Brown County Home Solutions (BCHS), an organization dedicated to the cause of preventing homelessness, providing rapid rehousing and temporary housing to those in the community who are in need, named Angelia Bostick their first Executive Director on Wednesday afternoon.
Bostick, a longtime Brownwood resident, recently retired from the position of executive director of Good Samaritan Ministries in Brownwood, a local food bank and discount clothing store that helps thousands of people who are “down on their luck and need a hand up.” Bostick had worked at GSM for 25 years, and as she said, it was a hard decision to retire, but that she felt God was calling her to something else. One board member, Pastor Ron Keener of North Lake Community Church, stated that this has been a spiritual journey for Bostick.
According to Bostick and other board members, there is a need for housing in Brownwood for many citizens, whether they are “down and out,” facing sudden loss of family, aging out of the foster care program, or many other reason. Homelessness is often defined by not having a permanent residence of your own or residing in a place, such as a vacant home, that is not adequate or safe to live in, according to Bostick. No matter what the reason, BCHS has a goal to help people who do not have a home or are close to becoming homeless. Bostick and the board stated that there are more than 60-70 people that the local charitable organizations regularly help and consider homeless in Brown County, and that statistics from about two years ago reported 30 children in the Brown County schools as being homeless. This illustrates the need for an organization such as Brown County Home Solutions.Originally formed about four years ago by concerned citizens and leaders of nonprofit agencies throughout the county, BCHS was formed as a coalition and has over the years worked to become a non-profit corporation. Officially a 501 c (3) organization, all donations are tax deductible. The organization has been supported by monetary donations, the donation of their building which was a local church, and local grants, according to board members.
Chairman of the BCHS Board James Fuller stated that the organization has come up with many great ideas and now has enough funding to make some things start happening for their cause.
“Hopefully we will become more active in what we are working toward, to build the program up to see if it is going to work in our community,” said Fuller.
The first step, he stated, was the hiring of Bostick as their executive director. With her help and expertise, experience from being the former executive director at Good Samaritan Ministries, it is believed Bostick will lead the organization into motion, becoming active to find solutions to homelessness. The decision to hire Bostick, according to Fuller, was made by a unanimous vote of the board. He stated that she will not only be the executive director, but with her previous work experience she will be the board’s “boss, help spearhead ideas, and be a guiding light.”
“It is very conceptual what we are planning to do, we’re trying to figure it out. It’s like we are in the pencil drawing stage of what we want to accomplish and what we can accomplish with the help of a larger partnership of the community” said Fuller. “We hope that she (Bostick) will be able to accomplish the same for us (in comparison to the work she did developing Good Samaritan Ministries). She’s been on the board for a couple of years already. There’s no one more dedicated, Angelia has the heart and brains to do this.”
Bostick stated that now it is time to find out if the community is willing to support such a cause in the community. She stated, “We’ll be able to gauge if the community supports this by their giving or if they don’t petition to shut it down.”
The first step of BCHS, she explained will be to get the grounds of the organization ready for action. The Brown County Home Solutions headquarters, a church building located at 1101 Avenue D in Brownwood, was donated by the church that previously occupied it. This was a huge donation, according to Bostick. She explained that the property has additional room to possibly build several tiny houses for those BCHS will serve. She stated it has to be determined just how tiny the houses can be built, by checking with the city regarding ordinances and restrictions.
Also under BCHS’s consideration is possibly using the church to house those in need of temporary housing. She explained that the organization is working to help those specifically in Brown County, not people outside the community, that the group wants to take care of the local need.
Bostick also explained that BCHS is working to survey the different help organizations throughout Brown County to be able to partner with and not duplicate services that are already available. Board members include leaders and executive directors from many of the local nonprofit help agencies such as Family Services Center, Center for Life Resources, Christian Women’s Job Corps, Veterans Supportive Services, along with local law enforcement, and local churches. She stated, “We want to create self-sufficiency, not teach our clients to rely on the system.”
Bostick stated that right now the group is not ready to accept donations like beds, instead, they need lots of prayers and monetary donations.
“I don’t know where God is going to take us, but I know he has something planned or I wouldn’t be here,” said Bostick.
BCHS has a plan to have the program operational within six months’ time. Bostick stated that she hopes the community doesn’t judge the success of BCHS when they see someone standing on the street corner with a sign asking for help. She and Fuller explained that a part of the homeless community is happy with their life, they do not want any confines or rules, that they enjoy living day to day as an adventure.
BCHS is also getting help from a local church, North Lake Community Church, which not only takes up a monthly offering specifically for BCHS, but has dedicated members who volunteer their time to help mow and maintain the BCHS property. Their pastor, Ron Keene is on the BCHS board of directors, he explained their desire to help the organization.
“We feel like it’s a Biblical calling, we hope to represent and inspire other churches to fulfill the Biblical mandate to take care of those in need,” said Keene. He further explained that they would like to be an example to everyone in Brown County that you can partner with something in the community and support a cause that you believe in.
