Woman lives up to lifelong promise to help others, making life better in Richmond

RICHMOND, Texas - A teenager from Honduras made a promise decades ago, that if she survived her trek to the United States, she would help Americans in every way possible.

Decades later, Nery Salazar is still living up to that promise, helping make the future brighter for thousands of people in Richmond, Texas through education, Bible studies, warm meals, and all the love and donations she can provide them.

You'll typically find lines of people at her non-profit called "Nery's Promise," because it's so popular and helpful. She says they're getting so many people there in need of help, they're outgrowing their space, so she's hoping to make it even bigger. For now, the comfy space is a safe haven for families. When you first walk in, you'll see an entire wall of books.

"It's our library. When the kids come, I want them to learn to love books and to love to learn to read," explains Nery.

The dream of this place began when Nery was a teenager and on the verge of death from trying to make her way alone to the U.S. from her "family of 10's" rough situation in Honduras.

"I was hungry, didn't have anything to eat, so I knew that worms had protein, so I started looking for worms to eat and I ate leaves.  I ate whatever I could find, but I was about to die after eating so many worms," explains Nery.

She did whatever it took to stay alive.

"I was about to die. My belly had gotten big, and I was about to die, from parasites," explains Nery.

Dreaming of helping others helped keep her alive.

"I had to cry out to God and ask him if he can help me. So I got on my knees, and I said, 'God, please help me. If you help me, I'm going to help you.' So, I made a promise to God right there," says Nery.

All that time, she knew she would give back to others now being served at her non-profit. Her prayers were answered when a family took her in and got her medication to help her heal.

"I found my husband, so we had two children, and things started getting better, getting to the light," describes Nery.

Her dreams of helping others came to life at first with a tent in her front yard, mentoring children. Then in 2019, she became a non-profit to help even more people.

"They came and learned about Jesus, we feed them, and we helped out the kids the best that we can. They need shoes. We help them with shoes. They need clothes or with whatever they need. We also have a reading class every Saturday, they started with three kids, and now we have about 16 kids. And the school principal keeps saying, okay, whatever you're doing out there, keep doing it, because it's helping," says Nery.

Plus, many of the children she helps don't have a place to sleep, so she's taking care of that problem, as well.

"The kids are going to have their own little place to sleep, and they're not going to be sleeping in the floor, and they're not going to be sleeping with somebody," says Nery.

She also helps adults gain their GED and then helps students figure out how to go to trade school or college. Every day living up to her promise during that dark, scary time in her life.

Nery and her group of volunteers are already putting plans in place to help serve up some fine meals for Thanskgiving and Christmas to families in need in Richmond. Cooking for large groups comes easily for them. They served hundreds of meals daily at the beginning of the COVID pandemic for five months and then served many families who were in need after Hurricane Beryl.

For more information: https://neryspromise.com