Kevin Hattery is the president and CEO of Boys & Girls Club of Greater Houston. He gives me another opportunity to talk about the Houston Area's generous spirit. They will have 20 clubs open this fall, thanks to new funding from some of our major corporations. They also have a long-standing relationship with NASA, providing their club kids with a direct connection to the best science center in the universe.
They are opening the STEAM Center at their flagship location: the John & Cissy Havard Boys & Girls Club and they are celebrating their long-standing relationship with the Astros with the Great Futures Dinner on September 13th. You can be there. Just go to their website which is also where you'll find info on how your kids can join. The annual fee is only $5 and they are currently registering for the Fall. www.bgcgh.org

Aisha Ussery is the creator and director of Music Doing Good in Schools. She has a Masters of Education and is also a playwright. She brings these skills to schools around Houston to teach students like Curslynn Thomson and Monserrat Meza. Not yet teenagers, they both exhibit a lot of maturity, a great sense of humor and are living proof of the pacifying, civilizing influence of art classes on students.
The classes offer students the opportunity to learn how to take criticism, offer constructive criticism and all of this is of course an opportunity to know people better, understand them more broadly and get along. This summer, Curslynn and Monserrat are training to be mentors for Music Doing Good. For everything you need to know about the Org, click here: www.MusicDoingGood.org

Roy Ferretiz is the bilingual youth and outreach specialist for AVDA: Aid to Victims of Domestic Abuse. They are online at www.AVDA-TX.org and that's where you can sign up for their free Coaching Boys into Men (CBIM) program which has become a vital part of some area high school athletic programs, providing mentorship tools to coaches so that they can be prepared to not only be great role models to their students, but also help them by talking about important subjects like how men should treat each other and of course, women. The program has been a tremendous success but AVDA has many more programs which aim is to reduce all kinds of domestic violence and bullying. Go to their website to get involved.

Dr. Robert Sanborn is the president & CEO of Children at Risk. We discuss the interactive map they have created to show Houstonians how common illegal brothels posing as massage parlors are and how close they are to their homes and children's schools. They exist mostly in affluent neighborhoods like River Oaks and The Village and downtown and they are trafficking women and children into the sex trade. We discuss the Houston Police Department's efforts to prosecute the buyers – the men creating the demand – and treating the prostitutes like victims, which is almost always what they truly are. These businesses enslaved them. We also discuss what can be done by ordinary citizens and calling your city councilmen and state representatives is the way to go. It is how we can muster the political will to stop this scourge. Get involved by visiting Children At Risk's informative website: www.childrenatrisk.org

Eva Thibaudeau is the vice president Coalition for the Homeless. They've received a grant from JPMorgan Chase & co to kick start the LEAP program. LEAP stands for "Landlord Engagement and Assistance Program," which is designed to help Landlords rent to the homeless, who are likely to by using subsidies. We discuss why landlords like the program and how this kind of work, done by non-profits, aided by private companies and our local government, has helped our Houston area reduce homelessness by over 60% since 2010.
Harvey obviously authored a spike in homelessness which means this is a great time to volunteer for the Org or donate to its programs: www.HomelessHouston.org & The Way Home: www.ThewayHomeHouston.org

Jane Weiner is the founder and director of Hope Stone, Inc. and Ashley Horn is an education specialist who c-teaches with Jane a lot. Jane describes Ashely as "magic with children" and indeed, Ashley provides some of those undeniable examples of how an art class, be it dance or other, can help children socialize, build self-respect. As Jane says, Art imbeds itself and those building blocks make for well-adjusted and prosperous people.Jane is also the artistic director of Hope Stone Dance and they will be performing "Coolest News on Planet Earth, chapter 2" at the Moody art center, 9th-15th of August. Click to get involved: www.hopestoneinc.org .

Dr. Melanie Johnson is the President and CEO for The Health Museum. Her PhD in education so I get to geek out about the awesome exhibits they've built which are all interactive teaching experiences. Think fun like Disneyland but all about biology and science. They are offering summer camps and they have the Teen Summit coming in July. This program allows teens to spend time in the medical center, learning from the best in the world. It's a unique partnership the Health Museum has with our medical community.
Go to www.thehealthmuseum.org for information and their schedule for exhibits, mindfulness classes for adults, mixers for young professionals and their movies, too.

Shellye Arnold is the president and CEO of Memorial Park Conservancy. The Kinder Foundation has helped them capitalize $200 million for projects to be competed in the next 10 years. It's a great example of public (city) and private (citizens) partnership which once again puts Houston on the forefront of such projects. They will build a spectacular natural bridge and water features which will also help to retain flood waters. You need to see their plans to believe them. They are truly spectacular. Go get involved, too: www.memorialparkconservancy.org

Allison Booker Brooks is the CEO of the YWCA of Houston. They are celebrating brilliant Houstonians with their Outstanding Women Luncheon on May 24th. You can get tickets to the event on their website and help fund their Meals On Wheels program (they serve 1500 meals a day to elderly Houstonians) and their brand new service center which will help victims of human slavery. We discuss this important subject since Houston is one of the major centers of human trafficking in the US (the other is Los Angeles). Houstonians are building the political will to fight this scourge and it's happening because of the work of non-profits. Got to www.YWCAhouston.org for information on their many services, many of which are now helping people recover from Harvey's flood.

Juliet Stipeche is the Director of Education for the City of Houston and Dave Moss is a McDonald's Owner and Operator and the Founder of Hire Houston Youth. He runs their On The Spot Hiring Program. They are aiming to hire over 7500 Houston Youths and they are providing them with tremendous resources on top of these employment opportunity (like job clothing and bus passes). It's not just McDonald's and the City of Houston, this program involves a lot of competitors and companies from other industries like bank companies, to provide a holistic approach to hiring young people. The aim is to teach them how to prosper in all areas of life. Go to www.hirehoustonyouth.org to find out the location of upcoming job fairs. They are free to all.