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CHARITY REVIEW
Issued: April 2026 Expires: April 2028

Houston Children's Charity

Accredited Charity
Accredited Charity

Meets Standards
(713) 524-2878
1600 West Loop S Ste 610
Houston, TX, 77027
https://houstonchildrenscharity.org/
📄 Full Report 🖨️ Print 📋 BBB Charity Standards

Standards For Charity Accountability

Governance

  1. Board Oversight
  2. Board Size
  3. Board Meetings
  4. Board Compensation
  5. Conflict of Interest

Measuring Effectiveness

  1. Effectiveness Policy
  2. Effectiveness Report

Finances

  1. Program Expenses
  2. Fundraising Expenses
  3. Accumulating Funds
  4. Audit Report
  5. Detailed Expense Breakdown
  6. Accurate Expense Reporting
  7. Budget Plan

Fundraising & Info

  1. Truthful Materials
  2. Annual Report
  3. Website Disclosures
  4. Donor Privacy
  5. Cause Marketing Disclosures
  6. Complaints

Houston Children's Charity meets the 20 Standards for Charity Accountability.

Stated Purpose:

 
Houston Childrens Charity is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to improving the quality of life for Greater Houstons underprivileged, abused and disabled children who have been otherwise left behind.  The scope of our support is limited only by the availability of resources.  Our goal is to leave no legitimate request for assistance unanswered.
 

Year, State Incorporated:
1996, TX

 
Since 1996, Houston Childrens Charity (HCC) has cared for the Greater Houston Area and its more than six million people. Their fundamental mission is to improve the quality of life for underprivileged, abused, and disabled children who have otherwise been left behind. Through an array of operating and capital support, HCC has raised over $40 million toward program services for more than 300 agencies and hundreds of thousands of individual families in Houston.

The Chariots for Children van program was founded in 1996 to distribute special-purpose vehicles to provide the freedom of mobility not otherwise available. This program is dedicated to providing custom, wheelchair-accessible vans to families as well as organizations with a similar mission. Since its inception, HCC has awarded 91 passenger vans, 93 wheelchair-accessible vehicles, 3 box trucks, 1 car, and 2 vehicle modifications to 94 agencies and 74 individual families at a total cost of over $3 million.

HCC believes an investment in students is an investment in our future. All children, regardless of their socio-economic status, should walk into school with a backpack and the basic supplies needed to succeed. Their Back2School program first began in 2005 with just one school district. Thanks to a partnership with The Rod Ryan Show over the past 8 years, they now reach more than 3,000 school-aged children annually across 5 counties and dozens of school districts in the Greater Houston Area.

The Houston Childrens Charity Family Emergency Fund at Texas Childrens Cancer Center was established in 2006 when HCC pledged a gift to Texas Childrens Hospital in the amount of $1,000,000 to be paid over ten years. This fund is used exclusively to provide financial relief in areas such as, rent, car payments, mortgage payments, and even groceries for the families of children undergoing cancer treatment. This commitment was renewed in 2016 to provide an additional $1,000,000 to the same fund.

Each night, more than 20,000 children in the Greater Houston area go to sleep without a bed. After several years of providing mattresses to families on a case-by-case basis, the A Better Nights Sleep program was implemented in 2007 with the goal of ensuring every child has sweet dreams. The program provides a mattress set, bed frame, sheets, pillow and blanket to children in need on a monthly basis. To date, this program has provided over 11,000 children with beds of their very own.


Each year, during their Easter and Christmas Parties, Christmas Toy Distributions, and Adopt-A-Family programs, the Greater Houston areas under-served children have the chance to experience some of the joys of life. Along with these events, additional Sport Outings and Cultural Events are planned throughout the year to provide disadvantaged children the chance to expand their horizons and create a positive outlook on their futures and the future of our community.

HCC benefits from a hands-on board of directors, who provide more than 40% of the total funding each year. Combining careful decision-making with rapid response, allows HCC to efficiently and effectively meet childrens needs.
 

For the year ended September 30, 2024, Houston Children's Charity's program expenses were:

Chariots for Children $3,467,346
Christmas $1,323,077
Better Night's Sleep $328,514
Back to School $224,106
Total Program Expenses $5,343,043

Chief Executive
Laura Ward, President & CEO

Chair of the Board
Tilman Fertitta

Board Size
26

Method(s) Used:
Direct mail appeals, Invitations to fund raising events, Print advertisements (newspapers, magazines, etc.), Television, Grant proposals, Cause-related marketing (affinity credit cards, consumer product sales, etc.)

Tax status information not available.

The following information is based on Houston Children's Charity's audited financial statements for the year ended September 30, 2024.

Source of Funds
Gala Income $3,914,539
In-Kind Contributions $2,004,077
Contributions $412,927
Other Income $97,828
Better Night's Seep $77,825
Chariots for Children $38,649
Christmas $15,734
Back to School $3,200
Less: Direct Donor Benefit $-340,278
Total Income $6,224,501

Programs: 84% Fundraising: 8% Administrative: 7%

Total Income $6,224,501
Total expenses: $6,335,816
  Program expenses $5,343,043
  Fundraising expenses $520,888
  Administrative expenses $471,885
  Other expenses $0
Income in Excess of Expenses $-111,315
Beginning Net Assets $2,139,746
Other Changes In Net Assets $0
Ending Net Assets $2,028,431
Total Liabilities $74,211
Total Assets $2,028,431

An organization may change its practices at any time without notice. A copy of this report has been shared with the organization prior to publication. It is not intended to recommend or deprecate, and is furnished solely to assist you in exercising your own judgment. If the report is about a charity and states the charity meets or does not meet the Standards for Charity Accountability, it reflects the results of an evaluation of information and materials provided voluntarily by the charity. The name Better Business Bureau is a registered service mark of the International Association of Better Business Bureaus.

This report is not to be used for fundraising or promotional purposes.

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Report completed by:
BBB of Greater Houston and South Texas