Twin City Mission, United Way partnership vital to serving Brazos Valley residents

BRYAN, Texas (KBTX) -Twin City Mission is one of 26 agencies partnering with the United Way of the Brazos Valley to ensure people experiencing setbacks like homelessness and domestic violence have access to the essential resources necessary to have a quality life.

Founded in 1963, Twin City Mission is the oldest private social service agency serving the Brazos Valley. For six decades, Twin City Mission has provided over 28,000 meals and 16,000 nights of shelter for those experiencing homelessness. The nonprofit also provides services free of cost to survivors of domestic violence and dating violence in all seven counties of the Brazos Valley.

Survivors and their children in need of emergency shelter are referred to Phoebe’s Home, a component of Twin City Mission. People in need of Twin City Mission’s domestic violence services receive nutritional meals, laundry facilities, daily needs like toiletries and clothing), transportation, and recreational activities at the 24-hour emergency shelter.

Twin City Mission’s homeless and housing services is provided through the Doug Weedon Shelter for Hope in Bryan. The Doug Weedon Shelter for Hope provides emergency housing for persons or families in need regardless of race, gender, ethnicity, or religion. The shelter’s goal is to supply more than just a place off the streets of the Brazos Valley but to identify each person’s needs and develop a plan to get everyone into more permanent housing.

The nonprofit’s campus also features a community closet and café that provides free clothing and household resources along with two hot meals each weekday for any individuals in need. The Community Closet is located at 418 N. Bryan Street, at the corner of Bryan and 22nd streets in downtown Bryan. The Closet is open Monday, Wednesday, and Friday mornings from 8:00 a.m. to 11:00 am. The Community Café is located at 410 S Randolph Ave in Bryan and is open Monday-Friday at noon and 5:00 pm.

Twin City Mission prides itself on its Rapid Re-Housing program, which is part of a strategy to end homelessness using low-barrier methods to end “chronic homelessness.” The Rapid Re-Housing program aims to shorten shelter stays for clients and provide short-term rental assistance to get those chronically homeless, back on their feet. The program also provides housing assistance to veteran families and survivors of domestic violence. As part of the program Twin City Mission provides case management, food, eye and dental assistance, education assistance, and work attire if needed for those in the Rapid Re-Housing program.

In addition to the services mentioned above Twin City Mission also provides youth & family services to kids ages 0 to 17 and their families. These services include short-term, solution-focused family services, working with individuals and family members.

Providing these umbrellas of service is no easy task and takes dedication from countless volunteers and support from the community. In addition, the nonprofit’s partnership with the United Way of the Brazos Valley is critical to the work done at Twin City Mission.

“We’re able to do so much more collectively than any of us can do and it’s through the direction and the guidance and the support that the United Way of the Brazos Valley gives to each of us individually that makes all of us stronger,” said Twin City Mission’s director of community relations Ron Crozier. “Individually we can make a difference, collectively we can make a change. We can be the change we talk about.”

Laray Galloway knows firsthand how vital and life-changing the services that Twin City Mission provide, so much so that they were once a client at the shelter and are now serving as a kitchen supervisor for the nonprofit’s community café. Galloway says the opportunity to give back and serve the community is a dream come true.

‘People are homeless and just to know that they have an opportunity to come here at the mission, to have a place where they can actually get help, and actually get three meals a day and actually have someone care about their well-being,” said Galloway. “Knowing where I come from and the struggles where I have come from and now today I’m in a place now where I can give back and help others with so many different things.”

For more information on the services provided by Twin City Mission, you can visit their website at www.twincitymission.org/

To donate to the United Way, click here.

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