bags (snack & gallon size)
o Hairbrushes
o Heavy Duty Shower Curtains
o 25-40 Gallon Trash Bags
o Lawn and Leaf bags, compostable
o Toilet Paper
o Multi-Fold Paper Towels
o Indoor flood light bulbs
o Women’s panties (size 7-16)
o Multi-use copy paper (8.5 x 11)
You can also check our website,
www.angelahouse.org, for links to some of the items
we need.
THANK YOU!
The mission of
Angela House:
“To successfully transition women
into society after incarceration.”
www.angelahouse.org
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