About the Nonprofit
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The Houston International Seafarers Center (HISC) was established over 55 years ago to provide
a haven for seafarers while seeing to their humanitarian needs, centered on recreational activities
and spiritual and pastoral services, as well as social services such as transportation, shopping,
medical needs, and conflict resolution.
Operating next door to the Port of Houston Authority Executive Offices, HISC offers visiting
seafarers a home away from home, providing a high-speed internet café/bar, library, commissary,
and game room, as well as the adjoining Seafarer’s Landing restaurant. HISC has proudly served
seafarers from more than 72 countries through its work with the Port of Houston community.
In tandem with HISC’s shore-based hospitality services, we strive to improve the quality of life
for seafarers onboard as well as onshore with our ship visiting program. We organize
approximately 5,100 ship visits a year thanks to our volunteer ship visitors and chaplains, and
during the holiday season each year HISC works with local churches and other organizations to
prepare Christmas care packages for seafarers that come to Houston. In 2022 alone HISC
delivered 9,000 holiday-care packages to more than 415 ships.
Once a year HISC conducts a nondenominational Chaplain School to train ship visitors and
chaplains from around the world, to help ensure the health and well-being of seafarers
everywhere. The ongoing mission of this program is to incorporate mental health services and
anti-human trafficking practices, to better serve seafarers and the world at large.
As a not-for-profit HISC relies on donations and grants but also on in-house fundraising. A
major source of support is HISC’s yearly Maritime Gala, which presents a unique opportunity
for networking among local maritime professionals and executives, as well as providing a major
source of funds for HISC’s day-to-day operations.