Ozanam Center, Brownsville: Shelter Under the Sun

In Brownsville, the Bishop Enrique San Pedro Ozanam Center has long been a place of refuge for the Valley. Owned by the Catholic Diocese of Brownsville and first founded as Casa Romero for Central American refugees, it offers up to 30 days of emergency shelter for individuals and families, three meals a day, and help with homeless prevention and rapid re-housing. It can house and feed up to 200 people and serves as an emergency shelter in hurricane and cold-weather seasons.

The center also runs on sunlight: donors and local foundations helped install enough solar panels to power the whole complex, along with a new kitchen. Shelter, nourishment and a small act of care for the earth, under one roof.

Sources: Shelter Homeless Services, Ozanam Center (findhelp) · Going green: Ozanam gets solar panels, upgraded kitchen (Brownsville Herald / MyRGV)