#52Causes: Time To Go Volunteer

Here at Black Sheep, we’ve always been a champion for #GivingTuesday. But we realized that we couldn’t just celebrate ONE DAY and act like that’s the end-all for giving in our lives. We needed to take a megaphone to the streets (well, in this case—Twitter) to talk about causes that people in Houston should be paying attention to. So last year, we started #52Causes, a Black Sheep initiative that shouted out causes worth shouting about. WE LOVE SHOUTING.

But we can’t just talk about the impact that those people are making—we need to come alongside them, offer support and volunteer time and try to push them along to the next level. They’re the ones who are making Houston better. They’re the ones who have our nation’s youth top-of-mind. They’re the ones who see the injustice in the world—and aren’t okay with it. Refugees, children and students, the homeless, our city and the environment are all benefitting incredibly because of the dedication and sacrifice that these people make on the daily. So join us, and get out there.

So GO. Click a link, grab a number and go volunteer. Give back a little. You need it. We need it. They need it. And bring a few friends, cause every single one of these causes is in desperate need of a couple more people to advocate for them. 

Health + Housing

Houston Food Bank believes in food access FOR ALL. In 2015, they distributed 74,000,000 meals to our neighbors in need.

Houston Community Toolbank is a nonprofit that provides fast and easy access to high-quality tools for other nonprofits and charitable organizations, increasing the impact of service projects and community revitalization efforts.

New Hope Housing’s core purpose is to provide affordable, permanent housing with support services for people with limited income.

Bike Houston is changing Houston by creating better places to ride your bike. They offer community education programs to teach motorists about cyclists’ rights and cyclists about their rights and responsibilities.

Undies for Everyone enhances the self-esteem, hygiene and success of Houston’s disadvantaged students by providing them underwear. It may seem like something you can take for granted, but there’s a lot of work to be done.

Project Row Houses is a community-based arts and culture non-profit organization in Houston’s northern Third Ward.  It was founded in 1993 as a result of the vision of local African-American artists wanting a positive creative presence in their own community.

Vecino Health Centers is a collaborative, community-centric healthcare clinic working to create a better quality of life in Houston. 

Homelessness

SEARCH Houston works to engage, stabilize, educate, employ and house individuals and families who are homeless.

Houston Coalition for the Homeless is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to provide leadership in the development, advocacy and coordination of community strategies to prevent and end homelessness. 

Star of Hope is dedicated to meeting the needs of homeless men, women and their children, offering emergency and transitional housing, employment, education and substance abuse recovery.

Montrose Grace Place provides a safe, welcoming environment for vulnerable, homeless youth of all sexual orientations and gender identities, providing nourishment, healthy relationships, and hope for the future.

Child Safety + Advocacy 

Child Advocates mobilizes court appointed volunteers to break the vicious cycle of child abuse. They train everyday people to advocate for the best interests of children in court so they can find safe environments where they can thrive.

Children At Risk serves as a catalyst for change to improve the quality of life for children through strategic research, public policy analysis, education, collaboration and advocacy. They focus on four pillars: parenting, health and nutrition, human trafficking and public education.

Refugee Welfare

PAIR Houston’s mission is to empower refugee youth to navigate American society, reach their academic potential and become community leaders.

Amaanah Refugee Services works to help refugees as they settle near Houston.This is important—did you know that if Houston were a country, it would rank 4th in the world for refugee resettlement? Every year, there are approximately 2,500 refugees from all over the world resettled in the greater Houston area. 

Plant it Forward Farms offers economically disadvantaged refugees an opportunity to become self-sufficient through growing, harvesting and selling produce from a sustainable urban farm within the city of Houston.

The Community Cloth is a micro-enterprise initiative targeting the economic, educational and social needs of refugee women in Houston.

Social Justice

United Against Human Trafficking is a coalition of Houston-area nonprofits, organizations and government agencies that are determined to end trafficking.

Animal Welfare

Friends For Life is Texas’ only LEED certified, no-kill shelter, which also provides spay and neuter services in low-income communities, fighting animal overpopulation. Since 2008, they’ve had a 508% increase in adoption rates.

