We had the good fortune of connecting with Abena Opoku and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Abena, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
Abena: We started this nonprofit because working with the mental health population you learn that many of these individuals may be suffering from homelessness and financial instabilities. Working with this population you see that many of them have lost their sense of humanity because of the stigmas and labels that are given to them.

When we came across LavaMae in Los Angeles, we knew that our purpose was to work within the homeless community in Houston. The ability to provide a mobile shower unit and link individuals to other available resources, we believe is a genius idea to motivate others to give back, allow other nonprofits to reach out, and ultimately assist in addressing homelessness in Houston.

Clishe: Starting this nonprofit for me was a way to serve and share my gifts with a group of individuals that just might not have any luck at the time. We have to remember that we are all a few life experiences away from being in a position of possible homelessness.

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
The FRESH (Finding Resources Everywhere and Spreading Hope) project is a non-profit working to provide mobile showers to the publicly encamped homeless population in Harris County. Our vision is to spread the innovative ideas of this generation to the needs of the homeless individuals served. We feel like the mobile shower is an excellent example of that.

To elaborate: We, as the millennial generation, have a great opportunity to change the way we volunteer, work, and live.

Through our volunteer efforts and research, we have realized that there are multi-faucets to homelessness. You have your individuals who have a mental health condition, are working jobs and are working towards permanent housing, veterans who need assistance, and young teens who have been kicked out of their homes. We are here to service them and become a pipeline for other resources.

Our project is helping by providing the basic needs we all need for survival. Once we can offer this opportunity to individuals, we can then charter other volunteers and organizations to provide necessary transitional services like vocational services, permanent housing, or something as simple as a haircut. We want to restore dignity and self-efficacy. We want to make people feel good about being alive and encourage others to do the same. The ultimate goal is to help people transition out of homelessness.

Any new venture has its challenges. Finding funding and keeping volunteers can be hard to keep the vision moving forward. However, consistency has been on our side. We continue to provide volunteer opportunities, make ourselves visible in the community, and build the relationships that will help us grow into an organization with numerous resources.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
We are located in Houston, so that we wouldn’t have any recommendations for Dallas. However, Midtown Houston has a lot of places to hang out and drink. So does the Heights. Most recently, POST Houston has opened which is a hub for food, shopping, workspace, and recreation.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
We would like to shout out the numerous volunteers that come out to serve on Mondays and Saturdays. They help us provide services and experiences to the Houston homeless community every week. Their tireless efforts do not go unmentioned. So thank you to Pastor Evvie and the Monday night ministries, The Homeless Depot, Houston Millennials, and all of our volunteers that sign up every week!

Website: www.freshprojecthou.org

Instagram: @freshprojecthou

Twitter: @freshprojecthou

Facebook: @freshprojecthou

Nominate Someone: ShoutoutDFW is built on recommendations and shoutouts from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.