Homemade Meals for The Holidays and Beyond.

By Jason Gutierrez
Board Member, Tony’s Place

I hate deciding what’s for dinner. After a long day of work and other responsibilities, making one more decision is the last thing I want to do.

Most of us know that feeling, but there are many people in our community, like the clients of Tony’s Place, that don’t get to have the luxury of that internal dialogue.

Last October, Tony’s Place served just over 100 meals. This October, more than 800 meals were served. Our youth need us, and a warm meal is just one of the ways Tony’s Place is showing up.

In the past three months alone, Tony’s Place has already matched the 2,000 meals provided throughout last year. It’s evident that the demand for services is higher than ever. Houston’s 2025 Point-in-Time Count found that 40% of unsheltered youth identified as LGBTQ+, a number that reflects what is seen every day at Tony’s Place.

As we are, some days, the organization has to make the heartbreaking decision to turn away new clients because we simply don’t have the capacity to serve everyone who needs us.

That’s why Tony’s Place staff and board of directors are forever grateful to the Greater Houston LGBTQ+ Chamber of Commerce for opening their hearts and the minds of its members to the local need and efforts being made at Tony’s Place. The Chamber’s annual food and supply drive will make many meals for our hungry youth. It will ensure that Tony’s Place can continue to be a beacon of hope in our community.

Learn more about the Chamber Holiday Food & Supply Drive at http://chamberholidayfooddrive.lgbt/.

Jason Gutierrez is a Board Member with Tony’s Place, where he uses his talents and time to support the organization and LGBTQ+ unhoused youth. His company, ENIGMA Multimedia Marketing, is a longtime member of the Greater Houston LGBTQ+ Chamber of Commerce.

Jason has 20 years of experience in Journalism, Marketing for Small Businesses and Nonprofits, to Website Design and Development to Corporate PR and Government Relations, I am able to assess, assist and implement the tools needed to make your business or organization stand out across multimedia marketing outlets.