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City Council Supports the Action Plans
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| Planners and colleagues celebrate the adoption of the Action Plans by City Council. |
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Houston City Council passed a resolution in support of the five Complete Communities Action Plans! The Action Plans detail goals, projects, priorities, timeframe, metrics and partners identified by the communities and supporting organizations.
Council support of Mayor Sylvester Turner's signature program will help communicate the City's support to possible funders, philanthropists, and grantors. The Action Plans can be viewed on the Complete Communities
website.
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Town Hall Meetings on Rebuild Houston and Fire Salary Referendum
Mayor Turner has scheduled town hall meetings regarding the November 6 city referendum elections, regarding Rebuild Houston and fire salary parity. Each meeting will take place 6:30 - 7:45 pm, as listed below. District B 's meeting will begin at 7 pm. Early in-person voting starts October 26, 2018. For details on meetings outside of the Complete Communities areas please see the Mayor's press release.
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Near Northside and Second Ward: Monday, September 10 (District H) Moody Park, 3725 Fulton
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Acres Home: Thursday, September 20 (District B) Kashmere Multi-Service Center, 4802 Lockwood
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Monday, September 24 (District A) Trini Mendenhall Community Center, 1414 Wirt Road
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Third Ward: Wednesday, October 3 (District D) Sunnyside Metropolitan Multi-Service Center, 9314 Cullen
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Gulfton: Wednesday, September 19 (District J) Sharpstown Community Center, 6600 Harbor Town
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National Night Out in Houston is October 2, 2018
National Night Out is a community-police awareness-raising event in the United States, held the first Tuesday of August in most places. Due to Houston's sometimes brutal summer heat, Houston normally celebrates the first Tuesday of October.
Community members are encouraged to participate. We can all simply turn on exterior or porch lights; go outside to talk with neighbors, and ideally, organize a neighborhood gathering and invite local authorities, police representatives, and fellow residents.
Neighborhoods can host block parties, festivals, parades, cookouts and various other community events with safety demonstrations, seminars, youth events, visits from emergency personnel, exhibits and much more.
Knowing our neighbors can help all of us be more resilient in case of an emergency. You can even register your event and learn more information by visiting
natw.org/
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Community Highlights
Home Economy and Workforce: The Acres Home Economy and Workforce A-Team leaders, Ann Watkins from The Watkins Group and Yvonne Green from Bank on Houston, hosted a workshop titled "Building a Financial Foundation - Practicing Discipline and Building Wealth" with the Home Builders Institute (HBI) construction students on August 29. The future entrepreneurs learned about the banking system, consumer consumption, excessive debt, and the ability to build wealth by becoming a homeowner.
Community Music:
Acres Homes Visit My Neighborhood grantee,
Community Music Center of Houston,
presented a free community and family-friendly music festival at Lincoln Park on September 1. Performances included the Keeshea Pratt Band, the Conrad Johnson Orchestra, the Soul Strings, L.T. and the Zydeco Mob and a special tribute to Ms. Aretha Franklin.
Mayor Turner Turns Dirt on the New Home Development Program: The New Home Development Program hosted a groundbreaking ceremony in Acres Home on September 4. The program will provide newly-constructed, affordable single-family homes for qualified low- and moderate-income homebuyers. For more information on lot availability, program guidelines, and newly constructed homes for sale, visit the NHDP website.
Go Neighborhoods: At the first GO Neighborhood meeting, the community identified 3 focus
areas:
- Attracting a banking/credit union institution
- Increasing civic engagement for all
- Historic and land preservation
The second meeting, held on September 11th, discussed the next steps such as potential workshop sessions and the GO Annual Work Plan. For more information, visit the GO Neighborhoods website.
Turnaround Houston: Mayor Turner and the City of Houston is co-sponsoring a job readiness fair on September 27, 9 am - 1 pm, at the Acres Home Chamber of Commerce, located at 6112 Wheatley St. The fair will offer access to employers and social service organizations to help break down barriers to employment.
Contact Information: The lead planners for Acres Home are Christa Stoneham and Arica Bailey. You can reach them at
CC_AcresHome@houstontx.gov.
