Tag Archives: Houston

Community, Lifestyle

Dr. Eugene Barrington:Retired Educator gives to former students

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When Dr. Eugene Barrington retired from Texas Southern University, he took the saying, ‘it’s better to give than to receive’ to heart. On August 31, 2012 he bid his adieu to his position as a professor of Public Affairs and Public Administration but his impact on his students continues to reach a year after his departure.

The good news of Sanford, Florida is Dr. Barrington. College graduate, a US Air Force veteran, an employee for the federal government, career developer for the AFL/CIO, educator and a worker inside of his church, Wheeler Avenue Baptist, he has accomplished much during his years working. Now that he has retired he is helping others in their career so they may be as successful as he.

“They gave me $8500 for my retirement and I gave it all away,” said Dr. Barrington. “Don’t ask me how or why but I just felt honored.”

His giving started immediately as he accepted donations for the Buffalo Soldiers National Museum at his retirement party. He also gave to the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, in which he is a charter member, Sound Doctrine Ministry received a donation as well as three of Barrington’s former students at Texas Southern University, Angela Cohen of Children’s Health Academics and Safety, Inc. in Arlington, TX, Dana Smith of Texas Area Health Education (AHEC) East- Greater Houston Region and Dr. Reagan Flowers of C-STEM, Inc. in Third Ward.

“Reagan came to teach in my class a couple of times and Dana Smith as well,” said Barrington. “But I gave to the Buffalo Soldiers because I believe the story of the US military should be told, and particularly the Black US Military.”

The works of his students aligned with his passions in the public policy sector so he didn’t hesitate to help his former students in their work. The work Dana Smith does with Health Services in Arlington is important to Barrington as he volunteers at the Veteran Hospital and knows the struggle people have with health care.

“Dr. Barrington gave us a $1,000 and we are very grateful for it,” said Smith. “It’s difficult in the non-profit sector to get the funding you need to really make the impact you want to make in the community.”

Barrington had no problem donating the money as he saw it as a little seed money to help them make improvements in the things they have already started.

“C-STEM produces an excitement for learning and you know Dr. Flowers has implemented the C for communications in the program which is needed because it is something that is sorely lacking in the community, the ability and willingness to communicate effectively amongst ourselves and others,” said Dr. Barrington.

After a year of retirement Dr. Barrington is still on the go. He is traveling, while volunteering his time still at the V.A., with the church and with those older than he. He is a lifetime educator as his students still seek him out for advice and clout. He is as sharp and witty as a twenty year old but admired as the elder he is. After 35 years teaching at Texas Southern University he gave his parting gifts to the legacy he helped build so they too may be able to have a story like his someday.

Business, City, Community, Education

Third Ward’s homegrown STEM program: CSTEM Teacher and Student Support Services

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Myra Griffin
The Houston Sun

At first glance Reagan Flowers does not appear to be the super brainiac Science teacher that decided to start a non- profit STEM program 11 years ago. Founder and President of CSTEM Teacher and Student Support Services, Flowers, is beyond a pretty face and has used her sharp mind and drive for the advancement of under-privilege children to introduce them to a whole new world.

Based in Third Ward Houston, TX on Alabama Street right next to the Cuney Homes, CSTEM is a non- profit organization that is the first Pre-Kindergarten through 12th grade integrated STEM learning and enrichment program in the nation. CSTEM highly motivates students to collaboratively work on six projects such as the creation and development of remote controlled robots, geoscience, creative writing, sculpture, film, and photography. The students are required to participate in all areas, providing them with an integrated STEM learning experience.

“CSTEM is an education non- profit focusing on elementary, middle and high school education from a support services vantage point,” said Flowers. “We develop teacher content knowledge and give them the tools and resources to implement what they are teaching to their students and we have them all compete in an international competition at the end of the school year, it’s a part of their accountability piece.”

CSTEM is targeted toward under-served children who are predominately African American and Hispanic children and girls. Those are the populations that are disengaged with STEM.

“We are about helping those who need help but we served every demographic and every ethnicity in our program but we do have over 80% minority participation,” said Flowers.

