Walter survived two of the deadliest hurricanes to hit the Gulf Coast – and now he’s looking for a second chance. A Louisiana native, Walter rode out Hurricane Katrina in his home state. But after losing his house in the storm and burying three family members, he fell into a deep depression.
He moved to Fort Worth hoping for a fresh start, but before he knew it, he was out of work and living on the streets. “You have to be willing to try. But I didn’t have any motivation,” Walter says. “I got adapted to what was going on, and I didn’t want to budge.”
After a grueling decade of homeless life, Smith had an epiphany. “I said, ‘I’m better than this’. And I went to school.” He completed job training classes and had a renewed sense of confidence. That’s when he decided to move to Houston to find work on the ship channel. But before he could establish roots in the Bayou City, he found himself treading water again – this time in the floodwaters of Harvey. “It was like a roller coaster ride. Every time I’d try to go up, I’d go down further.”
But someone stepped in and gave Walter a life raft in the midst of the storm. He now has a place to live, thanks to New Hope Housing – one of the many charities supported by the UMW Spring Thing Market.
Houston, like many sprawling cities has a housing problem for this community. Our town needs about 185,000 affordable housing units and studies estimate every night close to 3,600 people sleep on our streets or in shelters. Once Harvey’s floodwaters receded, Mayor Sylvester Turner had a problem on his hands. Many people staying at the George R. Brown simply had nowhere else to go. That’s when the mayor asked New Hope to step up to the plate.
New Hope converted an old downtown shelter into temporary housing for people displaced by the hurricane, giving people like Walter, a solid foundation again. Here he can get his life back together with a place to stay, hot meals and – more importantly – a case manager.
New Hope staff members walk alongside residents as they deal with things like mental illness, addiction or other chronic health conditions. So someone like Walter won’t just get a warm bed; he will get medical help and job counseling.
It’s charities like New Hope that Chapelwood’s UMW Spring Thing Market has been supporting for its 55-year history. Non-profits like these not only help women and children; they offer long term solutions for what seem like impossible problems.
The Spring Thing Market works to fund non-profits that can help people and ultimately, make them disciples for Christ. For Walter, his Christian faith has been one of the only constants in his life. “He carried me when I couldn’t walk. When my motivation was gone, He was my strength.” Through New Hope – God is giving Walter that second chance.
The Spring Thing Market’s primary mission is to provide grants for women’s and children’s charities throughout the world. But the secondary mission is to help our Houston partner ministries like New Hope Housing, who have extended extra help in the wake of Harvey to rebuild and recover lives and homes. The United Methodist Women of Chapelwood United Methodist Church hope you will join us for 3 fabulous days at the Spring Thing Market, February 27-March 1 – The market with a mission! Visit www.chapelwood.org
