Holiday party held for local homeless kids

HOUSTON

The 16 kids are preschoolers whose parents are making a big effort to get off the street, and they got the chance to experience the joy of the holidays at Galleria law firm Jim Adler and Associates.

"These children have been so traumatized living on the street, no home, nowhere to go home, we just try to make their Christmas a little brighter," said Jim Adler.

The kids all attend the House of Tiny Treasures, a preschool run by SEARCH Homeless Services in Houston. It's just one service offered to help get families off the street.

"We help people find jobs; we help people get education; we have adult education," said Lisa Estes with SEARCH Homeless Services.

But on Tuesday, they offered fun to the kids. They had a reindeer puppet craft-making table, story time, a pizza party and best of all, a sugar-cookie decorating station.

And so for at least a few minutes, the children were given a chance to forget the problems that life has dealt them as they enjoyed the generosity of others and the spirit of the season, a lesson in what a holiday should be.

The House of Tiny Treasures is Houston's only nationally accredited early childhood development center dedicated to homeless children.