For Houston-area family law attorney Keisha Amos, helping families through divorce, custody disputes and child support issues is more than just part of her job. It’s personal.
Amos says she went through a divorce early in her life and remembers feeling alone during the transition to single parenthood.
That experience inspired her to launch the Amos Advocates Community Foundation; a new nonprofit focused on connecting families with resources and support as they navigate major changes at home.
“We are here. We’re trying to come up with programming to help,” Amos said.
The foundation recently held its first major community initiative. A back-to-school backpack and school supply drive for families in the Pearland area.
Board members say organizing the event took weeks of planning, fundraising and community outreach.
Tabitha Haynes, the foundation’s treasurer, said the group was formed earlier this year and quickly began working toward its first community event.
“Everyone on the board has their unique talents and unique abilities,” Haynes said. “We were able to kind of bring all that together.”
The foundation also leaned on community members to help provide backpacks and school supplies.
Dr. Lala Elapano, the foundation’s secretary, said the response was immediate.
“The community poured into this organization,” Elapano said.
She went on to share how the group wanted to begin by giving back to the same community that has supported Amos and her law firm.
The foundation’s board brings together professionals from several fields, including law, education, mental health and child services.
That range of experience is intentional, Amos said. She wants the organization to offer help that goes beyond what a family law attorney can provide.
“I can only do so much as an attorney,” Amos said. “I wanted to have an organization that I could put together that could fill in the gaps.”
A FOCUS BEYOND LEGAL SERVICES:
Those gaps could include access to counseling, educational resources and other community services.
Haynes said the foundation is already looking at programs that could support both parents and children.
“We have a lot of different resources which will benefit the community in so many different ways,” she said.
Those plans include counseling resources, legal assistance and programs designed to help children stay active and address issues such as anxiety and depression.
Clarissa Givens, a foundation director and school counselor, said the back-to-school drive is just the beginning.
“I think that this event is the starting of something great,” Givens said.
Givens said working with children has shown her firsthand that some students enter the school year facing challenges outside the classroom.
The foundation wants those children to know they have support.
“We just want them to know that no matter what, there’s always someone out there pulling for them,” Haynes said.
MORE PROGRAMS PLANNED:
The foundation also plans to create programming specifically for single parents.
Amos says one upcoming idea is “Dominoes with Dads,” a gathering where single fathers can connect and talk about co-parenting, custody and adjusting to spending less time with their children after a divorce.
The organization also plans a holiday community drive later this year.
Givens encouraged others in the Pearland area to get involved.
“The back-to-school drive is not the ending; it’s the beginning of something great,” she said.
For Amos, the larger goal is to make sure parents going through difficult transitions don’t feel like they have to navigate them alone.
“I just want people to understand that I’m here, that my board is here, that we’re trying to build something that we hope can help the community at large,” Amos said.
The Amos Advocates Community Foundation says it will continue adding resources and upcoming programs to its website at AmosAdvocatesFoundation.org.