We are excited to welcome Susan Barnes to her new role as Chair of DePelchin’s Board of Directors! For over 15 years, Susan has remained committed to serving our children and families – beginning as a member of the Friends of DePelchin young professionals group and continuing to her first board appointment in 2017. She has dedicated countless volunteer hours with enthusiasm, supported many initiatives such as the Holiday Project and the School Supply Drive, and played a vital role as a member on the Capital Campaign Committee to support the Junior League of Houston Volunteer Servies Building project.

Susan’s dedication to the Houston community extends beyond her service to DePelchin. She is a sustaining member of The Junior League of Houston, Inc. where she developed nonprofit management skills and was eventually honored with the Sara Houstoun Lindsey Award for her outstanding contributions to the League and the community. She is also an enthusiastic volunteer with the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo’s Auction Assistance Committee and co-leads the music ministry for small children at St. Luke’s United Methodist Church, using her love of music to bring joy into young lives.

Beyond her invaluable service and leadership, Susan brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise. Holding a master’s degree from Texas A&M and a Ph.D. in Higher Education from Penn State, Susan directs Education by the Numbers – a large-scale database that provides historical educational statistics and data visualization to researchers and policymakers. She also leads Pitch Pipe Projects, where she collaborates with nonprofit boards and staff to strengthen their governance practices and overcome challenges.

In response to her new role, Susan shares, “Our board is filled with smart, compassionate, and engaged members who believe that what Kezia Payne DePelchin started in 1892 is our charge to keep. I am humbled to serve alongside each member. I look forward to serving with them as we learn from the exceptional professionals who deliver evidence-based programs that give every child the chance to grow up in a strong, healthy family.”

As we look ahead in the new year, we are thrilled to have Susan’s vision and leadership, especially as we progress in our role as lead agency of Region 6 for Community Based Care.  Susan’s commitment to the community, combined with her experience, brings a valuable perspective to our Board of Directors, and we give her a warm welcome!

We’re excited to announce that the Houston Texans Foundation has been honored with the Outstanding Philanthropic Foundation Award by the Association of Fundraising Professionals – Greater Houston Chapter (AFP) for the 2025 National Philanthropy Day Awards. This prestigious recognition celebrates the Foundation’s dedication to youth development, community empowerment, and strategic philanthropy across Greater Houston and beyond.

A Game-Changing Partnership with DePelchin Children’s Center

Since 2006, the Houston Texans Foundation has designated DePelchin Children’s Center as the sole charitable beneficiary of the Texas Bowl, contributing over $2.7 million in direct financial support. These funds have helped sustain and expand DePelchin’s vital services, including foster care, adoption, mental health support, and parenting programs for vulnerable children and families across Texas.

Beyond financial contributions, they have provided countless dollars in promotional support, elevating brand awareness for DePelchin through Texas Bowl events, social media, and press coverage. Events like DePelchin Field Day—featured on the front page of The Houston Chronicle in 2024—offer our children and families unforgettable experiences, including interactions with collegiate teams and free tickets to the Texas Bowl.

Additionally, the DePelchin Day of Caring is an annual volunteer event which engages youth sports teams in volunteer activities at DePelchin’s main campus such as beautification projects and donation sorting and organizing, ensuring our facilities remain welcoming and well-stocked for the families we serve.

We are deeply thankful for their partnership and commitment to the children and families we serve, and we celebrate the Houston Texans Foundation for their visionary leadership and lasting impact on our community!

We’re thrilled to announce that FOX 26 Houston has been selected as the recipient of the Outstanding Communications Partner Award by the Association of Fundraising Professionals – Greater Houston Chapter (AFP) for the 2025 National Philanthropy Day (NPD) Awards. This honor recognizes FOX 26’s unwavering commitment to leveraging their platform to advance philanthropy and support nonprofit organizations across the Greater Houston area.

A Legacy of Impactful Storytelling

FOX 26 has long demonstrated its dedication to community service through pro bono media support and impactful storytelling. One of the most powerful examples of this is their ongoing partnership with DePelchin Children’s Center through the monthly segment “Fox Finding Families”. Hosted by anchor Sally MacDonald, this heartwarming series highlights children in foster care who are ready to be adopted. Each episode takes place at various locations with a fun activity to showcase the child’s personality and interests, while also educating viewers on the adoption process through interviews with DePelchin staff.

Since the segment’s start in 2008, “Fox Finding Families” has helped raise awareness about the needs of children in the child welfare system and has inspired countless individuals to become foster or adoptive parents. The segment has gone viral on multiple occasions, bringing national attention to DePelchin’s mission and helping children find their forever homes.

A Well-Deserved Honor

FOX 26 Houston is a shining example of an Outstanding Communications Partner. Through their storytelling, media support, and community engagement, they have amplified the voices of nonprofits and inspired action across the Greater Houston area. We congratulate them on this well-deserved recognition and thank them for their continued dedication to DePelchin children!

On July 10, we celebrated the grand opening of our brand-new Junior League of Houston Volunteer Services Building—a space designed to bring even more support to the children and families we serve.