Flowers is a veteran teacher as she worked 10 years inside of Houston Independent School District (HISD). For five years she taught Science at Jack Yates Senior High School and a served as a Guidance Counselor for a year. After leaving Yates, she went on to become Dean of Students at West Briar Middle School and then the School Improvement Facilitator at Phyllis Wheatley High School.

“C-Stem started when I was working at Yates. I was one of those teachers who thought they were phenomenal and walked on water and my kids were extraordinary,” said Flowers. “I wrote a grant to NASA to build a robot. I got the funding. I didn’t know how complex and competitive it was.”

She led the first robotics program at Yates. Countless hours went into teaching her students about robotics enough for them to go to their first competition where she quickly learned they were in another league.

“ I got to the competition at Reliant and it was like this whole world out there with kids that were so much more advanced than my students, teachers more advanced than I was,” said Flowers.

Flowers zoned in and committed herself to her kid’s commitment to be able to compete. She describes it as an awakening. She knew work needed to be done to bring herself and the students up to speed but she knew it could be done.

“I don’t know if it was the robotics or the kind of learning where kids can problem solve but I realized about my kids that they loved to build and construct, they loved to work with the tools,” said Flowers. “They (students) were really committed they would come in school with me and if I was there seven days they were there seven days, if I was there until 2 in the morning then they were there until 2 in the morning.”

Commitment is a key component in CSTEM and the commitment and excitement about the type of learning happening helped keep Flowers interested in teaching STEM to students although the robotics program wasn’t working out too good at Yates.

“It wasn’t happening in our school, I was raising money and building relationships and it was starting to impact my teaching,” said Flowers. “I was like I’m being paid to be a biology teacher not to run an after school Science club. After burning the candles on both ends CSTEM emerged.”

CSTEM was created as a research project while Reagan was in her doctoral program. She had already left Yates and working as Dean of Students at West Briar Middle School in 2002. The principal allowed Flowers to use 25-30 students to pilot the STEM program and from there she had a successful dissertation and model for the program she felt was needed to help supplement schools.

“For three years I had the opportunity to figure out how to integrate learning, how to connect it where we could build a pipeline with kids that are excited about math and science and can apply it in fun and innovative ways,” said Flowers. “It went so well Shell Oil came to look at it around 2004.”

Flowers passion grew to encourage students to want to pursue a career in STEM. Her position was clear that children couldn’t be what they didn’t know and they couldn’t dream about what they didn’t know. With STEM having so many careers wide open she felt obligated to give the students exposure to what could be.

“ Exposure is key to a child success, you have to expose them to a world outside of their school, outside their community,” said Flowers. “While at Yates we too often run into kids who have never been out of Third Ward.”

One could almost develop a manifesto about her desires to show children more than what is inside of one building. She believes that children have to be pulled out into the world so they can see and build up in a motivation to want to do and want to learn.

“ Its not enough for a teacher to want from their children you have to train them to be self starters and self learners to take control of their learning,” said Flowers.

Those ideals compliment the STEM training and have helped Reagan build a strong organization.

“I try to find a way to ignite them. Every year we find a new curriculum and its created new because the world is changing so fast and we want the kids to have relevant experiences,” said Flowers. “We don’t want them having busy work or just doing something for the sake of saying their doing something. We want them to see that it is real and relevant and they can have a part in solving a world issue.”

Last year they worked on a project with Algae Bloom, which is an alarming amount of Algae populating a habitat that has resulted in destruction in many natural water habitats. The project was a real world issue that showed how their work may have a way to help solve the problem.

“They are looking for solutions whether its with their Geographical Information Service (GIS) projects or robotics project we integrate art as our theme is ‘everyone is an artist and an engineer’ we believe there is a little engineering and artistry in everybody so we connect art to our program and our kids paint murals and integrate the geometry, the science and technology in there,” said Flowers. “They do sculptures, they produced films last year they did Green projects, GIS projects where they can zoom in to any mass of land or water on the planet and research and do projects on it.”

The projects make the kids become very conscious and aware of the environment, conscious about making innovations and ways to solve problems. They work on their projects for 7 or 8 months during the school year and then they come to the George R. Brown Convention Center and compete.

