Blessing of an Auto for a Single Mother

A huge THANK YOU to Christian Brothers Automotive and its business owner, Kevin Carroll for their incredibly generous donation of a beautiful vehicle to support one of our single moms in our temporary emergency shelter here in New Braunfels, Texas.

This gift will truly be life-changing. With a newborn and two toddler children, reliable transportation means everything — the ability for this mom to get to work, safely take her children to daycare and school when the time comes, and soon drive her family to their very own permanent home, which we anticipate securing within the next 60 days.

It is community partners and committed donors like owner Kevin Carroll who make the mission of Family Promise of Greater New Braunfels possible. Your generosity creates permanent and impactful change in the lives of the families we serve.

Thank you to the entire Christian Brothers staff for helping make this dream come true.  Please share this post to show our community that love, empathy, and hope is alive and working in Comal County!

 Pictured accepting the donation on behalf of the family are Executive Director, Rachelle Garza-Cadena, and Social Worker, Haven Rea. (For confidentiality, we are unable to show the mom receiving the vehicle.)

A Better Tomorrow- NEW EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

BUILDING A BETTER FUTURE: New executive director working to revitalize Family Promise nonprofit in New Braunfels | News | herald-zeitung.com

Meet Executive Director, Rachelle Rene' Garza

The new executive director of the nonprofit Family Promise of Greater New Braunfels, Rachelle Garza-Cadena, was inspired to apply for the role because the nonprofit’s mission to help families with children experiencing homelessness gain independence resonated with her tremendously.   

The New Braunfels Family Promise affiliate has been hurting since the pandemic as it affected the organization’s operations and fundraising abilities. Now, staff are working to revitalize the nonprofit and increase its presence in the community.  

Family Promise operates off of four pillars — eviction prevention, temporary shelter, the shelter diversion program and the stabilization program. Making sure each child they serve has their own bed is a mission that is personal to Garza-Cadena, she said.   

“Most importantly for me is to make sure that every child who walks through our door, that [then] they’re leaving [and] they’re going to walk into their own bedroom, have their own bed to lay their head down to dream big dreams. That’s my motivation. I didn’t have my own bed until I was 14-years-old, so I firsthand know how it breaks a child growing up.”

She has been in her role with Family Promise for about 90 days now and has come up with a strategic plan to increase provided services by 78% this fiscal year. Her goal is to ensure that the nonprofit is operating off of all four pillars and to greatly increase fundraising efforts and community events.  

She said she thinks it is important for the community to know that homelessness is all around, and Family Promise needs the help of the community to tackle the issue, whether it be through donations, volunteering or attending fundraising events.

“As New Braunfels continues to grow, so does homelessness, and most people don’t see it around because we’re not a city that has homeless people living in the streets or camped out like sadly some other cities do, but homelessness is when somebody does not have a home of their own,” Garza-Cadena said. “It could be that they’re sleeping on the couch at a relative or a friend’s [house]. They could be sleeping in a hotel. They could be sleeping in a shelter, in their car. Homelessness comes in many forms and sadly, one out of seven children nationwide are homeless.”

Family Promise aims to be a responsive solution for families in crisis. Garza-Cadena gave an example of three sisters who came to the area from another state for a better life. When living with a relative did not pan out, they came to Family Promise. 

“They came to our center, and they were broken,” Garza-Cadena said. “You would rarely see them with their head up because their heart was heavy. Their mind was bogged down like ‘what do we do?’ They met kindness and care and genuine love for them from our staff. They felt safe.”

Now, the oldest sister is thriving in her job, and the sisters are soon preparing to move into their own place. Their heads are up, and they are full of smiles, Garza-Cadena said. 

“That’s what our mission does, it’s literally transforming lives,” she said.

To learn more about Family Promise of Greater New Braunfels, visit fpgnb.org/.

Erica Wilson is the New Braunfels Herald-Zeitung's education and nonprofit reporter. 

It's a Housing Homerun!

The Williamsons* had been doing everything right: both parents had steady jobs, they'd lived in the same home for seven years and always paid their rent on time, and their son was thriving in school.

But when both parents lost their jobs, they were unable to afford rent, and the family lost their home. They began living out of hotels and used the family car as a backup home when they couldn’t find a vacancy. Then, their car broke down beyond repair. Their savings depleted, Henry and Elaine explored shelter options but found most shelters full or unable to accommodate families with adult males. Henry and Elaine couldn’t imagine splitting up their family just to have a bed at night.

They felt like they were on an unimaginable losing streak, but Fort Bend Family Promise in Missouri City, TX, helped them hit it out of the ballpark. The family entered the shelter program and kept their son in his school. Family Promise worked with Henry and Elaine to find new jobs, budget their finances, and rebuild their lives. Before long, the Williamsons moved into permanent housing and even acquired a new car, thanks to Family Promise’s partnership with Recycled Rides.

Henry and Elaine feel Family Promise gave them a new lease on life, saying, “We got back more than what was taken from us to make our lives feel normal again.”

How’s that for a home run story?! *Names changed to protect the family's privacy