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Next Steps: Action Plans to Implementation
Action Plans are in production! Community input is being incorporated into the Complete Communities Action Plans that document goals, action items and more. Drafts of the Action Plans will be reviewed and edited with the goal of presenting final documents to City Council in May for their review and adoption. Please visit the Complete Communities website for the latest detailed information.
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All Complete Communities
Hire Houston Youth: Despite Houston's robust economy, the inequality of educational resources, concentrated poverty, and deepening income issues remain significant issues that require transformative, innovative solutions. Recognizing the youth employment crisis and the value of early work experience, and as a component of Complete Communities, Mayor Sylvester Turner has developed the Hire Houston Youth program. The program is for individuals who are 16-24 years of age, and offers a seven-week paid summer job opportunity to earn and learn in one of Houston's unique local businesses. In its first year, Hire Houston Youth provided over 1,100 employment options. Now, an ambitious goal of the Mayor is for 7,500 jobs to be filled during the summer of 2018. Mayor Turner encourages Houston area youth to take advantage of the Hire Houston Youth program, which is currently taking applications
online
through March 23. For more information and to hear a message from Mayor Turner, go to
hirehoustonyouth.org/.
Visit My Neighborhood: Mayor Turner announced arts grants totaling $375,000 for grassroots organizations in the five Complete Communities. The grants are funding the Visit My Neighborhood pilot program, through which Houston Arts Alliance (HAA) partners with community-based organizations to expand arts and cultural experiences for residents and visitors based on their knowledge and expertise in the local community.
Through a series of brainstorming sessions and follow-up meetings, each community crafted its own project proposal geared toward identifying and elevating the rich cultural resources, artists and assets specific to their community. The grant recipient lead organizations for each community are as follows:
- Acres Home Multi-Service Center Advisory Committee, Inc. (Acres Home)
- Culture of Health-Advancing Together (Gulfton)
- East End Chamber of Commerce (Second Ward)
- Avenue CDC (Near Northside)
- The Third Ward Cloth Cooperative (Third Ward)
To learn more about the Complete Communities cultural strategy and other City cultural programs visit the Mayor's Office of Cultural Affairs website and
and follow them on Facebook.
The Mayor's Art Scholarship is now accepting applications for scholarships ranging from $1,000 to $500. Students in grades 11 and 12 are invited to participate. The Mayor's Office of Education, the Mayor's Office of Cultural Affairs, and the Houston Arts Partners host a competition designed specifically for Houston-area school districts and students. The Houston Arts Partners coordinates and grows the citywide scholarship with the expertise of district fine arts administrators. The deadline is March 26, 2018 and interested students can apply online.
Free Preparation of Wills: The City of Houston Department of Neighborhoods is partnering with the Houston Bar Association to offer free legal assistance with the preparation of wills to eligible low-income Houston residents. The Complete Communities Wills (Will-A-Thon) Clinic will be held on April 4th and May 2nd, 8:30 am - 3:30 pm, at the Tidwell Community Center located at 9720 Spaulding, Houston TX 77016. The application deadline is March 30, 2018. To apply call 713-228-0735. For more information, contact the Department of Neighborhoods at 832.394.0600 or by email at contact.don@houstontx.gov.
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Community Highlights
Acres Home
Young Adults Building Communities: Civic engagement and developing youth leaders is an action plan item for this community. To help implement this objective, the City of Houston Health Department, My Brother's Keeper, and the Houston Health Foundation have partnered together to create the Young Adults Building Communities program, Y-ABC. It's a free program designed to empower young people, 18-30 years of age, through training and experiential learning to become a voice for positive changes in their community. The program includes training on effective communication strategies, connecting to your elected officials, increasing awareness of available resources, skills in coalition building within and outside your community, and health literacy. There are mini-grants available for community improvement projects. Sign up for
Acres Home
or
Gulfton,
or visit
Y-ABC
for more information.
Meeting Report: On February 28, 2018, the Acres Home Complete Communities team hosted the first Action Team (A-Team) meeting. The A-teams were created for nine topics: Infrastructure, Housing, Civic Engagement, Education, Economy and Workforce, Health, Parks and Community Amenities, and Safety. The action teams will work together to help implement the projects from the plan in collaboration with the City of Houston and/or outside partners. The teams met to discuss roles and responsibilities in addition to the action steps to accomplish their respective project.
Next Steps: Ultimately, this A-Team partnership will be key to the success of the Complete Communities Action Plan for Acres Home. If you are interested in joining an action team, please
sign up.
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Acres Home A-team in action
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Acres Home Complete Communities Economy and Workforce Action Team: Several activities are underway, including events happening this week! The Watkins Group Realty, Bank One,and Urban Financial Services Coalition are joining efforts in support of financial literacy in our area.
The action team has arranged a happy hour meet-up at the Houston Club on Friday, March 16th, from 5-7 pm. Feel free to pass the invitation to constituents, colleagues, cohorts, realtors, and financial services professionals. Please
register.
Emergency preparedness is a major governance concern to this Economy and Workforce Action Team. Check out the March cover story of
Governing magazine for a look at a new way to respond to disasters.