“We are very fortunate as an organization to be the only non-profit that partners with the Shell Eco-Marathon and we hold our competition during their Eco-Marathon Americas. Our kids compete with vehicles that are designed to run on alternative fuel sources and its just an awesome space and it exposes kids to STEM careers beyond anything that they would have the opportunity to know about,” said Flowers. “Most of these kids don’t come from homes where their dad is a geoscientist or their mom is a mechanical/electrical engineer. So they get exposure to these professionals it exposes them to what’s possible if they work hard.”

CSTEM is open to any child who has an interest. CSTEM partner with the schools and allow them to select the students that will participate.

“We really stress that they see the project through from start to finish because its an enormous investment made per school for the kids to have this experience because the teachers don’t have to pay for anything,” said Flowers. “It’s a free program for the students, the schools will pay for the teachers to train.”

CSTEM works with schools in Houston, Fort Bend, Aldine, Alief Independent School Districts as well as Kipp Charter School and Yes Prep Houston and home schools. They are in four states and two countries and two additional states will come on board this year.

“We normally service anywhere between 30-60 schools a year depending on budget it cost to service nearly 10,000 per school in the program. That’s where the fundraising go towards, supporting and funding our schools,” said Flowers.

Once the organization started to grow outside the state all of their services moved to online. Registration is all online and they are trained by industry professionals and the training happens online and all their materials are shipped to them at their schools.

“The schools have to decide they want to be a part of CSTEM. When we started to expand we started to look exclusionary and we would get parents that would say I really want to do this program but the school is not willing so we created the iSTEM Olympiad,” said Flowers. “It was created last year for that problem. If you have a parent or organization,that want to do the program with kids we have the iSTEM Olympiad so they don’t have to be a school. A kid can register for iSTEM as long as they can pay the cost.”

iSTEM is an unpaid program but the CSTEM challenge is a scholarship program but Flowers has found it tough sometimes to work with some schools because they are not use to working as partners and working collaboratively.

The program is flexible as every school has a different set of dynamics. Flowers and staff don’t tell the schools how to implement the STEM program they have the control to do it however they want.

“Some schools have a class dedicated to it, some have it after-school and others only on Saturdays,” said Flowers. “We have Saturday workshops where the teachers and the kids can participate and if they want to meet at their school they can and those Saturdays are a great time for them to all meet at one of their schools.”

CSTEM has many components and the concern of it being overbearing for a child may cross ones mind but Reagan adamantly dispels that and assures the children don’t get overwhelmed. Since the model is set up for the six competition areas, CSTEM calls for math, science, social studies, technology, art and an English teacher and each teacher is asked to lead one of the competition areas. So if it’s worked out the right way they will have six teachers for 20-25 students on each project and most kids just focus on one project but together they make one team.

“Kids are naturally curious and will figure things out and we train the teachers them online and we pace them through it,” said Flowers. “We don’t give them answers but we give them everything they need to put a base model together and if they want to do extra we teach them how to program but if they want it to do extra stuff they have to play with the program to make it do what they want it to do.”

CSTEM is meant to be competitive. As an international program, Flowers intention is to prepare the children to compete internationally.

“For the question why is the school international its because our students are struggling in knowing math and science as they should particularly blacks and Hispanics children and they are the largest un-empowered people in STEM fields,” said Flowers. “They’re not going into STEM fields and a lot of it is because they don’t want to do the work that is necessary to take the chemistry and physics to complete the degrees in those areas so we have to work extra hard to get those kids excited and to want to finish and know what it takes. They have to know they aren’t just competing with their class mates their competing with the kids in Africa, India, Singapore and the world is so flat now that it’s like Singapore is right next door to you now. The internet has just made the world smaller and our kids need to be ready to be global citizens so we work very hard to engage our students to be competitive.”

Annually the students compete in the CSTEM Challenge competition at the George R. Brown Convention Center. They pick the first place winner from the projects presented and only give first place prizes are given.

“The world is a competitive world and I’m preparing them for the real world and I’m not giving them any sense of false hope or accomplishment but they have won because they have shown up because a kid can choose to do nothing but they chose to see their project through from start to finish and come and compete and give it their best. If they don’t come in first maybe they’ll come back again,” said Flowers.

