Today we’d like to introduce you to Baquee Sabur.
So, before we jump into specific questions, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
After being under conditions known to the homeless population, once I got on my feet, I decided to be a part of a cause. Stumbling across a program called THAP (Temporary Housing Assistance Program) funded by TDCJ (Texas Department of Criminal Justice), living in someone else’s home, no job, no transportation, no money, I put my plans in motion and applied to be a provider. Second, I coordinated a meeting with two homeowners and a handful of professionals at a Furr’s restaurant and walked out of the meeting with a skeleton Board of Directors and the keys to two home with an understanding that no rent would be paid for five months. Once becoming an approved provider for THAP, the program filled us to capacity (12 beds) in just a few weeks. Unfortunately, the City of Dallas complained to the State of Texas that City Ordinances were being violated-i.e. “Half-Way-Houses” are prohibited in Single-Family Zoning Areas.
As a result, TDCJ reposed our clients and returned them to secured facilities. Since Huma-Faith wasn’t created for THAP (i.e., simply a means to launch), I struggled for two years to make the homeless population financially responsible for themselves by charging $10 a day. Though this was like pulling teeth, we survived and in 2012, after studying a Dummies Book, I successfully wrote the Huma-Faith program and was approved by the IRS as a 501 C 3 Organization and determined to be a Public Charity. I used the 501 C 3 Status to turn Huma-Faith into a Work Program (i.e., Work-for-Stay) by acquiring fundraising opportunities at various venues (e,g, AT&T Stadium, Globe Life Park, Texas Motor Speedway, etc.). There’s a lot more to this story, it’s beginning and current struggle to be captured later. However, I’m often asked why am I doing what I’m doing? The answer is simple, I found it to be my Moral Responsibility to give back to populations from which I’ve personally transcended-i.e. there’s not much that the homeless population experiences, endures, suffers, or the causes that I haven’t gone through myself!!!
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
Not smooth at all and it’s still a wonder how we’re still around after ten years! The struggles are rooted in motivating a population that has little hope, drive, and ambition. Additionally, the stigmas and discrimination that come with the population from those who we seek opportunities with.
Please tell us about Huma-Faith.
Though as an ideal and written product, we are a comprehensive program with a broad scope, we’ve only accomplished one aspect. Since April 2010, Huma-Faith provides Community/Transitional Housing for the homeless in both Tarrant and Dallas Counties. What I think sets us apart from others is my personal experience as a homeless person, experience with loss & trauma, and having transcended from most of the root causes known to attribute to this problem. This not only puts me in a position to identify/empathize but allows me to be a role model for overcoming it since I didn’t have a program to assist me in these regards. Another is that I challenged my experiences with academia-i.e. I decided that college could and would be my therapeutic tool; I learned areas of addiction, psychology, human behavior, the effects of trauma for myself to understand my own problems. For these reasons, I’m dedicated to Therapeutic/Support Services. I’m not content with warehousing people and rather find a way to steer, motivate others to do as much as they can for self, though we hope along the way there are folks that are willing to give us a helping hand.
What were you like growing up?
Wow! This question really taps into a lot that cannot be typed out at this time. I was born in Brooklyn, NY and grew up in the Ghetto. At too young of an age, I was exposed to the worst of crime, drug culture-you name it; therefore, my interests took many twists. My parents and I moved to Georgia where I also grew up in Atlanta and graduated high school there. Jeckle & Hyde is how I’ll describe myself growing-up. A teen with high academic achievement, leader of the most prominent Social Organization at school, public speaking, but also a participant of gang-culture and the leader of one when I wasn’t in school. MUCH TO TELL!!! Always had an entrepreneurial spirit. Nine days after graduating high school, I was in the Army – a promise and agreement I made with my HS Principal.
Contact Info:
- Address: 1617 Park Place Ave. Ste. 110, Fort Worth, TX 76110
2606 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd, Ste. 215, Dallas, TX 75215 - Website: www.humafaith.org
- Phone: 682-841-0313
- Email: info@humafaith.org
- Instagram: humafaith
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HumaFaith
- Twitter: humafaith
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