Cypress Edition | May 2025

Nonpro t

BY DANICA LLOYD

Volunteers serve at CAM’s food pantry in March 2025.

DANICA LLOYDCOMMUNITY IMPACT

Cypress Assistance Ministries has relied on volunteers throughout its history.

Food distribution has been a core part of CAM’s mission from the beginning.

DANICA LLOYDCOMMUNITY IMPACT

COURTESY CYPRESS ASSISTANCE MINISTRIES

Cypress Assistance Ministries celebrates 35 years

More than three decades ago, a group of women attending Christ the Redeemer Catholic Church began collecting food for those in need. This grassroots eort blossomed into Cypress Assistance Ministries, which distributed 1.2 million pounds of food to feed more than 36,000 people in 2024. “They started out by handing out boxes of macaroni and cheese out of the back seat of some- body’s car just trying to serve the neighbors,” CAM Executive Director Martha Burnes said. How we got here CAM ocially became a standalone nonprot in 1990, and 35 years later, it still primarily depends on volunteers, Burnes said. While its food pantry has always been a staple, the organization has since expanded to oer: • Financial assistance for qualied residents • Free employment services • Adult education via GED prep and ESL classes • Clothing and household goods • Seasonal programming for back-to-school and holiday seasons Burnes said CAM often serves those facing unexpected nancial hardships, such as medical emergencies and layos. “Sometimes, crises happen, and we want to help with that. But we also want to give people the tools so that we don’t see them next year,” she said.

CAM case managers verify the needs of individ- uals and families seeking assistance covering rent and utility bills, and they oer nancial counseling. Burnes also said CAM never covers the full amount. “We want people to have a little skin in the game, and even if they don’t have the money, we give them other resources that might pledge toward it,” she said. The nonprot partners with about 40 local churches that help ll the gaps. What’s next While churches, individuals and other local entities help fund CAM’s services, the Angels’ Attic resale shop is its largest revenue source. “I don’t know anywhere else you can go if you’re a new mom and you don’t have anything but $10 to dress your baby, you can walk right in here and get four or ve baby outts,” Burnes said. To help keep up with demand, CAM is opening a second location of Angels’ Attic this summer. Other new initiatives include the Gift a Gown prom attire drive which launched in 2024, and a new partnership with the Houston Food Bank’s Food Rx program launching this May. “The growth in the requests for services has been really signicant the last few years. ... Any- body living on a xed income [whose] grocery bill doubled—they’ve got problems,” Burnes said. “And so, certainly, having enough funding to be able to meet the requests for service is always a worry.”

Community members signed beams when CAM’s current location was under construction in March 2021.

DANICA LLOYDCOMMUNITY IMPACT

An archived photo shows a volunteer serving at CAM’s food pantry.

COURTESY CYPRESS ASSISTANCE MINISTRIES

CYPRESS N. HOUST O

12930 Cypress N. Houston Road, Cypress www.cypressassistance.org

CYPRESS EDITION