The perks of CSTEM don’t stop with children. The teachers also have an incentive as they are certifying teachers as STEM certified so if they have done all of their teacher training, done all their workshops and competed in the national competition, put in almost 100 hours and submit portfolio they can become a STEM certified teacher. To train six teachers for CSTEM is about $2200 and they have the opportunity to get three hours of graduate level credit through St. Thomas University.

Well over 200 schools since 2002 in HISD has participated in CSTEM. Most of CSTEM partners has been in HISD since it started in HISD. The program is flexible and schools can come in and out.

CSTEM is an organization that is still a small operation as far as staff. Flowers is the one full time staff member and she has six part timers and about 15-20 contractors.

“We have the same needs as a Fortune 500 company but we don’t need it as often as much as a Fortune 500 company,” said Flowers.
CSTEM is integrating more technology into their program and wants to connect more strongly with alumni. They have had an estimated impact of over 50,000 in the past years. They desire to develop more partnerships with companies.

“We’re not always looking for money but sometimes we just need services or staff that will save us money,” said Flowers.

Summer is CSTEM’s retooling time where they write new curriculum for the new year. They get registration ready and identify their trainers for the year.

“Our trainers stay with us for a year, see once the schools pay for the training which is our Teacher Training Institute. They get six free workshops with their students and their teachers. We do one a month. So they train in October and in November they’ll do one Saturday workshop a month and these are facilitated by experts in the field,” said Flowers.
“They inform the curriculum, the outcomes the kids should experience and they coach them through it. They walk them through until April and then they get to come and see kids they’ve never met except for online at the GRB and get to see all the work. We usually have minimum of 3000 kids at the GRB.”

Registration for CSTEM and iSTEM Olympiad is underway now. The registration period will end September 6, 2013 for the CSTEM Challenge and for the iSTEM Olympiad February. This year Flowers will welcome aboard Louisiana and Washington D.C..

CSTEM’s Board of Directors is Earl Cummings, LaQuita Cyprian, Robert L. Satcher M.D., Ph.D., Misty Khan, Syalisa Winata, Ross Peters, Ahmad Shaheed, Morgan Gaskin, Sandra Saldana, Ricky Raven, Joi Beasley, and Reagan Flowers Ph.D.

City, Health, Lifestyle, News

City of Houston helps train communities in bystander CPR

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The Houston Department of Health and Human Services and the local chapter of the American Heart Association along with Rice University teamed up to do research about the air quality and cardiac arrest in Houston and found a bigger issue of Houstonians failing to do cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) as a bystanders in predominately African American communities in Houston.

Mayor Parker introduced Dr. David Persse, EMS director and the health authority for the city’s Department of Health and Human Services, and his team as she spoke about the collaboration between the city and the American Heart Association to do neighborhood sessions to teach CPR to the communities that their research has told them is at higher risk for cardiac arrest without the help of bystander CPR.

“It’s hard to see someone suffering and you don’t know what to do. Each of us has the ability with our own hands to save lives. Houston has an outstanding EMS system and been on the cutting edge of research with our public EMS system,” said Parker. “Recently the public health authority, Dr. David Persse and statisticians from Rice University examined health outcome data that’s related to Houston’s air quality. We noticed an unequal distribution of cardiac arrest and with further evaluation we also noted a disparity in bystander CPR.”

The disparity was found in Sunnyside, South Park, Riverside, Magnolia, Denver Harbor, 5th Ward and Acres Homes. Since June there has been 4,520 people trained in those neighborhoods on how to do bystander CPR.
“Due to the work of our emergency responders the local cardiac arrest survival rates are the best among the nation however the chances of survival are even better when a bystander can step in with CPR in those critical moments before emergency help arrives,” said Persse. “The Houston Health Department has initiated a partnership with the American Heart Association to provide hands only CPR training specifically in high risk neighborhoods that they identified.”

With CPR being reintroduced without the mouth to mouth component it should appeal to a much larger base. The lack of knowledge about cardiac arrest and the benefits of CPR have resulted in loss of life to many although Houston has one of the best rates in the country for surviving cardiac problems.