NST and Workgroups Move Forward: Our next Neighborhood Support Team (NST) meeting is scheduled for September 26, at the Southwest Multi-Service Center, 6400 High Star Dr, from 6 - 7:30 pm. The Mayor's Office of Cultural Affairs will introduce the four artists selected by the NST to work on the Mini-Mural Project. Also, Parks and Community Amenities/Health, Mobility and Infrastructure, and Housing and Safety work groups committees will provide an update on the committees' work. If you would like to join a work group committee, please visit the Gulfton
Complete Community website
and sign up today!
SN Monthly Meeting: Gulfton Super Neighborhood Council monthly meeting is every 3rd Monday of the month at the Southwest Multi-Service Center, 6400 High Star Drive, from noon to 1 pm.
National Night Out: Gulfton National Night Out will take place on Tuesday, October 2, at Burnett Bayland Park, 6000 Chimney Rock Rd, from 6 to 8 pm. Again, this is an annual community-building campaign that promotes police-community partnerships and neighborhood camaraderie to make our neighborhoods safer, more caring places to live. National Night Out enhances the relationship between neighbors and law enforcement while bringing back a true sense of community.
Positive Interaction Program (PIP): The next PIP meeting will take place on Tuesday, October 16, at the Southwest Multi-Service Center, 6400 High Star Dr., from 12 to 1 pm. This program holds monthly PIP meetings and features speakers from different divisions (Burglary and Theft, Homicide, K-9, Helicopters, etc.) to explain how their division operates. This program is offered so citizens will know what to expect, should they ever need the police. The PIP was started as a pilot project in only one police station. The program has expanded significantly, as it has proven to be an overwhelming success.
Contact Information: The lead planners for Gulfton are Tonya Sawyer and Abraham Zorilla. You can reach them at CC_Gulfton@houstontx.gov.
Super Neighborhood 51 Meeting: The recent Super Neighborhood 51 Meeting was held on Thursday, August 23, at the Leonel Castillo Community Center from 6 to 8 pm. A special election was held for a new Council Leadership Team (CLT). The new members were immediately sworn in and a discussion was held to determine the future work of the CLT. The next steps will be to review the current Super Neighborhood 51 bylaws for potential revisions and update the list of stakeholder organizations. The next meeting is expected to be held on Thursday, September 27, at the same time and location.
Neighborhood Support Team: A Neighborhood Support Team (NST) meeting was held August 29 at the Leonel Castillo Community Center. The purpose was to discuss how to create task or work groups to carry out various projects in the Near Northside Complete Communities Action Plan. Many current groups in Near Northside ,such as the GO Neighborhoods teams and Super Neighborhood 51, were acknowledged during the discussion along with existing community plans.
Moving forward, the intention is to recognize civic activities that routinely take place in this neighborhood and not "reinvent the wheel." The discussion concluded by reaching a consensus on exploring the idea of merging the NST with Super Neighborhood 51 and possibly forming groups through that venue. The date, time, and location for the next NST meeting is to be determined.
Transforming Hardy: Multiple projects took place on August 18 to transform a section of Hardy Street. A Little Free Library was set up at the corner of Hardy and Harrington Streets, which was decorated by students and staff from Looscan Elementary. Also, a mural and crosswalk were painted at the intersection of Hardy and Harrington.
The event was led by the Houston Department of Transformation with the support from Avenue CDC and Houston LISC. The Houston Department of Transformation is a team of residents and community leaders in Near Northside that aims to utilize civic engagement and tactical urbanism to create safe and beautiful communities. The group usually meets every 2nd Thursday of the month from 6 - 7:30 pm at the Lindale Park Club house, 218 Joyce Street. See their
Facebook page
for information on meetings, projects, and updates.
Near Northside Diversity: There is currently a diverse collection of organizations in Near Northside working daily on goals and projects that are listed in the Action Plan and other local community plans. Visit P&D's Near Northside Complete Communities website for information on the Action Plan.
Second Ward Work Groups: The first round of work group meetings for Second Ward were held on August 13 at the Houston Community College-Southeast Felix Fraga campus. Thank you to HCC Southeast for providing this space as a valuable resource for Complete Communities meetings.
