Move-In Time At Our Fourth House

Ten months ago, we nearly panicked. Word of the transformation that the Oaks helps female former inmates accomplish was spreading throughout the Texas prison system. More and more inmates were applying and we were almost out of room in our three houses.

We rearranged space to accommodate more residents, several residents graduated, and we got by without having to turn away any of the inmates that were accepted into the program. But we knew we needed to add a fourth house.

Now we are pleased to announce that we leased our newest home and are ready to move in.

The Details

The new house has 4 beds, 2 baths and 1,868 square feet. With some modifications, it will hold six residents, more than or other homes and allowing us to increase our total residency by one-third. It is conveniently located near our other three homes in Humble.

God Stepped In

This was a big step for us. Fortunately, a few angels arrived just at the right time!

United City Church in Humble gave us the funding to lease the house for the first year. Thanks to UCC’s generosity, we were able to commit to getting a house this summer.

Then God stepped in again! We need to lease rather than buy and, unfortunately, many owners don’t want to lease property to programs that work with former inmates. Out of the blue, a couple who are longtime supporters purchased the house specifically so that they could lease it to the Oaks. They also made it possible for us to lease a larger home than we anticipated, allowing us to accept even more residents.

What This Means Today and Tomorrow

We move in in August and will start scheduling new residents for the Oaks around their release dates. It marks a new chapter for us and will require some adjustments to our operations.

With this addition, the Oaks will have added three houses in six years. Our plan is to continue our expansion by adding a new house every two years, so that by 2029, the Oaks will operate six houses where women leaving Texas prisons can make a fresh start and become the people God meant them to be. Who knew when we opened our first house a decade ago that the acorn they planted would grow like this?

Our Resident Remain Our Top Priority

As we grow, we can’t lose track of what has made the Oaks program work. Remember, none of our graduates has returned to prison since 2018. We don't want to lose that now. With more residents living in more houses, we need to make sure the still offer the same quality program and that we still meet the individual needs of each resident.

That’s why our focus needs to be greater than simply adding beds. We need to have the staff to administer the program. We’ll need additional counselors so that we can still provide individual counseling to each woman as they address the complex trauma they have experienced. We need transportation to bring them to addiction recovery meetings, jobs and parole meetings.

Our Stewards’ Campaign Addresses Those Needs

Combine the cost of leasing the house and adding staff, counseling, transportation, and the other elements that make the Oaks program so successful, it adds up to $200,000.

Between the gift from United City Church, other donations and grants we have received, we are more than a third of the way to our goal.

That’s where you come in. Your gift makes transformation at the Oaks possible. It changes the course of women’s lives and even the lives of their children.

Did you know that one of the most accurate predictors of whether a child grows up to be incarcerated is having a mother who was incarcerated? Your gift helps break that cycle.

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