“There are certain things that make people hesitant to do bystander CPR like for instance we have taken out the mouth to mouth part because for many years people were afraid to do mouth to mouth and that’s no longer a part of CPR and people need to know that,” said Persse. “Its hands only CPR and actually its very easily done and not terribly strenuous but it is the bridge between when somebody collapses and when professional rescuers get there and we also know from our data that when someone performs bystander CPR it more than doubles that persons chance of survival.

The place that cardiac arrest happen the most are at home around family which is why it is an incentive that people learn CPR to save family. There have been thousands trained in the city and it is simple enough for a child to learn how to do.

Donna Travis, division manager of the Houston Department of Health and Human Services started the outreach education of CPR from the beginning. Her hopes is to continue the neighborhood training and encourages Houstonians to participate in individual sessions or organizations or churches can join in a partnership to teach and train individuals in CPR to save lives and communities.

Travis or anyone on her team can be reached at 713-527-4000 for any information.

City, Community, Entertainment, Lifestyle

July Upcoming Events

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Carl Hampton Memorial at P.A.B.A.
The People’s Party #3 , Black Panther Party Alumni and the Progressive Amateur Boxing Association (P.A.B.A.) commemorate slain activist, Carl Hampton on Saturday, July 20, 2013 at the P.A.B.A 3212 Dowling St. 77004 from 12 pm-2 pm. A candlelight vigil will be held at 6 pm. Entertainment: Guest speakers, poets, face painters and vendors.
For more information call: 832-507-8096 or projectgoodcare@yahoo.com. Donations can be delivered to the P.A.B.A. Sister Ayanna Ade will be honored.

1000 Women in White Annual Day at Holman Baptist Church
July 21th, a 1000 Women in White “Women of faith rooted and grounded in the word of God” will host their annual event at Holman Baptist Church, 3501 Holman Street Houston, TX 77004 at 3:30 pm.

“A Dialogue- The Proposed Closure of Palm Center”
The Old Spanish Trail Community Partnership invites you to “A Dialogue- The Proposed Closure of Palm Center” on Monday , July 22, 2013 at 6:00 pm- 7:30 pm inside of Judge Zinetta Burney’s Courtroom, Palm Center Annex 2nd Floor 5330 Griggs Road. Open to the public

Texas Legislative Black Caucus Town Hall Meeting on July 24th from 6:30p to 8:30p
On Wednesday, July 24th from 6:30p to 8:30p, the Texas Legislative Black Caucus will host a Town Hall meeting in the McCoy Auditorium (Room 114) of the Barbara Jordan-Mickey Leland School of Public Affairs of the Texas Southern University Campus located at 3100 Cleburne (Tierwester & Cleburne). The Texas Legislative Black Caucus has partnered with the KEY PAC, Houston Sun, Houston Sun, Houston Forward Times, Majic 102FM, KTSU Radio, KCOH 1230AM and the Texas Southern University – School of Public Affairs for this event.
The Town Hall meeting will provide unprecedented access to African American members of the Texas Legislature from the Houston-area as we cover topics such as the 83rd Session, the recent Supreme Court decision striking down Section 4(b) of the Voting Rights Act and the impact on Texas, in particular on Voter ID, and the Trayvon Martin verdict.
This meeting will provide a unique opportunity for members of the community to discuss the 83rd Session, as well as how recent Supreme Court actions will have an impact on them. In addition, we want to have a discussion with the community on what lies ahead after the Trayvon Martin verdict. Further, we encourage and will provide an opportunity for members of the community to ask questions to members of the Texas Legislative Black Caucus for a fulfilling, in-depth exchange benefitting all those in attendance with the most current information on the important recent actions which will impact their lives.
For more information, contact Murry Matthews or Alison Brock at 1.866.885.8900 or 512.463.0554.


The Prairie View Interscholastic League Coaches Association host banquet
The Prairie View Interscholastic League Coaches Association “PVILCA” will host their 34th Annual banquet/ awards ceremony on Saturday, July 27, 2013 in Fort Worth, TX. ( Irving, TX at the Westin Dallas- Fort Worth Airport Hotel from 1:30 – 4:30 pm.
The Houston Area inductees are Daye Shon Roberson, Gary Joseph, Mareon Lewis, Billie Matthews, Elton Conger, Clifford Mc Bride, Thomas Valley, Marcus Moseley and Jerrell “Tank” Washington.
The PVILCA is an organization preserving the past while remembering the ‘glory years’ of the Prairie View Interscholastic League Coaches Association. The organization instills personal pride and self esteem by increasing cultural awareness of the PVILCA heritage.
For table and ticket information contact Robert Brown at 713-747-3764.

