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Created page with "300px|right|thumb|The front of Bethany House '''Bethany House''' is a settlement house, a 501(c)3 nonprofit..."
[[Image:Bethany House in downtown Laredo, TX IMG 1972.JPG|300px|right|thumb|The front of Bethany House]]
'''Bethany House''' is a settlement house, a [[501(c)3]] [[nonprofit organization]], that assists the [[homeless]] and other indigents in [[Laredo]] and Webb County in south [[Texas]]. It was founded in 1982 by the [[Roman Catholic]] Father Charles M. McNaboe (1929-1996) as a soup kitchen to provide lunches to, originally, seventeen poor persons.<ref name=bethany>{{cite web|url=http://bethanyhouseoflaredo.org/page02.php?id=18|title=History of Bethany House|publisher=bethanyhouseoflaredo.org|accessdate=January 5, 2010}}</ref>
The facility expanded into a permanent location downtown at 819 Hidalgo Street as a result of the donation of land by the family of Maria Bruni Leyendecker. (1885-1968).<ref>Maria Bruni Leyendecker (1885-1968) - Find A Grave Memorial, accessed May 1, 2021.</ref> The main mission of the facility is to provide hot meals without charge to the indigent.<ref name=bethany/> There is also a Thrift and Vintage stores for clothing, the latter designed to provide higher quality outfits for the poor seeking employment.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.yellowbot.com/vintage-store-bethany-house-laredo-tx.html|title=Vintage Store, Bethany House|publisher=yellowbot.com|accessdate=January 5, 2010}}</ref> The soup lunch kitchen evolved into meal services three times daily.<ref name=bethany/> Bethany House offers extended services for home-delivered meals and for "Kid’s Cafes", an outreach to children, mostly at public housing centers and at the Lamar Bruni Vergara Boys and Girls Club.<ref>Julian Aguilar, "To the rescue: Heartfelt pledges keep Kid Cafes open, add one," ''The Laredo Morning Times,'' December 11, 2008, pp., 1, 8A.</ref>
In August 2002, Bethany House acquired a second nearby property to establish the Guadalupe and Lilia Martinez Resource Center and Emergency Shelter, named for a late philanthropic couple from Laredo.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://airwolf.lmtonline.com/news/archive/042503/pagea1.pdf|author=Tricia Cortez|title=Bethany House dedication: Mayor [[Betty Flores]] takes over ceremony", April 25, 2003|publisher=''Laredo Morning Times''|accessdate=January 6, 2010}}</ref>
Since a national [[recession]] began late in 2007, more families sought assistance from Bethany House, according to its then director, Barbara Kazen (1941-2011), wife of [.S. District Judge [[George P. Kazen]].<ref name=hunger>Julian Aguilar, "Help for the Hungry: Bethany House raises awareness of growing problem," ''The Laredo Morning Times,'' November 20, 2008, pp. 1, 13A.</ref> In November 2008, Laredo observed "National Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week." Laredo [[Mayor]] [[Raúl González Salinas]] led a public march to draw attention to the plight of the needy: "Right now, we are living through very difficult times, but Laredo is a very special city. It's a city where those who have less are always willing to give the shirts off their backs to help others. We must get through this crisis. We must think positive."<ref name=hunger/>
Approximately a third of Laredo residents live at the poverty level,<ref name=hunger/> but donations from citizens and business groups beyond Bethany's budget have enabled the settlement house to expand its operations. For instance, in 2008, Mrs. Kazen received a grant from United Parcel Service to help the organization establish services for the unemployed.<ref name=hunger/>
Bethany House remained open through [[Christmas]] 2009 with additional mattresses placed inside the cafeteria to meet high-capacity needs.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.pro8news.com/news/local/80098072.html|title=Bethany House keeps their {sic} doors open over the holidays|publisher=KGNS-TV ([[NBC]] in Laredo)|date=December 24, 2009|accessdate=January 5, 2010}}</ref> Each year Bethany House serves some 300,000 meals and more than five million pounds of food.<ref name=hunger/>
In January 2014, Bethany House unveiled its Barbara A. Kazen Center for Hope, a new complex which provides nine additional transitional housing units for needy families. The $2.3 million project encompasses approximately ten thousand square feet.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.lmtonline.com/articles/2014/01/18/front/news/doc52d8a65d2364a863428849.txt|title=Philip Balli, Bethany House celebrates expansion|date=January 16, 2014|publisher=''The Laredo Morning Tines''|accessdate=January 18, 2014}}</ref>
The current Bethany House administrator is Fanny Finkler Stavorowski of Laredo.<ref>Fanny Stavorowski - Director for Bethany House of Laredo, Inc. (corporationwiki.com), accessed May 1, 2021.</ref>In 2014, she received the national Jefferson Awards Foundation honors in [[Washington, D.C.]], for her twenty-five years of work on behalf of the homeless through Bethany House. By 2013, more than 361,000 meals were served at Bethany House. Stavorowski contributed toward these efforts through her fundraising for the organization.<ref>"Jefferson Awards Foundation: Laredoan honored at national ceremony," ''The Laredo Morning Times,'' June 19, 2014, pp. 1, 12A.</ref> In June 2015, Manuel Santos received the Jefferson honors for his thirty years of employment at Bethany House. Santos, who worked in food delivery for the Bethany House home-bound program, also garnered a [[Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis]] Award for his personal commitment to positive change in the community.<ref>"Santos recognized for public service," ''The Laredo Morning Time,'' June 19, 2015, p. 1.</ref>
==References==
