Be An Angel Be An Angel

It is our mission to improve the quality of life for children with multiple disabilities or profound deafness by providing needed adaptive equipment and select services.

We believe that children are the heart and soul of humanity, that they represent all that is good within us, and that we can help children with special needs experience life at their fullest potential.

The group’ efforts have wide reach, including not only efforts in Houston and statewide, but internationally as well. Below, board member Jim Anderson recounts a recent mission trip to Casa de Luz, an orphanage in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. Casa de Luz means “House of Light” and is a bright star in the lives of its young residents. Born into poverty, these children were neglected with no one to care for them. At Casa de Luz, they receive medical care, nourishment, physical therapy and a loving family.

As Close as You Can Get to Heaven on Earth

Well, here we are again. It’s four in the morning, and our group of 11 is headed down Interstate 45 to the airport for a trip we have waited on for over two years. We are headed on a mission trip to the orphanage we have been visiting for over 11 years, the House of Light (HOL), in the Dominican Republic. We had previously visited twice a year before the pandemic hit, then all visits came to a halt. You see, the House of Light is not your typical orphanage--many of the children in this home are described as “throwaway children,” whom parents decided they could not raise, with many being severely disabled. Some actually place their children in dumpsters, where local police find them and take them to the House of Light. On previous trips prior to Covid, we have built a sanctuary and pews to go inside, a large kitchen and dining area so the children could eat meals together, and a laundry room full of washers and dryers (that never stop being used) to keep the children in the cleanest clothes possible. The importance of this trip is that Rotary International has chosen the HOL location to build a water plant to help the orphanage become self-sufficient. The orphanage has been dependent on organizations to provide funding and has continued to receive support from the nonprofit Be An Angel in Houston and North Shore Church in Montgomery to pay the workers and owners who have kept this house open for 14 years. The water plant, being built by Water Works International (which has 8 other water plants in and inside of the large walls that go around HOL. These two projects took us two and a half days to complete, which gave us time to also paint the main stairway from the first to the third floors. While this was being accomplished, half of the team was installing new doors inside the house (that were delivered an inch too long, and they had to be cut to the proper size to fit the doorways.)

Having completed our tasks one day early, this gave us time to spend our last day with the 34 children and the owners and workers at HOL. As we arrived at the HOL on our last day on this trip, the children were starting their day by having their daily music session. They are brought into one room. Several are provided tambourines to accompany the singing, and it is quite an event to witness. They have memorized several songs, and this shows the happiness they still possess as children. I cannot say enough about the dedicated workers who stay 24/7 to provide care for these beautiful children— true angels.

We learned the new government in the Dominican Republic has taken control of the process of screening all children and deciding whether they should officially be taken from their parents (or those relatives with custody) and placed in HOL. This is a fundamental change in the way this home has operated since its inception. Some children needing medicine or physical therapy have been returned to their homes for treatment, which puts several new requirements and needs on the staff for this to be accomplished. The mission continues to grow for the wonderful sanctuary, but with little or no support from the government. We also had one more important duty to perform on this visit, and that was the dedication of the water plant in the name of our former leader, Raymond Solcher. Ray and his wife Karen were first taken to the orphanage while distributing hearing aids at the School for the Deaf in the Dominican, and they quickly fell in love with the children and staff. Ray, a board member for Be An Angel and member of North Shore Church, established the connection that is still in place today. Postcards featured The Solchers in our May 2013 Lake Conroe issue. A plaque which recognizes Ray has been placed on the water plant in his memory. It is anticipated the water plant will not be making a profit for another 12 months, so additional support is needed during this interim.

Special thank you to my fellow team members and the continued support provided by Be An Angel and North Shore Church over the last 14 years. The generous donations and offerings have supported these children at the House of Light, and I sincerely hope all will be blessed for their big hearts.

You can donate by attending Be An Angel’s upcoming Gala on April 28th or by providing a donation at beanangel.org.

CONUNDRUM from page 56

Why is everyone talking about recession?

You can’t turn on financial news without hearing speculation about an upcoming recession. While it seems everyone has an opinion to share, the fact is no one knows when we will have a recession or how severe it may be. This uncertainty is what drives volatility in financial markets. Investors, and markets, are trying to predict what will happen several months down the road. So, with the speculation and uncertainty, what is an investor to do?

It helps to have a little context. We need to know what a recession is. You may have heard that a recession is two consecutive quarters of negative growth in Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Gross Domestic Product simply measures the value of the final goods and services produced in the United States. But in reality we have seen multiple time periods with two consecutive quarters of negative GDP that are not recessions. One example is the “Recession of 2020”. In the early days of COVID we saw negative GDP growth in the first and second quarter of 2020. The negative growth was the direct result of an unprecedented shutdown of our economy – not recession. A more accurate definition of recession would be a business cycle contraction that occurs when there is a general decline in economic activity.

Let’s focus on the word cycle in that definition. Cycle is defined as a series of events that are regularly repeated in the same order. So, an economic cycle is a series of economic events that are regularly repeated in the same order. The economic cycle has four parts: expansion, peak, contraction, trough. If that cycle, which has gone on for many decades is to continue, we must go through each part. To get back to expansion, we must go through contraction, and trough.

This is all to help you understand that recessions (economic contractions) are necessary. It is not if they will happen, but when. From an investor’s perspective, what should you do? You should expect that recessions will happen. You should be confident in the plan you have in place and understand the process used to select your investments to support that plan. You should understand when you will need funds from your investments as timing may impact investment selection. Finally, you should be patient while the cycle runs is course.

If you don’t work with an advisor, you may find comfort in someone that has been through multiple economic cycles with clients in various life stages. We would be happy to help you better understand your current financial situation, and how you might be impacted by the economic cycle. We strive to help our clients “Enjoy More, Worry Less”.