Rev. Timothy Dinger to Speak:Annual Camp Lone Star BBQ
Rev. Timothy Dinger, Pastor at Trinity Lutheran Church in Port Arthur, will be the featured speaker t the Annual BBQ Worship Service at 11: 00 am on Sunday, July 28 at Camp Lone Star.
The day will include the traditional Barbeque dinner at 12:00 noon with all the trimmings. Drive –thru BBQ plates can also be purchased for $8.00 from 11:00 am to 12:30 p.m.. Live and silent benefit auctions follow from 1-3:00 p.m. indoors in the camp’s Koop Center.
For more information on the Barbeque or to donate an item to the auction, please call 1-979-968-1657 or go to camp’s website at www. LOMT.com.

Back to School Health Fair and Supply Drive
The Friends of Emancipation Park will partner with Houston Parks and Recreation Department to host their first Back to School Health Fair and Supply Drive on August 17, 2013 at Emancipation Park Community Center, 3018 Dowling Houston, TX 77004 from 9am – 12 pm. Proof of enrollment is mandatory. Parents must bring the student to receive and supplies.

City, Community, Lifestyle

Demolition Day 2013

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Myra Griffin
The Houston Sun

The city of Houston continues their demolition initiative as the city held their 4th Annual Demolition Day where they took down 39 blighted structures around the city in over 14 different zip codes.

Mayor Annise Parker joined Council member Jerry Davis (District B) in Kashmere Gardens to bulldoze a dilapidated house that has stood as an eye sore on Lavender Street for the past seven years.

“I’m happy to be joining Council member Jerry Davis on this Demolition Day. We started Demolition Day last year as well and I appreciate his effort to improve District B,” said Mayor Parker. “We have done this now for four years and Demolition Day gets better and better and the first thing I want to say is these efforts against blighted properties like this just don’t happen in one day. I created demolition day so we can draw attention to the problem come together as a community to focus on it one day a year and with volunteers to accomplish a lot of things in one day.”

The Department of Neighborhoods and seven divisions of Inspections and Public Service take the lead role in Demolition Day each year. They work closely with the Mayor’s office, Solid Waste Management, Public Works and Special Events. Through their efforts along with the city’s legal department and outside contractors the city is able to focus on houses and apartment complexes that are decaying across Houston.

“The property behind me took six years to get to today,” said Mayor Parker. “Its not because the city doesn’t want to tear down properties, it’s not because we don’t recognize how detrimental it is to a neighborhood these kind of properties are.”

State law in Texas is very specific and very precise and it is on the side of property owners. Even if the property is driving down the property value of the houses around them the city has to follow proper guidelines and procedures before tearing down the house.

“When we focused on Demolition Day we had 250 properties. We started on this last year and we said ok on Demolition Day this year our goal was to take down 100 properties,” said Mayor Parker. “This is good news because finally we have demonstrated over these last four years that we are serious about taking down these properties and owners have received the message so in some cases after years of pleading, begging and asking nicely and finally having the law knock on their door and taking them through the legal process they finally say ok I’m going to give up and do the right thing.”

The city has 136 properties to take down this year. The Houston Contractors Association has donated their equipment and labor for the past four years. Mayor Parker noted that their contributions over the years have probably totaled at around half a million dollars. Companies such as Pelitier Brothers Construction, AAA Asphalt Construction, Conrad Construction, BRH Construction, Garver Construction, Angel Bros. Construction, Reytec Construction, and Cherry Construction donated their labor and service to Kashmere Gardens and communities all around Houston.

“We’re overjoyed to be able to help the city and to be able to help the beautification of the city,” said Jeffrey Nielsen, Executive Director of the Houston Contractors Association. “It helps with crime when we are moving a blight that’s in the neighborhood and it’s not just a blight it’s a safety hazard as well. We earn our living by building the roads, the bridges, water line, sewer lines for the city of Houston and this is one of the few ways we have to give back and kind of paying forward an we are very happy to do it.”

