INTRODUCTION

Black United Fund of Texas Promotes Self-Help

Our History: The President of the National Black United Fund, the late Dana Alston, while attending the United Nation’s Decade of the Woman’s recruited the current President/CEO, Cleo Glenn-Johnson for the Black United Fund in Texas. Glenn-Johnson was a staff member representing the late Congressman Mickey Leland, in Nairobi, Kenya in June of 1986. On January 17, 1987, Black United Fund of Houston (BUFH) became the seventeenth independent affiliate of the National Black United Fund (NBUF). The first Chairman of the Board of BUFH was Rev. James Dixon. The Board of Directors of BUFH recognized that self-help must be promoted throughout Texas if there was to be any impact on society. In 1991, the Board unanimously voted to become the Black United Fund of Texas (BUFTX). 

Realizing that self-help is not new to our community, this old and honorable tradition dates as far back as the year 1775 with the Prince Hall Masons, the year 1789 with the Sons of Africa and there were others. However, The Free African Society was established to: organize financial and human resources to help maintain our right to live, take care of widows and children and to buy back our freedom if lost. A former slave, Richard Allen in 1787, established the organization. In 1816, Richard Allen along with a few others had the vision to be free in worship. The African Methodist Episcopal Church was born; Allen became the 1st Black Bishop in America. The oldest institution in the Black Community in America is not just the church; it is the African Methodist Episcopal Church (AME). 

 The statewide board of BUFTX is lead by former City Councilman Michael Yarbrough and since our history intertwines with the Free African Society and the history and mission of the AME Church, we recognized in the beginning as we do now, what was required of the AME to succeed. In doing so, the board understood what would be required to help the community help themselves. Black United Fund of Texas is the response of a lack of funding for innovative visionary self-help programs 

Our Purpose: to eliminate poverty and dependencies.

• Poverty is a state of mind that becomes a condition that is manifested into a lifestyle
• Depending on government and charity creates a void, which causes many individuals to become beggars of their destiny; when we help ourselves we help others.

Our Mission: create opportunities that otherwise would not exist.

• To empower communities most in need to help themselves change conditions, behavior and lifestyle. 
• To help communities become self-sufficient in order for self-worth to be re-defined and life changes to take place

• Our Objective: to operate as a mechanism that organizes human and financial resources.

• The process of self-help funding affords the community to attain and develop tools that will empower the people to “understand how to help themselves” by becoming self -sufficient.
• The organization's main thrust is to address the causes of poverty and problems facing the community, rather than treating symptoms; by giving life to hands on programs.
• Giving communities most affected the ability to become a participant in their life; in order to stop re-cycling poverty; furthermore, it allows for a certain amount of controlling one’s own destiny.

Our Vision: to help communities most in need overcome dependency on government and charity.

• By improving the quality of life through innovative community education and entrepreneurships.

Black United Fund of Texas Charities

Afrikan Center of Well Being Bennett House Better Way Youth Buffalo Soldier National Museum Children & Family Institute Class of Phillis Wheatley H.S.A Community Outreach Partnership COTER/Gift Of Life Drug-free   George “Mickey” Leland Library & Museum of African History, Culture and Social Change Houston Multicultural Independent Film Festival Inner City Action Network Inner City Mothers & Daughters Integrity Plus Work Program Launch Point NIA Culture Center Phoenix Outreach Community Develop. Place of Re-Birth P.L.A.Y.S. Sarcoidosis Foundation Sehah Youth Program Senior Citizens Center Sure Thing ST/2 T & T Ministry Thurgood Marshall Scholarship Warriors of Truth; Black Women for a Changing Society          Urban Center for Health &Wellness Urban Theatre B-HIP BUF Games TexasTeenSummit