{{reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bethany House (Laredo, Texas)}}
[[Category:Texas]]
[[Category:Welfare and Poverty]]
'''Bethany House''' is a settlement house, a [[501(c)3]] [[nonprofit organization]], that assists the [[homeless]] and other indigents in [[Laredo]] and Webb County in south [[Texas]]. It was founded in 1982 by the [[Roman Catholic]] Father Charles M. McNaboe (1929-1996) as a soup kitchen to provide lunches to, originally, seventeen poor persons.<ref name=bethany>{{cite web|url=http://bethanyhouseoflaredo.org/page02.php?id=18|title=History of Bethany House|publisher=bethanyhouseoflaredo.org|accessdate=January 5, 2010}}</ref>
The facility expanded into a permanent location downtown at 819 Hidalgo Street as a result of the donation of land by the family of Maria Bruni Leyendecker. (1885-1968).<ref>Maria Bruni Leyendecker (1885-1968) - Find A Grave Memorial, accessed May 1, 2021.</ref> The main mission of the facility is to provide hot meals without charge to the indigent.<ref name=bethany/> There is also a Thrift and Vintage stores for clothing, the latter designed to provide higher quality outfits for the poor seeking employment.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.yellowbot.com/vintage-store-bethany-house-laredo-tx.html|title=Vintage Store, Bethany House|publisher=yellowbot.com|accessdate=January 5, 2010}}</ref> The soup lunch kitchen evolved into meal services three times daily.<ref name=bethany/> Bethany House offers extended services for home-delivered meals and for "Kid’s Cafes", an outreach to children, mostly at public housing centers and at the Lamar Bruni Vergara Boys and Girls Club.<ref>Julian Aguilar, "To the rescue: Heartfelt pledges keep Kid Cafes open, add one," ''The Laredo Morning Times,'' December 11, 2008, pp., 1, 8A.</ref>
In August 2002, Bethany House acquired a second nearby property to establish the Guadalupe and Lilia Martinez Resource Center and Emergency Shelter, named for a late philanthropic couple from Laredo.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://airwolf.lmtonline.com/news/archive/042503/pagea1.pdf|author=Tricia Cortez|title=Bethany House dedication: Mayor [[Betty Flores]] takes over ceremony", April 25, 2003|publisher=''Laredo Morning Times''|accessdate=January 6, 2010}}</ref>
Since a national [[recession]] began late in 2007, more families sought assistance from Bethany House, according to its then director, Barbara Kazen (1941-2011), wife of [.S. District Judge [[George P. Kazen]].<ref name=hunger>Julian Aguilar, "Help for the Hungry: Bethany House raises awareness of growing problem," ''The Laredo Morning Times,'' November 20, 2008, pp. 1, 13A.</ref> In November 2008, Laredo observed "National Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week." Laredo [[Mayor]] [[Raúl González Salinas]] led a public march to draw attention to the plight of the needy: "Right now, we are living through very difficult times, but Laredo is a very special city. It's a city where those who have less are always willing to give the shirts off their backs to help others. We must get through this crisis. We must think positive."<ref name=hunger/>
Approximately a third of Laredo residents live at the poverty level,<ref name=hunger/> but donations from citizens and business groups beyond Bethany's budget have enabled the settlement house to expand its operations. For instance, in 2008, Mrs. Kazen received a grant from United Parcel Service to help the organization establish services for the unemployed.<ref name=hunger/>
Bethany House remained open through [[Christmas]] 2009 with additional mattresses placed inside the cafeteria to meet high-capacity needs.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.pro8news.com/news/local/80098072.html|title=Bethany House keeps their {sic} doors open over the holidays|publisher=KGNS-TV ([[NBC]] in Laredo)|date=December 24, 2009|accessdate=January 5, 2010}}</ref> Each year Bethany House serves some 300,000 meals and more than five million pounds of food.<ref name=hunger/>
In January 2014, Bethany House unveiled its Barbara A. Kazen Center for Hope, a new complex which provides nine additional transitional housing units for needy families. The $2.3 million project encompasses approximately ten thousand square feet.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.lmtonline.com/articles/2014/01/18/front/news/doc52d8a65d2364a863428849.txt|title=Philip Balli, Bethany House celebrates expansion|date=January 16, 2014|publisher=''The Laredo Morning Tines''|accessdate=January 18, 2014}}</ref>
The current Bethany House administrator is Fanny Finkler Stavorowski of Laredo.<ref>Fanny Stavorowski - Director for Bethany House of Laredo, Inc. (corporationwiki.com), accessed May 1, 2021.</ref>In 2014, she received the national Jefferson Awards Foundation honors in [[Washington, D.C.]], for her twenty-five years of work on behalf of the homeless through Bethany House. By 2013, more than 361,000 meals were served at Bethany House. Stavorowski contributed toward these efforts through her fundraising for the organization.<ref>"Jefferson Awards Foundation: Laredoan honored at national ceremony," ''The Laredo Morning Times,'' June 19, 2014, pp. 1, 12A.</ref> In June 2015, Manuel Santos received the Jefferson honors for his thirty years of employment at Bethany House. Santos, who worked in food delivery for the Bethany House home-bound program, also garnered a [[Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis]] Award for his personal commitment to positive change in the community.<ref>"Santos recognized for public service," ''The Laredo Morning Time,'' June 19, 2015, p. 1.</ref>
==References==
{{reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bethany House (Laredo, Texas)}}
[[Category:Texas]]
[[Category:Welfare and Poverty]]