Seven work groups were launched at this meeting to focus on the implementation of projects in the Second Ward Complete Communities Action Plan. Each of these groups can become effective at completing projects in the action plan through community-driven initiatives and to provide further community engagement on larger projects that will be important to the future of Second Ward.
Over the next month the groups will continue their discussions on priority projects and select projects that can be led by the community. If you have a passion for Second Ward, we have several projects that will interest you. Please contact us to learn about the projects in the Action Plan and to be informed and get involved.
Contact Information: The lead planners for Second Ward are David Welch and Eriq Glenn. You can reach them at CC_SecondWard@houstontx.gov.
Third Ward
Third Ward Complete Communities Action Plan is Online: To view the Third Ward Action Plan, visit the P&D Third Ward Complete Communities website
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Work Groups: For dates, times and locations of each of the Work Groups visit the P&D website
. The current work groups are
SN Election of Officers in November: Join the Greater Third Ward Super Neighborhood #67 monthly meeting. The election of officers will take place at the meeting on November 15. The Super Neighborhood meets every third Thursday at the Third Ward Multi-Service Center, 3611 Ennis St., at 6 pm.
Mini Murals: Mini Murals are coming to Third Ward! The Mayor's Office of Cultural Affairs, Council Member Dwight Boykins, local artists, and the Third Ward Neighborhood Character Working Group are working together to install Mini Murals. Mini Murals reimagine traffic signal control cabinets (electrical or utility boxes) as blank canvases that invite artistic expression for all to enjoy. They are intended to help instill civic pride while beautifying neighborhoods and enhancing the urban landscape. The Mayor's Office of Civic and Cultural Affairs will conduct a survey that will ask participants to rank the available potential locations in Third Ward. Visit the
Mini Murals website
for images of projects in other neighborhoods.
Colour of Music: The Colour of Music Festival celebrates world-renowned, prodigiously-talented classical principals, composers, and performers of African descent. The 2018 Festival takes place October 24 - 28 featuring leading black artists from France, Britain, Colombia, the Caribbean, and the United States performing orchestral and choral works, chamber, piano, organ, vocal recitals, and opportunities for community education. Visit
colourofmusic.org
for details.
Young Mothers Residential Program (YMR): The YMRP supports creative, young women dedicated to becoming a better version of themselves. YMRP seeks to cultivate an environment for young mothers that nourishes a healthy, holistic lifestyle. The program is targeted at young women that meet the following prerequisites: enrolled in an educational program (four-year college or university, associate degree program, or vocational training program); employed part-time (maximum 20 hours per week); 18 - 26 years old; must have full custody of at least one child under the age of 17 years old (maximum 2 children); and children must be attending school/daycare. Although the YMRP at Project Row Houses is no longer accepting applicants, they are accepting applications for waitlist consideration. Please visit the Project Row Houses
for more information.
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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Tips From the Toolbox
Nextdoor
is the free private social network that collects data and provides a communication option for your neighborhood community. Consider signing up and begin posting today
.
Grants & Funding:
Small Business Development: On-line searches can help uncover other grants and funding opportunities, such as those 2018 small business options presented by
Fundera
. Although the City does not endorse or recommend any particular funding mechanisms, we are happy to serve as a resource to help communities build capacity in this important implementation area.
Healthy Food:
For residents between 18 and 46 years of age,
this grant
for Texas Young Farmers funds projects that support Texas' agricultural production and community. If your
community has a
health food-oriented
small business, the Farmers' Market Supplemental Nutrition Assistance
support grant
provides funding for business
es
to participate in
SNAP
outreach and education, which assists low-income individuals, families, and communities with accessing healthy food.
Arts: Houston Arts Alliance offers support for a variety of arts programs by both individuals and organizations; varying from $500 to $2,500 and up to $75,000. Each of their arts program has different requirements. One is "Let Creativity Happen"! These express grants are designed to encourage artists and creative individuals to take creative risks that may not qualify for more traditional funding opportunities. The application link is here.
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