Cy-Fair Resource Guide: Food, financial help available

The year is coming to a close, but financial concerns for people hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic continue.

Nonprofit and community organizations in Cy-Fair, such as Northwest Assistance Ministries and Cypress Assistance Ministries, have worked to fill in gaps for local families with food, school supplies, financial assistance and mental health services for all ages.

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Food Assistance

Cypress Assistance Ministries, a nonprofit for low-income families in need of assistance is seeking donations and volunteers in order to continue providing to the local community.

“In order to serve the people who find themselves in crisis we need the money to help them with their rent, mortgage or utilities, plus money to continue to pay the rent and utilities on our buildings and personnel costs,” said Janet Ryan, director of development for Cypress Assistance Ministries. “The community continues to be generous in their donations of food. CAM’s greatest need at this time is money and volunteers.”

As of Oct. 1, anyone receiving food from CAM will need one of the following documents: SNAP, social security benefits, disability benefits, veteran’s benefits, proof of free lunch or breakfast through CFISD, Medicaid, CHIP or an award letter from a government funding program.

“Individuals not currently participating in one of these assistance programs must make an appointment with a client assistance counselor to determine eligibility,” Ryan said. “This is more in line with how we operated prior to the onset of the coronavirus pandemic.”

CAM is also in need of financial donations to help clients with bills and food.

Families in the 77065, 77095, 77429, 77433 and 77084 ZIP codes can receive free food with an ID and proof of residence at the food pantry from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., Monday-Friday on typical weeks. For the week of New Year’s, the office will be open from 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday through Wednesday; from 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Thursday; and will be closed on Friday, according to CAM’s Facebook page.

The CAM food pantry is located at 11265 Huffmeister Rd. in Cypress.

For more information, visit www.facebook.com/cypressassistance.

Cy-Hope is a nonprofit benefiting low-income students in Cy-Fair ISD. Cy-Hope is hosting the Hope Is Not Cancelled fundraiser, asking community members to help them recover $450,000 of funding lost due to COVID-19. For more information, visit http://www.cy-hope.org/.

Cy-Hope is also in need of volunteers for bagging food each month. For more information, visit www.facebook.com/CyHopeTx.

Cy-Fair Helping Hands, a nonprofit dedicated to homeless and low-income communities, is also providing food for Cy-Fair area families. On Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and the first and third Saturdays of the month Cy-Fair Helping Hands provides perishable and nonperishable foods from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. with a drive-thru model.

For more information, including how to donate, visit www.facebook.com/CYFAIRHELPINGHANDS.

Northwest Assistance Ministries, or NAM, serves hundreds of in-need families a week through their onsite food pantry with both nonperishable and perishable foods and is using a drive-thru model.

NAM is providing food assistance Monday-Friday from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. at their main building.

NAM is in need of food and financial donations. Frozen meat, fruit and vegetables, and canned and dry goods are needed for the food pantry.

“Northwest Assistance Ministries has seen a consistent increase in requests for rent and food assistance,” Carr said.

NAM is located at 15555 Kuykendahl Rd. in northwest Houston. For more information, visit www.namonline.org.

Financial services

NAM also provides financial assistance for clients needing help with bills or other expenses after losing their job due to COVID-19.

“Because of the way our funding is structured, our advice to our clients is to use the unemployment (payments) for your utilities, for your prescriptions, for some groceries and allow us to subsidize the rent because we can make that one payment to the landlord and get that caught up,” Carr said.

NAM has launched an online application process for rent and mortgage assistance, where applicants can submit all appropriate documents without visiting the nonprofit.

For more information, visit www.namonline.org.

The Cy-Fair Houston Chamber of Commerce has a community resources page, www.cyfairchamber.com/wearecyfair, where small businesses can apply for SBA loans, catch up on the most recent mandates on COVID-19 from the state government and individual instruction for navigating loan and benefits application.

For more information, visit www.cyfairchamber.com.

Mental health assistance

Shield Bearer counseling sessions are being held through remote teletherapy sessions due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The nonprofit works with different financial situations to provide counseling for a variety of mental health challenges including grief, abuse, addictions and relationship issues.

According to the organization’s Facebook page, Shield Bearer has experienced an increase in the demand for mental health services and is seeking financial donations to help the organization continue meeting clients’ needs.

For more information, visit www.shieldbearer.org.

Senior Pastor Floyd Smith with Igniting God’s Vision Ministry , a 19-year-old ministry in the Cy-Fair area, said the ministry has continued to operate the recently launched Turning Peer Pressure to Peer Power program and counseling for the local community.

“We’ve launched this ministry enough to where we’re already dealing with the issues they are struggling with,” he said. “Our goal is to save money to get our own building or land so we’ll be able to bring them and go through the counseling process. My concern is on the counseling side and what people are going through at this time not only with the teens but also with the pandemic.”

Cy-Hope also offers counseling and speech therapy both in-person and through telehealth. In-person appointments require clients to wear a mask, practice social distancing and wait in their car until the beginning of the appointment.

To schedule an appointment, call 713-466-1360. For more information, visit www.cy-hopecounseling.org.