Imagine dedicating your life to feeding hungry children, only to watch that work collapse under allegations later proven false. Imagine learning decades later that the very community you once helped feed now leads the nation in the number of food-insecure households.
For Carol Doe Porter, that scenario isn’t hypothetical. It’s her story.
Porter and her late husband, Hurt Porter, founded Kid-Care in 1991. Their mission began years earlier.
Using their blue-collar salaries, the couple cooked and delivered meals to hungry children in apartment complexes across Houston. What started as a grassroots effort eventually grew into a nationally recognized nonprofit feeding hundreds of thousands of children annually.
But public allegations of fraud in the early 2000s prompted the state of Texas to shut down Kid-Care operations and triggered an IRS investigation. Though the accusations were ultimately proven false, the damage was done. The organization’s reputation was shattered, and its growth was halted.
Today, nearly 25 years later, the Porters’ hometown faces a troubling reality: Harris County now leads the nation in food insecurity. And she understandably feels “some type of way.”
By the numbers
Just how serious is childhood hunger in Houston and Harris County?
The numbers are staggering.
According to a report from the Rice University Kinder Institute for Urban Research, roughly 39% of Harris County households are food-insecure, meaning they lack reliable access to sufficient, affordable, and nutritious food. That’s nearly three times the national average (14%).
Researchers also found deep racial disparities. Food insecurity rates are highest among Black and Hispanic residents.
- 53% of Black households experience food insecurity
- 47% of Hispanic households face the same challenge
- Rates are lower among white and Asian households, at 24% and 17% respectively
Food insecurity is especially prevalent in households earning less than $35,000 annually. Some neighborhoods—particularly the Greenspoint and Bush Intercontinental Airport areas—see rates approaching 80% of households.
“For the first time, we got a sense of how serious the issue is,” shared Luz Garcini, director of the Kinder Institute’s Center for Community and Public Health. “Which is pretty shocking.”
Children bear the brunt of this crisis.
As of 2023, 24.6% of children in Harris County—about 306,140 young people—were food insecure, an increase from 20.1% in 2019. That means roughly one in four children struggles with uncertain access to food.
Rates are highest among Black (34%) and Latino (25%) children.
Within Houston alone, nonprofit Children at Risk estimates at least 88,000 children live with food insecurity, including about 26,000 under the age of six who qualify for meal delivery services.
These numbers are fueled in part by geography. Houston contains more than 500,000 residents living in food deserts, urban areas where affordable, fresh food is difficult to find—conditions most common in predominantly Black and Brown neighborhoods.
Rise and fall of Kid-Care
Long before these numbers dominated reports, the Porters were working to address the problem directly. Beginning in 1984, they personally prepared and delivered meals to hungry children throughout the city.
“When we heard about children eating out of McDonald’s dumpsters and seeing Third World poverty down the street from where I lived, God gave me and my husband the vision of doing Kid-Care,” Porter said.
Once local media executive Brad Levy began highlighting their work, Kid-Care’s reach exploded. At its peak, the nonprofit served between 240,000 and one million meals annually.
A food survey conducted by the anti-hunger campaign No Kid Hungry between 1993 and 2000 found that hunger in Harris County dropped by 25% during the period when Kid-Care was most active.
Then came the controversy.
In 2002, a series of investigative reports accused Kid-Care of corruption. The allegations dominated local news coverage and led then–Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott to file a lawsuit that shut down the organization.
The accusations were eventually disproven, but the Porters’ exoneration received far less attention.
“I believe without any arrogance that had we been given due process by Greg Abbott… they would have found out we were innocent and restored us,” Porter said, “and Harris County would not be number one in food insecurity.”
Local activist Abdul Haleem Muhammad agrees.
“There is no doubt that Kid-Care was successful in mitigating child hunger. The destruction of Kid-Care… contributed to the shameful state of child hunger and food insecurity in Harris County.”
Abdul Haleem Muhammad, Ph.D.
“There is no such thing as coincidence,” Muhammad said. “There is no doubt that Kid-Care was successful in mitigating child hunger. The destruction of Kid-Care… contributed to the shameful state of child hunger and food insecurity in Harris County.”
Porter believes the organization could have helped spark a national grassroots movement.
“What we were doing was putting the thought in people’s minds that there exists a Third World country in America,” she said. “On the outskirts of beautiful homes, there are pockets of poverty. And we could do something about it.”
How did we get here?
The collapse of Kid-Care isn’t the only factor behind the region’s hunger crisis. Policy and economic realities also play major roles.
According to a 2025 Houston Food Bank report, Texas has some of the highest rates of food insecurity in the country, alongside some of the highest rates of uninsured residents and diet-related diseases. Nearly five million Texans lack health insurance, and more than two million households statewide are food insecure. The result is a cycle of poor health, financial strain, and limited access to nutritious food.
Efforts to fight childhood hunger
Despite the grim statistics, numerous organizations are working to address the problem.
The Houston Health Department (HHD) operates programs such as WIC, which provides nutrition support for pregnant women and children up to age five. The Houston Food Bank runs several youth-focused initiatives, including Kids Café, which distributes meals and snacks through after-school programs and community partners.
“Kids Café focuses on food-insecure kids,” said Xena Hernandez, the program’s supervisor. “Sometimes that’s the last meal they get that day.”
Other grassroots groups are stepping in.
Helping Hands for the People, founded by Alicia Rogers and Krystle Robinson, provides meals to children in five underserved communities during critical after-school hours.
“We looked around and asked, ‘Who is feeding these kids now?’” Rogers said. “We decided we had to give something back to our community.”
Some local Black farmers are also advocating for food justice.
“For me, food justice is about people knowing where their food comes from,” said farmer DeShaun Taylor. “We shouldn’t have to drive from Acres Homes to The Woodlands for a tomato.”
Call to action
Despite the destruction of Kid-Care’s reputation, Porter never abandoned her mission. The nonprofit still operates today, feeding 30 to 50 families weekly with the help of volunteers and partners such as Whole Foods.
Recently, Porter helped save the lives of two malnourished six-month-old twins by securing donated goat’s milk formula.
“Whole Foods saved my two babies,” she said. “Now they’re fat. But they were skin and bones.”
For Porter, solving childhood hunger requires both community responsibility and resources.
“America is the land of plenty,” she said. “Some of us have plenty. What are you doing individually to make a difference?”
She also hopes individuals and corporations will support Kid-Care’s continuing work.
“Write checks to Kid-Care,” she said. “We’re still a 501(c)(3) nonprofit.”
Meanwhile, Houston health officials urge families in need to access existing programs.
“Encourage pregnant women and families with children under five to reach out to our clinics or apply for WIC,” said Houston Health Department interim director Dr. Theresa Tran.
