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Natasha Welborn Jones is Our
2014 WholeLifeSM Award Winner!
  

         

 

On June 6, 2014, The Women's Home honored Natasha Welborn Jones as our
2014 WholeLife Award winner.  Natasha accepted the award with a moving speech, reprinted here as an open letter to our community:
  
My name is Natasha Welborn Jones.  I am 41 years old.  To stand before you today is a huge achievement for me, but the journey to get here has been long and tough.
  
I was born September 28, 1972.  Both my mother and father struggled with their own addiction issues.  As a result, I was raised by my grandmother until the age of 10.  My childhood was plagued by irregular and inconsistent visits from my addict parents.  At the age of 10, I was abducted by my mother and stepfather and spent three months living in hiding and seclusion.  This period in my life was my first introduction to drugs and alcohol.
  
By the age of 13, I was a regular user, using whenever I could get my hands on anything.  This was the beginning of my addiction cycle, and my self-destruction.  As a teenager, I skipped school to get high with other teenagers I mistakenly thought were my friends.  My risk-taking behaviors caused me to be shuffled from family member to family member and house to house.  Things got worse as my selection of substances increased and eventually I began running away from home.  To be totally honest, there is not too much I can recall about my teenage years.  However, I do remember that period as the first time that I committed a crime in order to get high.  I started stealing in order to pay for my drugs and alcohol.  My negative behaviors continued to escalate and, in reflection, I was molding myself into someone I really did not like.
  
 
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A Passion For Fashion and Helping Others
  
The Women's Home Development team welcomes Ally Smith, who has been hired as our new Development Assistant for this year's reNew and reDux Fashion Show. Ally was selected from a pool of more than 200 college applicants.  The competition was fierce, but she was ultimately chosen because of her energy, her enthusiasm about fashion, and her commitment to non-profit work.
  
Ally is a senior at Texas A&M in College Station, and is scheduled to graduate in December from the Department of Communications.  She is originally from the Dallas/Fort Worth area, but she has family and friends here in Houston and she hopes to live locally upon graduation.
  
Ally says this internship opportunity stood out to her, not only because of her background in modeling and her interest in event planning, but also because she is especially passionate about The Home's mission in working with women in crisis.  In her spare time, Ally enjoys creative writing, running and painting.  Her parents live in Arlington, and her older brother is a television sportscaster working and living in Atlanta.
  
Expect to see Ally roaming our Montrose campus, and at a boutique or store near you, as she helps to collect clothing and items for our fashion show!  We would especially like to thank ExxonMobil and it's Community Summer Jobs Program, which provided a stipend to help pay for Ally's internship.
  
Welcome Ally!
  
  
 
  
The State of Local Mental Health and Its Effect on Homelessness
 
On June 17, 2014, local city and county leaders, health care providers, community volunteers and students met at The United Way of Greater Houston for a panel discussion entitles "The State of Local Mental Health and Its Effect on Homelessness."  Micah Hirschfield, moderator and TWH board member, opened the panel discussion onto a full house.  Panelists included (above, from left) Laurie Glaze, Executive Director of Texas One Voice: A Collaborative for Health and Human Services, Eva Thibadeau-Graczyk, Director of Programs for the Coalition for the Homeless of Houston/Harris County, and Marc Eichenbaum, Deputy Special Assistant to the Mayor for Homeless Initiatives. 
  
Many who attended that night were donors and volunteers of The Women's Home wanting to know how to become more informed and involved in the issues facing our clients.  Also attending the presentation were students from Rice, Baylor and the University of Houston, passionate about learning to identify solutions to this important social problem.  Also
present were care providers interested in learning more to assist their clients.  In addition, representatives from the county and city agencies were there to support and interact with attendees.
  
There was a frank discussion of the dismal per capita mental health spending levels in Texas (Texas ranks 49th in the nation in spending, an average of only $39 per citizen), which leaves communities ill-equipped to meet the need for behavioral health services, most especially for those who are homeless.  Houston currently has over 1,700 adults waiting for mental health services that simply do not exist.  As a result, many of these unstable individuals are seen, at great cost to taxpayers, at the psychiatric hospitals and, unfortunately, the county jail -- the state's largest mental health care provider.  This is often called "back and spending", money that gets spent after lives have spiraled completely out of control.
  
 
  
A Great Marketing Opportunity with reNew & reDux!
  
Now is your chance to get in on the front row, literally, with a sponsorship to our reNew and reDux fashion event.
  
This annual tradition kicks off the Houston fashion season in the Grand Foyer of The Wortham Theater.  Attended by over 400 young fashionistas last August, it was the haute party in Houston!  This year promises to be even more spectacular, with an estimated crowd of 500-600.
  
Still available are the following levels of partnership:
  
$10,000 - Fabulous Fashionista
Includes: 16 front row runway seats, name or logo on all promotional materials: invitations, website, flyer, banner with company name, booth at event, and brief speaking opportunity
  
$5,000 - Polished Patron
Includes: 10 front row runway seats, name or logo on all promotional materials: invitations, website, flyer, banner with company name, booth at event
  
$2,500 - Charitably Chic
Includes: 8 front row runway seats, name or logo on all promotional materials: invitations, website, flyer
  
$1,000 - Diva Donor
Includes: 4 preferred runway seats, name or logo on all promotional materials: invitations, website, flyer
  
  
Benefits of Being a Sponsor: 
  
*Company name at event and on all promotional items
  
*Promotional items for each attendant (to be placed in a swag bag given to each guest!)
  
*Lots of exposure in local press and media outlets (magazines, online, television)
  
*Great runway seats to the show - VIP treatment and access to VIP lounge  
  
*Sponsorship proceeds directly benefitting the residents of The Women's Home
  
  
  
or
 
 
  
For more information about reNew & reDux, contact Chau Nguyen at 713-328-1950 or [email protected]  
 
The Women's Home's
WholeLife SM Feature Story
    

    

 

The growing efforts of The Women's Home are all tied together by our comprehensive and very effective WholeLifeSM  model, which addresses the emotional/mental, physical, social, spiritual, vocational, and financial wellness of our clients and residents.

 

This week, ten residents of The Women's Home Treatment and Transitional program began a journey in a new class aptly titled "Courage to Search".  They were greeted at the lunchtime gathering with a beautiful new journal and a panel of six enthusiastic and gifted volunteers, ready to guide their exploration over the next eight weeks of spiritual exploration.  The clinical staff and community outreach team at The Home has worked closely with The Institute for Spirituality and Health at the Texas Medical Center to develop this unique program. Under the guidance of Institute Vice President Stuart Nelson, our group will utilize an evidence-based questionnaire that will be the basis for group interaction on topics including:  life review, relationships, present values and decision-making.  Stuart and an academic colleague formulated the questionnaire into what they call a "Meaning Systems Interview", to encourage open-ended exploration and dialogue within the group, and also involves individual contemplation outside the group.  In addition, the program will include a field trip to various sacred sites in the city.

 

In addition to Stuart, an impressive array of volunteers has stepped up to shape the creation of this additional offering to the residents.  Alden Clark, Ann Lister, Angela Caughlin, Janet Vucinich, and Jo Reid have all worked diligently to prepare the curriculum.  They will also serve as facilitators over the coming weeks.  Their combined experiences and education include everything from feminist liberation theology, expression through creative writing, clinical therapy and personal growth through spiritual exploration.

 

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       607 Westheimer  
       Houston, Texas 77006-3915 
       Phone: 713-328-1975
       www.thewomenshome.org