Register now for the Financial Preparedness for Disaster and Emergency Workshop. The training will be held March 17, from 10 am - 4 pm at The Watkins Group Realty office, located at 5450 NW Central Dr. Suite #230 Houston, TX 77092. Seating is limited to 12 attendees and box lunches will be provided. Please note, this will be the first of several Train-the-Trainer Workshops, so if this one is filled when you go to register, simply email
ann@thewatkinsgroup-tx.com about your interest and she will notify you of upcoming dates.
More Community Meetings: The Lone Star College Board of Trustees is combining four centers (including Victory Center) into a college campus. They would like to learn from the community what services and programs you would like to see at the four centers.
Lone Star College Town Hall Meeting
March 21, 2018
6:00-7:30 pm
Acres Home Multiservice Center
6719 W Montgomery Rd
Houston, TX 77091
The Soto Concrete Plant is submitting an air quality permit to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ). The TCEQ will consider all public comments in developing a final decision on the application. A public meeting will be held and will consist of two parts, an Informal Discussion Period and a Formal Comment Period.
TCEQ Public Meeting on Soto Ready Mix, Inc. Air Quality Permit
March 26, 2018
7:00-9:00 pm
Acres Home Multiservice Center
6719 W Montgomery Rd
Houston, TX 77091
Contact Information: The lead planners for Acres Home are Christa Stoneham and Arica Bailey. You can reach them at CC_AcresHome@houstontx.gov.
Young Adults Building Communities: Civic engagement and developing youth leaders is an action plan item for this community. See details under Acre Home heading.
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Community members of all ages are participating in Complete Communities planning |
Meeting: Gulfton residents attended the Complete Communities public meeting and Health & Safety Fair held Saturday, February 17 at Burnett Bayland Park. Residents were engaged and provided input and recommendations for the Gulfton Complete Communities Action Plan.
Next Steps: The Planning & Development Department will present the Gulfton Draft Action Plan, which involved numerous planning efforts, meetings with neighborhood groups and organizations, and input from the community, on Tuesday, March 20. The meeting will take place at the Southwest Multi-Service Center, located at 6400 High Star Dr. Houston, TX 77074, from 6:00 - 7:30 pm.
Contact Information: The lead planners for Gulfton are Tonya Sawyer and Abraham Zorilla. You can reach them at CC_Gulfton@houstontx.gov.
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Near Northside residents reviewed the
draft Action Plan
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Open House: The Planning and Development Department hosted an open house in Near Northside at Clemente Martinez Elementary School on February 20. Approximately 90 people attended the event to view the draft Complete Communities Action Plan for the neighborhood. Residents came to review and make comments on the goals, projects, and partners for each of the nine topic areas: Housing, Safety, Education, Civic Engagement, Health, Neighborhood Character, Parks and Community Amenities, Infrastructure, and Economy and Workforce. Participants also selected projects that they believe are high priority.
Contact Information: The lead planners for Near Northside are Chris Andrews and Davonte Caldwell. You can reach them at CC_NearNorthside@houstontx.gov.
Second Ward
Open House: Thank you to everyone who attended the Second Ward Open House on Monday, February 26! This was the second public meeting in Second Ward and over 90 community members showed up and provided their input on the draft action plan for the neighborhood. We would also like to thank Houston Independent School District and East Early College High School for hosting this event. Information that was presented at the meeting will be available on the Second Ward Complete Communities
website
.
Eight Topics: At the Second Ward Open House, the community reviewed 69 projects covering eight topics including Parks and Community Amenities, Housing, Safety, Transit and Infrastructure, Health, Education, Neighborhood Character, and Economy and Workforce. These projects were the result of previous planning efforts and new ideas that were discussed at the kick-off workshop last fall, with city departments, and the Neighborhood Support Team. Comments from the open house are being reviewed and incorporated into the final Second Ward Complete Communities Action Plan.
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| Second Ward residents working at the Open House |
Contact Information: The lead planners for Second Ward are Misty Staunton and David Welch. You can reach them at CC_SecondWard@houstontx.gov.
Third Ward
Next Steps:
The Third Ward Complete Communities Action Plan is in production! The Action Plan will be presented to City Council in May for their consideration and adoption. However, these next few months will not sit idle. The Neighborhood Support Team and the Greater Third Ward Super Neighborhood #67 have joined forces to work on projects outlined in the Action Plan. The first joint meeting is scheduled for the regular SN meeting time, place and location: Thursday, March 15, 6:00 - 7:30 pm at the Third Ward Multi-Service Center, 3611 Ennis St. Houston, Tx., 77004.
Houston Poet Laureate:
Deborah D.E.E.P. Mouton, Houston Poet Laureate, is conducting a series of poetry workshops for women throughout March. All of the workshops will take place at the Smith Neighborhood Library in Third Ward (near TSU and UH) from 6:00 - 7:30 pm. Workshop dates are: 3/1, 3/8, 3/22 and 3/29. See details on
Facebook
.
Young Adults Building Communities: Civic engagement and developing youth leaders is an action plan item for this community. See details under Acre Home heading.
Contact Information: The lead planners for Third Ward are Lynn Henson and Annette Mitchell. You can reach them at CC_ThirdWard@houstontx.gov.
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STAY CONNECTED
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