PROFILE: Rea, founder of Archangels of Texas, helps house homeless

ALVIN

Jill Craddock Rea is more than a run-of-the-mill taxi driver. Instead of just earning fares for transporting people, she spends the money out of her own pocket to help the homeless.

“It started with me being a cab driver,” Rea said. “I was driving around one night and I noticed a woman sitting in the cold and I gave her some of my clothes and got her a hotel room and a pizza; 129 times I did this.”

Help that many people, and it’s going to be noticed. These followers of Rea’s charitable actions became known as the Archangels of Texas. The group mostly communicates with the community through its Facebook page of the same name.

“We’re fighting angels,” Rea said in describing the group. “The goal is fighting despair and bringing people back up with love and support.”

One of the people who took notice is Deborah Mueller.

For the last 19 years, Mueller has volunteered for an organization that, with help from the Alvin Police Department, helps to check on senior citizens who might be having difficulties. The Are You OK Program was initiated to develop a network of support for the elderly, according to the Alvin Police Department.

Three years ago, Mueller was helping a woman who was transitioning to a nursing home. She got in contact with Rea through the Facebook group and said the woman had a whole house of things to donate. That’s how the two advocates met.

Since that first meeting, Mueller has been stunned by Rea’s generosity.

“My favorite memory of her, I think, is when I see her on the Facebook group,” Mueller said. “She puts her heart out there. When a man got his leg amputated, Jill begged the group for a wheelchair. It makes you want to go out and give.”

Another of Rea’s admirers, Sharla Blish, also became inspired by her altruism and acts of helping the less fortunate.

Blish recalls Rea as the hero for a family a few years ago.

“When she stepped in, there was a family who needed help,” Blish said.

“Everyone kept saying the father needed to go one place and the rest needed to go to a shelter and Jill wanted to keep the family together. I think that says a lot about her.”

Rea doesn’t limit her helping hands to the Facebook group, she said.

“I’m passionate about helping the community,” Rea said. “For years, I have done things here and there. Once you see a need, you can either ignore it completely and assume they’re just drunks and drug addicts. But, they’re still people. You can either ignore it or jump in and do something about it.

“There’s a large number of homeless people in Alvin, and it practically doubled during Harvey,” Rea said. “We don’t discriminate. We help everybody.”

On a particularly cold night in Alvin, Rea thought it was time to do something bigger. She went to the Knights Inn motel and reserved the banquet hall, opening it as a warming center.

“It was 15 degrees and icy, Rea explained. “People came in from all over to get warm while other people started bringing clothes, mattresses and TVs to get people comfortable. We could only afford to keep it open for three days, but the people there got to really sleep. Me? I was awake for 36 hours monitoring everything and everyone.

“It worked out really well and the entire community came together.”

Rea’s next big project is currently in the works. She wants to repurpose the old Alvin Emergency Center hospital as a center to house the homeless, which would, she hopes, put a huge dent in the homeless population in Brazoria County.

“In Alvin, there’s a hospital that’s been empty for five years and we have our eye on it,” Rea said. “It’s big enough to house upward of 400 teenagers, homeless vets and also families with children. We don’t discriminate.”

Rea also has the support and agreed collaboration from some members of the community.

“We have supporters such as doctors, the city marshal and the fire chief,” she said. “If we can get this hospital, we can house everybody in Brazoria County. We will help people get documentation. We would help people get off the street and get everything they need, including medicine and psychological counseling.”

The Archangels’ goal is to help Rea realize her dream of housing the homeless.

“Jill has spent a lot of her own money to help people,” Blish added. “I want to see the community get together to make her dream of a shelter in the community come true.”