This shiny new space is more than just a building. It’s a hub of hope, healing, and support. Designed to meet the growing needs of our community, the new facility allows us to improve our volunteers’ experiences and activities while also expanding our capacity to provide foster and adoptive parent training and parenting education programs.

Why We Built It

For many decades, our dedicated volunteers and staff have worked out of DePelchin’s Donation Station–a building that dates back to the 1940s. While it served us well, it simply couldn’t keep up with the increasing demand for our services and donations. We needed more space—more room to train foster parents, more room to sort and store donations, and more room to welcome the hundreds of volunteers who help power our mission.

Thanks to the generosity of the Junior League of Houston’s $2 million Centennial Gift, we launched a capital campaign to raise the remaining funds for construction. Because of the League and our donors’ support, we were able to transform our vision into reality.

What’s Inside

The new 21,000-square-foot Volunteer Services Building includes:

• Over 8,000 square feet of warehouse and volunteer workspace for sorting, storing, and distributing donated goods
• Classrooms and flexible training spaces for foster parent education, mental health support, and parenting programs
• Dedicated areas for children’s enrichment activities
• Covered drop-off and loading zones to make donation drop offs easier and more efficient for our supporters
• Volunteer amenities like a kitchenette, lockers, and on-site parking

With more room and improved facilities, we can now accept more donations than ever before and host larger volunteer groups without splitting them up across DePelchin’s campus.

Built for the Future

As Houston continues to grow, so does the need for essential supplies for families in need and services like family counseling and parenting support. This building is a long-term investment in the well-being of our children and allows us to expand our reach, deepen our impact, and continue providing life-changing support for generations to come.

Thank You

To everyone who donated, volunteered, and supported us throughout this project—thank you. This building stands as a testament to our community’s compassion and commitment to the children and families DePelchin serves.

Ready to volunteer? We’re always happy to welcome new friends to help us create brighter futures for children and families! To learn more or sign up to become a volunteer, please visit www.depelchin.org/volunteer.

DePelchin is proud to welcome two exceptional leaders, Dr. Brock Boudreau, and Shaundricka Easley, who have joined Texans Together — a newly established division of DePelchin leading Community Based Care in Region 6, and a significant step forward in strengthening child welfare services across Texas.

Dr. Brock Boudreau, now Vice President for Community Based Care, brings a wealth of knowledge from his nearly 20 years with Child Protective Services (CPS), most recently serving the Deputy Associate Commissioner for all of Texas CPS. With a PhD in Educational Psychology and a Six Sigma Blackbelt, Dr. Boudreau is known for his expertise in system performance and continuous quality improvement in child welfare.

Shaundricka Easley will serve as the Director of Permanency, bringing over 16 years of experience with CPS including her most recent role as the Deputy Regional Director for Houston area CPS.  Her deep commitment to helping children find safe, permanent homes and supporting families through the child welfare system will be instrumental in her new role.

We are thrilled to see Shaundricka and Brock continue their impactful work as they lead our Regional child welfare system through the monumental change of implementing Community Based Care.

April is Child Abuse Prevention Month, a time when DePelchin focuses on raising awareness and recognizes the importance of communities working together to strengthen families and children; it’s a time when we call on our supporters to work alongside us in this effort – we can’t do this important work alone!

Every April, we invite DePelchin donors, volunteers, and staff to our Houston campus to tie blue ribbons along our fence line, each one representing and honoring a victim of child abuse and neglect in Harris County. In 2024, there were 5,959 confirmed victims of child abuse and neglect in Harris County and 53,543 victims across Texas. Each year, our blue ribbon display is a powerful sight that calls attention to this issue with the hope that, one day, we will no longer have any ribbons to tie.

We also proudly highlight the programs and services we offer to children and families to help keep them safe. We work hard every day to provide safe and loving homes and to also help children and families before abuse and neglect happens:

• Parenting classes. These programs help equip parents with the strategies and approaches they need to maintain loving, caring homes for their children — including programs that are specifically focused on fathers and their unique roles in their children’s lives.

• Counseling services to support children and parents. Our clinicians help DePelchin clients facing any number of mental health issues. Our counseling services are free for children and adults, and we offer them in a variety of settings to meet our clients’ needs.

• The DePelchin Family Resource Centers in Houston and San Antonio. This is a convenient hub of support in the community for families seeking a variety of services – no appointment needed. For example, families who visit the centers can sign up for parenting or counseling services or learn about other resources of support from DePelchin and other organizations.

We also help children and families throughout the process of adoption when it is not possible to reunify the child with their birth parents. If a child needs a family to provide temporary care before they can be reunited with their parents, DePelchin also finds foster families for those children and works closely with the families to ensure they are able to meet that child’s needs.

We all have a role to play in helping to prevent abuse and neglect, from offering support and encouragement to families who may be struggling, to learning more about how to detect and report suspected abuse, to supporting DePelchin programs. We also appreciate those who are engaged in preventing abuse and neglect with us — whether they are staff, volunteers, or supporters.

DePelchin is honored to be engaged in this critical work and we thank all who make it possible!