Scout’s Honor Rescue is a nonprofit animal rescue organization that focuses on rescuing and placing homeless, neglected or abused dogs and cats in Houston and surrounding areas. The program is “foster based,” that is, each of the rescued animals is placed in a temporary foster home, where it receives much-needed love, care and structure while it waits for its permanent home.

Camps + Outdoors

Camp For All is a unique camping and retreat facility that works in collaboration with other non-profits to provide life-changing programs for children and adults with challenging illnesses and special needs. 

Girls Rock Camp Houston is a camp geared towards girls, ages 8-18, focusing on instrumentation, songwriting, history of women in music, team-building, touring and promotions.

Education + Arts

Houston Zoo provides educational resources and opportunities for people of all ages to connect with and learn about the animal kingdom and the environment. They also partner with other organizations to save animals, implement conservation strategies and protect the wild.

WindSync isn’t just a revolutionary chamber group; they’re strongly committed to educational enrichment and promoting arts engagement for everyone, providing unconventional and approachable opportunities to experience classical music for all communities.

AIGA Houston advocates for design as a vital creative force and supports local designers looking for resources and education.

The Mitchell Center for the Arts at the University of Houston commissions and produces new works, presents public performances and exhibitions, offers curriculum and scholarships, and hosts residencies with renowned visiting artists from throughout the world.

Workshop Houston offers youth development programs that challenge and inspire students to be bigger and bolder than they previously thought possible.

Fresh Art is dedicated to strengthening the sustainability and vibrancy of Houston’s thriving, innovative and diverse arts sector.

Making It Better is a non-profit providing literacy, leadership and life skills to under served elementary students.

Houston’s Makerspace is a shared workspace in Houston with tools, resources, education and community for makers of all skill levels. Sadly, they’ve closed as of August 2016. 

Empowerment

The Greater Houston Women’s Chamber of Commerce is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the advancement and empowerment of women through avenues of leadership, education, advocacy and mentoring.

Dress for Success Houston aims to empower women to achieve economic independence by providing a network of support, professional attire and development tools to help women thrive in work and life. To date, they’ve served over 32,000 women in the Houston area.

Girls Inc. Houston Chapter works to break down social, educational, cultural and economic barriers preventing girls from reaching their full potential.

DiscoverU provides Fantastic Learning Opportunities and resources for at-risk youth, empowering them to take the next steps toward higher education.

Community

Neighborhood Centers believes that our neighborhoods are bridges to opportunity—that people can transform communities and that everyone everywhere has something to contribute.

Houston Tomorrow is a nonprofit dedicated to improving the quality of life for everyone in the Houston region. If it sounds like a huge undertaking, that is because it is.

Salvation Army: Houston is implementing various programs and services intended to meet human needs without discrimination. Across the Unites States, over 33 million Americans rely on the services provided by The Salvation Army.

United Way: Houston works to transform lives and bring long-lasting systemic change to real issues that permeate our lives. One in five families has trouble buying groceries and 62% of families are worried about the current financial status. One, that’s heartbreaking. Two, issues like that keep families from focusing on important things—like encouraging their kids to overachieve in school or enrolling them in extracurricular activities. Three, we can help fix this.

Conversation

Interfaith Ministries brings people of diverse faiths together for dialogue, collaboration and service. Interfaith Ministries also provides the city’s Meals on Wheels program and helps with refugee resettlement.

The Center for Houston’s Future was founded in 1992 as a research organization of the Greater Houston Partnership. As a think tank, The Center for Houston’s Future works to solve our region’s toughest problems by engaging diverse leaders, providing impactful research and defining actionable strategies. 

The League of Women Voters of the Houston Area is a nonpartisan organization encouraging informed participation in government and the resources to do so.

The Rice University Kinder Institute for Urban Research is a multi-disciplinary “think-and-do tank” housed on the Rice University campus in central Houston. The institute focuses on urban issues in Houston, the American Sunbelt and around the world and their work is crucial to reform projects all over the city. 

The Houston Hackathon is an initiative that gathers developers, designers and enthusiasts for 24 hours of collaboration on civic projects.

The Butterfly PJCT is a movement out of Holocaust Museum Houston about hope and humanity, calling on the public to participate and help shift the global mindset from conflict to connection.