The Ozanam Center is asking the community for donations to finish the renovation of the bathrooms that serve hundreds of community members daily.
The John G. and Marie Stella Kenedy Memorial Foundation granted the center with $75,000 in funding that needs to be matched. This money has helped the center renovate the dining room, the kitchen and is now on the third and final phase of the renovations which focuses on the bathrooms.
“It’s very important that we get the donations, because due to the COVID situation we were not able to raise funding for it and we did get some funding for this project by The City of Brownsville … but we are still lacking funding because of COVID. During COVID, all materials almost doubled, so the funding that we had predicted to spend in that project, we haven’t reached it,” Victor Maldonado, executive director at the Ozanam Center, said.
The homeless shelter is open 24 hours and provides a place to stay for anyone who needs it. They provide three hot meals a day, clothing, personal hygiene kits and there are other programs available to help the residents get back on their feet, such as assistance that helps them find a job or paying for the first three months of rent at a new place.
During this time, they are also helping the hundreds of asylum seekers that are entering into the United States through Brownsville.
“We are a homeless shelter, we provide shelter to anybody and everybody who needs shelter at night,” Maldonado said. “Our shelter provides three hot meals: breakfast, lunch and dinner. Aside from that, we provide clothing, personal hygiene kits for the individuals that are coming in. Right now, during this time, we are also providing rescue to the migrants that are coming across. It’s very important that we have a bathroom working that has capacity to be able to provide the service to the community and to the migrants coming in.”
Maldonado said the bathrooms are about 80 percent complete and there’s only an estimated need of about $30,000 to finish the renovation completely.
Brownsville City Commissioner Ben Neece, who has been part of the board for 15 years, said he encourages the community to donate because the center provides a safe haven for any member of the community that needs it, not just the asylum seekers. He added it is important to have these services available.
“We are doing a public service in providing for people who have run into hard times, lost their jobs, are getting kicked out of their apartments or houses, and it’s very important for them to have a place where they can land until they can get back on their feet,” he said.
Neece said there are other improvements the center has done in the last few years such as adding solar panels that have helped the center reduce expenses and be able to improve other services. He said it is important to donate because one never knows if one day they might need that help.
“It is a safe haven and it’s something people don’t want to have to be there or use, but you never know. And that’s why it’s important to have a clean, safe, area where people can land when they have hard times,” he said.
To donate, visit www.ozanambrownsvillecenter.org or call them at (956) 831-6331.
