Bonita House of Hope-Bonita Street Project

Over the last ten years, the Bonita House has offered housing and social services to the disadvantaged and homeless population in Houston, TX. It has earned the respect and support of the community and stands as a beacon of hope for the city's most disenfranchised population.

As we now know, Hurricane Katrina caused the devastation of entire cities and towns, leaving the lives of countless survivors in mayhem. In an effort to provide some stability in such a time of uncertainty, Bonita House took in twenty-four families within days of the storm who were forced to evacuate their homes in New Orleans and come to Houston with nothing. These displaced families, numbering more than 120 women, men and children, were in desperate need of housing, food, clothing, household items, baby supplies, medical care, prescription drugs, transportation, emotional and spiritual support.

As part of The Oprah Winfrey Show's coverage of Hurricane Katrina, Chris Rock visited the shelter providing solace to the victims and shining a bright light on people who were not only homeless, but living in a foreign city. Wanting to do more, he enlisted the support of Malaak to help provide the shelter with the necessary goods that were immediately needed. Within days of being told of the priority items, the Rocks secured donated in-kind goods from major corporations, including Baby's R US, Baby Style, Bed, Bath and Beyond, Crate and Barrel, and Scholastic Inc. Chris then made a second visit with his wife to offer hugs, encouragement, and promote Bonita House of Hope's efforts by doing a live-interview with CNN's Anderson Cooper and securing coverage in People Magazine.

In December of the same year, the Rocks returned and sponsored a Christmas Party for the families, purchasing age-appropriate gifts and personally handing them out to each child followed by a wonderful Christmas dinner with the families.

Feeling a deep need to help move families out of the shelter and into permanent housing, the Rock's chose a family to sponsor, while also successfully encouraging friends to do the same. Working in partnership with Redbook Magazine on a story detailing the lives of these families, Redbook secured multiple sponsors, including JC Penney, Benjamin Moore & Co., Liz Claiborne Home, Venetian Blind, and Floor Carpet One to decorate the house the Rock's acquired, providing the family with a safe sanctuary and beautiful home to begin their new life in Houston.

For more on the story, click here.

Bonita House was founded in 1995 by Tyrone Evans in order to provide substance abuse treatment and transitional living to substance abusers, homeless people and ex-offenders. Originally, a dilapidated drug infested apartment complex controlled by drug dealers and crack addicts, Bonita House now serves as a means to rehabilitate many of those who had once overrun the property with crime and addiction. Bonita House transformed the crack house into a project that gives people hope and a chance to re-enter society as productive citizens.

For the past 9 years, Bonita House has successfully operated an 18-unit transitional living facility located on Bonita Street in northeast Houston, and has served over 800 homeless and chronic substance abusers, veterans and ex-offenders in the greater Houston metropolitan area. In May 2005, Bonita House opened a 64-unit facility to provide transitional and long-term housing, rehabilitation and childcare for women and children in the community. Fourteen of these units were used to serve Katrina evacuees. For more information, please visit www.bonitahope.org.



Journey For Change Brooklyn Services Child Abuse Awareness Champions for Children 10 Signs of Child Abuse Hurricane Katrina Relief Children's Defense Fund Freedom Schools Bonita House of Hope South Africa Programs Orphans and Vulnerable Children Quick Facts Styleworks Triple Negative Breast Cancer Foundation Blessed is the influence of one true, loving human soul to another. —George Eliot For more inspirational quotes, please click here.	Bonita House of Hope-Bonita Street Project Over the last ten years, the Bonita House has offered housing and social services to the disadvantaged and homeless population in Houston, TX. It has earned the respect and support of the community and stands as a beacon of hope for the city's most disenfranchised population. As we now know, Hurricane Katrina caused the devastation of entire cities and towns, leaving the lives of countless survivors in mayhem. In an effort to provide some stability in such a time of uncertainty, Bonita House took in twenty-four families within days of the storm who were forced to evacuate their homes in New Orleans and come to Houston with nothing. These displaced families, numbering more than 120 women, men and children, were in desperate need of housing, food, clothing, household items, baby supplies, medical care, prescription drugs, transportation, emotional and spiritual support. As part of The Oprah Winfrey Show's coverage of Hurricane Katrina, Chris Rock visited the shelter providing solace to the victims and shining a bright light on people who were not only homeless, but living in a foreign city. Wanting to do more, he enlisted the support of Malaak to help provide the shelter with the necessary goods that were immediately needed. Within days of being told of the priority items, the Rocks secured donated in-kind goods from major corporations, including Baby's R US, Baby Style, Bed, Bath and Beyond, Crate and Barrel, and Scholastic Inc. Chris then made a second visit with his wife to offer hugs, encouragement, and promote Bonita House of Hope's efforts by doing a live-interview with CNN's Anderson Cooper and securing coverage in People Magazine. In December of the same year, the Rocks returned and sponsored a Christmas Party for the families, purchasing age-appropriate gifts and personally handing them out to each child followed by a wonderful Christmas dinner with the families. Feeling a deep need to help move families out of the shelter and into permanent housing, the Rock's chose a family to sponsor, while also successfully encouraging friends to do the same. Working in partnership with Redbook Magazine on a story detailing the lives of these families, Redbook secured multiple sponsors, including JC Penney, Benjamin Moore & Co., Liz Claiborne Home, Venetian Blind, and Floor Carpet One to decorate the house the Rock's acquired, providing the family with a safe sanctuary and beautiful home to begin their new life in Houston. For more on the story, click here. Bonita House was founded in 1995 by Tyrone Evans in order to provide substance abuse treatment and transitional living to substance abusers, homeless people and ex-offenders. Originally, a dilapidated drug infested apartment complex controlled by drug dealers and crack addicts, Bonita House now serves as a means to rehabilitate many of those who had once overrun the property with crime and addiction. Bonita House transformed the crack house into a project that gives people hope and a chance to re-enter society as productive citizens. For the past 9 years, Bonita House has successfully operated an 18-unit transitional living facility located on Bonita Street in northeast Houston, and has served over 800 homeless and chronic substance abusers, veterans and ex-offenders in the greater Houston metropolitan area. In May 2005, Bonita House opened a 64-unit facility to provide transitional and long-term housing, rehabilitation and childcare for women and children in the community. Fourteen of these units were used to serve Katrina evacuees. For more information, please visit www.bonitahope.org.	Journey for Change: Empowering Youth Through Global Service is a volunteer program that recently took 30 at-risk youth from Bushwick, Brooklyn to Johannesburg, South Africa. Please click here to learn more. To support the year-long program, please click here. To view a CNN.com video of the participants in South Africa, please click here. To read Soledad O'Brien's Behind the Scenes: Out of Bushwick on CNN.com, please click here. To read Journey for Change participant blogs on CNN.com, please click here. To read the cover story on Journey for Change in Time For Kids Magazine, please click here To view pictures taken by Journey for Change Participants on Timeforkids.com, please click here To view Journey for Change photos, please click here. JOURNEY FOR CHANGE SPONSORS Sponsors Media Sponsors (RED) was created by Bono and Bobby Shriver, Chairman of DATA to raise awareness and money for The Global Fund by teaming up with the world's most iconic brands to produce (PRODUCT)RED branded products. A percentage of each (PRODUCT)RED product sold is given to The Global Fund. The money helps women and children affected by HIV/AIDS in Africa. Read about Annie Hausmann, a full-time volunteer living in Bergen County, New Jersey. Read about Linda Langstraat, Executive Director and founder of Adopt-A-Grandparent. 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