For the fourth straight morning, Horace woke up in his car parked in a homeless enclave near Herman Park. Today would have to be different, he told himself. He had been enslaved first by drug addiction and managed to overcome it when gambling addiction took hold and cost him his apartment, livelihood, and girlfriend.
With 32 years of service behind him, Charles Johnson is our longest running success story. Born in Mexico, Charles found his way to Houston in 1982 and, after a brief time living on the streets, applied at Magnificat Houses — where he has been a valuable guest-volunteer ever since.
It took only a year in residency at Magnificat for Billy Mack to undo the year he had spent on Houston streets, lost in a fog of drug dependence and despondency. When finally he appeared at our door — word about us was on the streets and under the bridges — Billy Mack was ready to make a change.
“Every time I’m down, Magnificat is here for me,” Sylvia states emphatically. When the third generation native Houstonian arrived at the Clubhouse in 2012, she saw herself as a scared, lost soul facing mental health challenges. She came to Magnificat Houses to escape an abusive relationship full of “violence, drugs, verbal and physical abuse.”