Posted by Bruce Wood on Sep 28, 2022
 
Rotary Club of Lake Houston Area President Eric Gomez thanks guest speaker Tiffany Stafford, Development Director, Humble Area Assistance Ministries (HAAM) with a literal token of the club's thanks for her presentation explaining the many programs HAAM provides to local low and moderate income families in financial crisis.
 

Do you know of an individual or family in crisis which is struggling to meet its basic needs? HAAM provides help and hope to very low-, low- and moderate-income individuals and families in need. Do they need help with food? rent? education? employment? job training? medical care? utilities? clothing? new baby?  

According to its mission statement, Humble Area Assistance Ministries (HAAM) is an interfaith organization that helps local area residents in crisis by providing essential resources to help families move toward self-sufficiency. HAAM is a joint effort in association with 34 local houses of worship.

Tiffany Stafford, HAAM Development Director, shared HAAM’s mission statement and how they are helping local families and individuals in critical need to Lake Houston Rotarians during their Wednesday luncheon at the Lake Houston Family YMCA.

HAAM’s goal is to effectively serve those in financial crisis and provide a path for their economic independence. Ms. Stafford explained HAAM does this by providing opportunities for job training, financial education and help with social service agencies

Ms. Stafford said HAAM provided 1,276,804 services which helped 12,315 (unduplicated) people in 2021. Their non-profit organization’s assistance was supplemented with the help of 4,513 volunteers.

HAAM does more than provide basic needs. Their programs include senior services, family services, employment, outreach, supportive services, disaster relief and an unsheltered program.

For example, the Employment Center provides one-on-one assistance with trained volunteers who offer practical suggestions to employment problems. Services include resume-building, interview coaching, job search assistance and more.

The Helping Hearts program provides clothing, food, supplies and other items for new moms and babies in the first year of life.

Senior services provided, in addition to basic needs, are: Meals on Wheels, Senior nutrition packs, Bordersville community center, and counseling services.

In addition to providing services to families and individuals, Ms. Stafford went on to say HAAM operates two retail thrift stores where they sell gently used furniture, household land clothing items and accept donations for their stores. The Humble HAAM Resale Store is located at 1204 First Street East and the second store, Black Cat Junction Resale Store is at 22310 Loop 494 in Kingwood.

For more information about HAAM, the services they provide, to apply for assistance, make a donation and/or to volunteer, visit their website at https://haamministries.org/




The "Token"


Rotary Club of Lake Houston Area members and guests meet at 11:45 a.m. Wednesdays for their weekly lunch meeting at the Lake Houston Family YMCA, 2420 West Lake Houston Pkwy. in Kingwood.

The Summer Creek Satellite Club meets the 2nd and 4th Tuesdays of the month at 8:30 a.m., at Generation Park 3rd floor Nimble Office Suite, 250 Assay St., Houston.

For more information about Rotary or membership, visit www.LHARotary.com or search for our Facebook page @LakeHoustonAreaRotary.