At Hocutt, community Involvement is a long-standing corporate objective. For more than 30 years, our company and its coworkers have contributed thousands of dollars and hundreds of volunteer hours to improve the communities where we live and work.

Guns and Hoses Foundation of North Texas

The Guns and Hoses Foundation of North Texas is a 501(C)3 non-profit organization dedicated to providing immediate financial assistance to the families of fallen police officers and firefighters lost in the line of duty. The Guns and Hoses Foundation of North Texas also contributes to children’s charities supported by local police and fire departments.

The Guns and Hoses Foundation of North Texas provides immediate assistance to 19 counties within North Texas. Our areas of coverage includes the counties of Collin, Cooke, Dallas, Denton, Ellis, Erath, Hood, Hunt, Johnson, Jones, Kaufman, Navarro, Palo Pinto, Parker, Rockwall, Somervell, Tarrant, Taylor and Wise. The collective of listed counties equates to over 20,000+ sworn peace officers, reserve officers, certified firefighters and volunteer firefighters.

Since being founded in 2002, the Guns and Hoses Foundation of North Texas has assisted 59 Families with financial support. The core purpose of the Guns and Hoses Foundation of North Texas is to show respect and gratitude for the police officers and firefighters lost in the line of duty. To us, these people are true heroes who deserve to be honored for their work and sacrifice.

Dallas LIFE

The story of Dallas LIFE starts with a man named Reverend Robert J. Key, one of the founders of the Union Gospel Mission in 1949. With Dallas’ homeless population growing in the post war years, Reverend Key left UGM to begin establishing the Dallas Rescue Mission. It was this endeavor that would become Dallas LIFE, now the largest homeless shelter in North Texas.

Dallas Rescue Mission opened its doors in 1954 in a small storefront location on Commerce Street. The first location was just a few blocks from the city jail and housed 25 men each night. There, Rev. Key would minister to the men who came to him nightly for shelter and a hot meal. Rev. Key and his volunteers kept the shelter open every night for the next 25 years.

In early 1979, Rev. Key’s health began to fail, so he asked Reverend James Starkes of Jupiter Road Baptist Church to lead the Dallas Rescue Mission. Rev. Starkes moved the Mission just a few doors down on the same street into a larger building, where they could shelter 80 men every night. Less than a year later, the facilities were expanded to be able to house 25 women and children. The Dallas Rescue Mission became known as a lighthouse of Christian love, Bible teaching, and offered addiction recovery and job training to help its residents experience total life restoration.

By 1981 the Mission had become much more than a shelter – it was also a church, school, and recovery center. Appropriately, the Board of Trustees voted in 1981 to officially change the name to Dallas LIFE.

Water Safety Tips

• Make sure there is an isolation fence around the pool, separating the pool from the house and the surrounding yard. It should be at least 4 feet high, with self-latching and self-locking doors.
• Install secondary barriers such as house door alarms, water disturbance alarms, and child immersion alarms.
• Make sure kids have constant supervision when they’re in or around water. Designate at least one adult “water watcher” at all times. If you’re with a group, have adults take turns.
• Teach kids survival swimming skills.
• Kids that are not strong swimmers should wear US Coast Guard-approved, well-fitting life jackets. (But be aware they don’t make your child drown-proof — still keep constant watch.)
• Set water safety rules for the whole family — for example, kids should never swim alone, inexperienced swimmers should stay in water less than chest deep, don’t dive into water less than 9 feet deep, stay away from pool drains, pipes, and other openings, etc.
• Parents and caregivers should learn bystander CPR.
• Swimming lessons and life jackets do not replace supervision. Always watch kids in and around water. Drowning is swift and silent — it can happen in less than a minute.
• All pools should have a safety-reaching device like a shepherd’s crook.
• Keep a phone nearby so you can quickly call 911 in an emergency.
• Remember, kids can drown in just an inch of water and it happens swiftly and silently — drain inflatable pools and coolers after each use.
• Ensure pools and spas have compliant drain covers and are kept in working order.