By Curt Williams, Founder & Executive Director
It truly takes a wide and varied base of support to keep Youth-Reach operational and available for the troubled kids who continually call for our help. We receive financial support from generous individuals, churches, businesses and foundations. One foundation that has been in long-standing support of Youth-Reach Houston is the Woodforest Charitable Foundation, which is the giving arm of Woodforest National Bank.
Once a small local bank in the North Shore area of east Houston, Woodforest National Bank has grown to have 750 branches in 17 states. Though it is not the practice of most banks, this institution long ago decided to break the mold by giving back to the community, and not just by throwing a few token dollars in an effort to market their name. Through their Woodforest Charitable Foundation and with the leadership of Robert and Kim Marling, this bank is bringing about transformational change.
In 2022, in a truly visionary move, Kim Marling and the Woodforest Charitable Foundation provided $100,000 in seed funds for the building campaign that is today laying the groundwork for the future facilities of Youth-Reach (more on this to come in a future newsletter) and this year, funds were provided to complete some much-needed maintenance projects across our campus.
Basketball court demolition
Concrete being poured
Almost complete!
New basketball court
Among these projects was the big need we faced at our basketball court. Over the years, the court’s concrete surface had cracked and become dangerously uneven. The grant funds paid for the entire concrete court to be broken and removed and for a larger and much nicer concrete court surface to be poured. It is higher, so there will be no rainwater issues, and we were able to bring in select topsoil around the new court thanks to Shades of Texas and new sod thanks to Murff Turf Farm.
Newly painted staff quadplex
The grant also covered the cost to repaint our staff duplex and staff quadplex, along with the purchase of four commercial-grade picnic tables for our pavilion to replace the rusty tables we had there previously. The only project left to complete is the flooring job in our Stage Two home. Stay tuned for a follow-up!
Rusty old picnic tables
Picnic table assembly
The boys were a big help!
New picnic tables
We want to thank the Woodforest Charitable Foundation for the many years of their support for Youth-Reach and all the other amazing programs they so generously fund and encourage. We are grateful!
