Mayor Sylvester Turner and Houston City Council unanimously approved a lease agreement with Sunnyside Energy, LLC to advance the Sunnyside Solar Project, a public-private partnership launched to convert the 240-acre closed landfill in Sunnyside into the largest brownfield solar installation in the nation. The project is a product of the City's Climate Action Plan and Complete Communities Initiative. It is an example of how the City of Houston is working to find innovative, public-private solutions to addresses historic environmental justice concerns, climate change, and economic development in underserved communities.

The project, developed by Sunnyside Energy, will be anchored by a 50-megawatt ballasted solar array that will generate enough renewable energy to power 5,000 homes and offset 120 million pounds of carbon dioxide each year. The array is expected to be installed and operational by the end of 2022 – at no cost to the City. Read the full press release. Read or listen to this Houston Public Media report.

The HFEC is an initiative of the Mayor’s Office of Complete Communities and was created in an effort to replicate the successful Financial Empowerment Center model that was first piloted in New York City under Mayor Michael Bloomberg. It is primarily funded by the Cities For Financial Empowerment Fund, Regions Bank and other private sector partners.

The program provides free professional one-on-one financial counseling, coaching, and light case management to all Houston residents. The program's implementing partner is the non-profit Alliance for Multicultural Community Services, which employs the financial counselors and manages daily operations. In May 2020, Sandra Imery was appointed as the Financial Empowerment Center Program Manager in the Mayor’s Office of Complete Communities, strengthening the local government support for the nonprofit program. Read more. 

Register for the kickoff event, a presentation and panel discussion on Tuesday, Feb. 2 at 6 p.m. Residents are encouraged to sign up for the community design workshop on Saturday, Feb. 20. All residents will have a direct opportunity to talk with the design teams selected to bring the selected anchor project from the Complete Communities action plan to life. During the community design workshop, residents will meet with Complete Community Neighborhood planners, design teams, developers, and community stakeholders to inform design ideas and provide community insight. Final presentations to the community will be on Saturday, March 6.

Residents or Stakeholder Workshop Registration

Participating communities include Acres Homes, Alief-Westwood, Near Northside, Sunnyside and Fort Bend Houston. For more information, contact Lindsey.Williams@houstontx.gov or jennifer@aiahouston.org.

Visit https://bit.ly/2021smallgrantinfo for LISC grant application details. Email Sasha.Marshall@houstontx.gov or call

Meeting details are available at https://www.letstalkhouston.org/hpb-50-50-park-partners. For information about the 50/50 Park Partners Initiative visit houston5050parkpartners.org.

At least 60% of the proposed boundary must consist of single-family units and petitioners must work with other property owners within the proposed area to secure support for the application. Visit the Prohibited Yard Parking Program website for more information or contact the Planning & Development Department at 832-393-6600. 

Participants will also receive assistance with navigating financial and other community resources. The Food Farmacy is open on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Fridays. For more information, visit https://bit.ly/3o1FWw5.

The Alief Community Refrigerator is one of seven Houston area community refrigerators that Vanessa and Jabrelle Lipscomb operate as part of The WOW Project. The refrigerator is stocked with items like produce, cheese, eggs, deli meats, milk, and frozen prepared food items. The refrigerators depend on donations, and Vanessa Lipscomb says that a lot of their food items are donated from a partnership with the Trader Joe’s supermarket in Westchase.

The Fort Bend Houston community can address their concerns and/or participate in activities to better the neighborhood by joining the fort Bend Houston Super Neighborhood on the second Thursday of every month. Mark your calendars for the following dates: Feb.11 , March 11, April 8, May 13, June 10, July 8, August 12, Sept. 9, Oct. 14, Nov. 11 and Dec. 6.

Fort Bend Houston Super Neighborhood 41's Environmental Committee is addressing the hazards of air pollution by installing a new community air monitoring system called APIS. The air monitoring system helps fulfill one of the critical needs listed in Fort Bend Houston's Strategic Plan and the Fort Bend Houston Complete Communities Action Plan.

APIS air monitors are being placed in strategic locations in Fort Bend Houston to measure levels of undetectable gasses and other toxic pollutants in the air we breathe. Learn more about this system and how it works at the community ZOOM session held on Jan. 28 at 6:30 p.m. Get the Zoom link by visiting fbh-environmental.com or connect on Facebook at fbh-environmental/facebook.com.

Construction will start in February 2021 and estimated completion is late summer 2021. Visit visionzerohouston.com for project updates.

This project is a partnership between the City of Houston and Harris County Precinct 1. It supports the Houston Bike Plan, which aims to make the City of Houston safer and more accessible. Go to letstalkhouston.org to share your experiences or provide feedback on this bikeway. 

Super Neighborhood 52 President Keith Downey was featured in the Houston Chronicle's article, "Reasons for Hope in 2021: Seven leading Houstonians Find Silver Linings from 2020 and look to the future."

In the article, Downey credits community grassroots efforts for building the resilience Houstonians have needed to endure flooding events, systematic environmental injustices in communities of color, and a global pandemic. Read the full article.

Join the Magnolia Park-Manchester Complete Communities Communications Team to stay in the know and keep others informed about program/project opportunities, community resources, events, and activities in Magnolia Park-Manchester Complete Communities. Register online to join the team. Contact Abraham.Zorrilla@houstontx.gov for questions or assistance.

The purpose of the project is to see whether STOP signs can make the intersections safer and operate better. HPW found that traffic volumes at these locations are not high enough to benefit from traffic signals. The pilot is expected to last for three months. During this time, HPW will assess community feedback and traffic data to make a final determine. If a traffic operation or safety issue arise at any point during the pilot, the intersections will revert back to traffic signal operations. Learn more about the Quitman signal pilot project or contact Katrina Bayer, Deputy Assistant Director, at 832-395-3010 and Katrina.Bayer@houstontx.gov. 

Identified as a priority by the Near Northside Complete Communities Action Plan, Council Member Karla Cisneros of District H and Houston Public Works worked together to secure the needed funding in order to meet the goal. Construction is expected to begin in early Spring 2021. View North Main Street Bikeway Project design plans.

View more for information about the Second Ward Super Neighborhood.

The City of Houston co-hosted a drive-through holiday giveaway sponsored by rapper Travis Scott's Cactus Jack Foundation on Dec. 22 at Sunnyside Park. This exciting holiday event was specifically for elementary students and their families in the Sunnyside area, along with the leadership, faculty, and staff of their school campuses.

Students enrolled in Bastian Elementary School, Reynolds Elementary School, and Young Elementary School received a collective 1,000 toys that were donated by Mattel, as well as clothing and new shoes. Families and school staff received fresh produce courtesy of NACC Disaster Services, along with blankets/bedding, personal protective equipment and a hot meal. Walmart donated 100 Christmas trees and ornaments for families and school staff. This event was sponsored by the Cactus Jack Foundation in partnership with the City of Houston, NACC Disaster Services and Walmart. 

EEDC also connects Third Ward Residents with discount fresh food through the "Get Fresh in the Tre" program. Weekly boxes of produce are available for as low as $23. get 50% off when using SNAP benefits. Register at tinyurl.com/EEDC-CSA or volunteer at tinyurl.com/EEDC-VOL.