About these apartments.

7490 Brompton, Apt. 442
Houston, TX 77205
713-660-7816
donshnell@sbcglobal.net

Today’s picture is the two dozen roses we got for a dollar on Feb. 15th. Actually, there were more and I put the others into a little vase in the dressing area, so that’s the second picture. What a bargain, huh?

Speaking of bargains; Dana posted a question about this apartment and our getting if it is affiliated with MD Anderson. No, it has nothing to do with MD Anderson. Don’s sister and her husband go to a church that has 6 apartments that they furnish and make available to MD Anderson patients and families. Doris and Jerry and another couple manage these 6 apartments in that they see that they are furnished and clean and ready for someone to move into as soon as someone is able to leave. Like last week when we helped them get a couple moved out, we had less than 2 hours to get it ready for a new family to move into it. They do such a great job! That lady who left calls Doris and Wanda (the other lady) their angels. When Doris went to the door to wave goodbye, her husband was waiting in the car and he asked his wife, "Is that Mrs. Angel?" She came back in to tell us that story; she thought it was so cute.

Doris and Wanda clean the apartment and make sure it is fully stocked with linens, dishes, etc. They throw out any opened foods that are left and clean the kitchen, bathroom and carpets, so that it’s clean for the incoming people. There is a list that is available to them of people who need housing. Of course they can put someone into an apartment if they are aware of a need, too, which is how we got this apartment; we were lucky that someone left right when we needed the place. There are many churches who have apartments and all of them pay some portion of the rent and that amount varies. We are paying about half, I think of what the rent really is. Our utilities are included in what we pay.

Jerry and Bill (Wanda’s husband) help with the cleaning and do things like replace a broken TV, etc. Jerry installed high speed internet in all the apartments over the last few weeks. It is all really so very nice. I mean, like we don’t just have a set of dishes, but we have extras of everything so that I don’t run out of dishes when the dishwasher is full. There are plenty of towels for baths as well as swimming. (There are 5 pools in this complex!) When people leave, they often leave things they accumulated while here, which they won’t need at home, so there are things like vases, etc.

This complex has about 750 apartments, I think, and 70 of them are managed by the various churches for patients. The others are occupied by all kinds of people, many on staff at the various hospitals. There is a group called the hospitality suites and they have furnished apartments for MD Anderson patients for free. (These are also operated by a church group.) However, they have a rule that you must stay a month, and 3 months is the longest you can stay. We are on that waiting list, but will likely stay here because we don’t want to risk being thrown out on our ear at the end of 3 months. I don’t expect to have to stay that long, but we never know. There is no limit to how long we can stay in this apartment.

This ministry is a work all these churches do to represent God and it is such a good work! We’ve met 3 other couples who are staying in church provided apartments and we are all so very grateful. I really don’t know what all these people would do if they weren’t here. It really makes long term treatment possible. We thank God for His people who want to do this work.