HOUSTON -- Major League Baseball picks several charitable causes to donate to during its jewel events, and on Wednesday, it made a sizeable contribution to the Houston Area Women’s Center, as part of its "Fall Classic Legacy" project.
The gift totaled $50,000 -- a $25,000 donation from MLB and a matching gift from the Astros Foundation. The funds will go toward refurbishing the pavilion area and play yard for children at the center, which houses victims of domestic abuse.
“We looked at what gaps might be missing at the shelter, and this is one of the biggest gaps,” said Chau Nguyen, the HAWC’s chief public strategies officer. “We haven't repaired or refurbished the pavilion since the inception in 2002. We identified the needs within the shelter and say, ‘What can we do to replace, refurbish, enhance the experience of the kids that stay here?’”
On any given night, the center houses upward of 50 kids. Currently, 47 live there. The shelter contains 140 beds for women and children, and the HAWC also places families in hotels, a practice that was more common when it needed to deconcentrate the shelter because of COVID-19.
“Standing in this pavilion area, where all of the kids who are here come in to play and have a moment of joy throughout the day, to refurbish it, make it a little safer, COVID friendly with some more circulation and to get nice little baseball diamond in here, that’s key,” said April Brown, MLB’s vice president of social responsibility.
A group of MLB representatives visited the shelter Wednesday morning, including Nelson Cruz, who was in town to accept the Roberto Clemente Award prior to Game 2 of the World Series at Minute Maid Park.
Cruz, a 17-year veteran who played for the Twins and Rays in 2021, met with several kids at the shelter and gave them goody bags, courtesy of MLB.
“It is a beautiful thing,” Cruz said of the long history of MLB and its players being involved in community work. “It becomes traditional now, you see more players getting involved and trying to create foundations to help others. All the [Clemente Award] nominees, any one of those guys can be a winner, because of the incredible job they've been doing.”
Also joining the MLB contingent was Luis Clemente, son of Roberto and a primary spokesman for the Clemente family and its foundation.
“MLB does an incredible job of making sure that they leave that footprint, they leave that positive mark in everything that is related to today as well,” Clemente said. “And being here at the shelter today, these kids, impacting their lives, letting them know that we do care, things are going to get better. That process is so important.”
The Astros have had a long-standing relationship with the Houston Area Women’s Center, formerly the beneficiaries of nearly two decades of funding raised through the annual Astros’ Wives galas. In more recent times, the Astros Foundation has partnered with several domestic violence shelters in the Houston area, including the HAWC. The overall effort was bolstered in 2018.
HAWC provides safety and life-saving services to survivors of domestic and sexual violence. Since its inception in 1977, the center has expanded from rape crisis response to comprehensive programming and services for women, children and families, including victims of sexual and domestic abuse, assault and sex trafficking.
It offers two phone numbers for victims in need of help: a domestic violence hotline (713-528-2121) and a sexual assault hotline (713-528-7273).