My Hero's

In 1992 Monico and Andrea Melchor gave Joe and Carmen Trevino (my parents) a two-story apartment building just outside of downtown Houston. Many people could have seen this as an excellent opportunity create wealth and positive cash flow, but not my parents. They saw an opportunity to help people. The property was old and rundown and had become a magnet for drug and criminal activity. After much cleaning, painting and repairs (the place still didn’t look all that great), my parents announced the opening of a free program that would offer a Christ-centered approach to curing drug and alcohol addictions.

In 1994 Victory Family opened up its doors to the city and no one showed up! What good is a free community program if no one knows about it? We needed to spread the word. So drove around town and started to get the word out. When we saw a homeless person we would get out of the car and loving tell them about a place for change. We had flyers printed up with our information and we hit the streets like crusaders on a sacred mission to love the addicted. We found ourselves walking around downtown, under bridges, at the bus station telling anyone who would listen that there was a place to shower, eat, sleep, get off the streets and change their life, all for free. It was gorilla marketing at its finest.

I remember the very first man we brought into the home. He responded right in the middle of the street. “Can you take me there right now?” he said in a low voice that weighed heavy from years of addiction and homelessness. We were shocked that someone actually wanted to come in that we had to hide our amazement. “Of course you can,” we told him and soon he was riding in our car toward his new life.

Since that day, thousands of men and women have poured into Victory Family. We average 60-80 men and women everyday living in the Recovery Center. These men and women don’t just come in from off the streets anymore. They come from Galveston to Conroe, From Beaumont to Sugerland; People come from all over the United States, Canada, Mexico and even overseas. The people who come for treatment are not just homeless, they are fathers, mothers, professionals, college educated and have careers. People from all walks of life are coming for one reason. Drug addicts and alcoholics are changing at Victory Family.