The community of Kashmere Gardens is neighborhood friendly. The elderly sit on their front porches and the children walk to the school that is down the street from the house that was torn down. The house at 4522 Lavender Street was a pressing issue that needed to be addressed. Neighbors like Kenneth Ellis and his mother, Mrs. Ellis sat on their porch across the street, watching as city officials and the construction crews blocked off the area to bulldoze a house that they have reported numerous of times over the past seven years. They were leery about the after effects of the tearing down of a house that was vacant for so long and how the city would handle the debris that surrounded the home.

“We already have a problem with possums,” said Mrs. Ellis. “They’re just going to knock down the house but what about the over grown trees. It’s still an eye sore and we’ve been calling on this property for years and years.”

Mayor Parker is aware of how long the house has been sitting as she told those who gathered to see the demolition that after six years of legal process, the house being trashed out by vagrants, even a fire started in it at one point, the demolition is set and ready to go.

The process to demolition a house is not as simple as a call. Mayor Parker spoke about how the city has to jump through legal hoops, make sure all the utilities are cut off and no underground gas leaks, asbestos or any thing hazardous is still active within the house.

“It is a very rigorous process. One of the things we do is sweep the neighborhood and have inspectors look around and see what’s going on,” said Landon Taylor of the Department of Neighborhoods. “We talk to the neighbors that report them and also look at the tax status that is on the property. Then it goes through the process of being dually noticed, an administrative hearing and then sometimes the owner wants to appeal but then it’s our job to show all the facts and go ahead and take them down.”

Mayor Parker compared these blighted homes to cancer stating that you have to cut out cancer so that is what the city was doing, cutting out the cancer in that neighborhood. Council member Jerry Davis has made it a commitment to get rid of the blighted structures in District B as he has already taken down 200 properties in the two years he has been in office.

Jeremy Ratcliff, president of the Super Neighborhoods- Kashmere Gardens showed his excitement for the development of his community and the efforts made by the city to help restore African American communities.

“There’s a misconception when you come through Kashmere Gardens that none of these people care and we are trying to change that,” said Ratcliff. “There are people here that care and we appreciate the help and hopefully this is a start of a relationship between the neighborhoods and the city to get more of these structures down.”

Demolition Day has helped paved the way for new opportunity and growth. Mayor Parker has issued a message to property owners that if they don’t want to keep up their property and the city has to step in and do it they will because this is a city about neighborhoods and they care.

Community, Entertainment, Lifestyle

Summer Pool Schedule – Houston

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Its summer time in Houston and the pools are open for some fun in the sun. There are 37 outdoor swimming pools and 20 water spray grounds throughout the city that will open in two phases.

In Phase 1, 20 select pools will open Saturdays and Sundays from May 25 – June 9, and on Memorial Day, Monday, May 27. In Phase 2, all 37 Houston Parks and Recreations Department pools will open Tuesday – Sunday from June 11 – August 18. For the Fall swim schedule, 20 select pools will open Saturdays and Sundays & on Labor Day from August 24 – September 2. The daily hours of operation will be 1:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.,July 4th hours of operation are 1:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m., Labor Day hours of operation are 1:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m. The 20 water spray grounds are open year-round at park locations across the city.

For citizens with disabilities there is a heated indoor natatorium at the Metropolitan Multi-Service Center, 1475 West Gray. The 5-lane, 25-yard heated pool is fully accessible by wheelchair and is equipped with a zero depth entry ramp, hand rails, and three chair lifts. Changing and shower facilities are available adjacent to the pool area. Participants are required to have independent functioning mobility skills or bring an adult attendant to assist, according to the city’s website for aquatics.

H.P.A.R.D. will off Water fitness classes at various pools throughout Houston at no charge. Fulltime lifeguards and trainers lead water fitness classes and FREE exercise periods for people with disabilities. Water fitness classes are offered at the Metropolitan Multi-Service Center Monday – Friday.

Year-round swim lessons are available for adults and children. Pre-registration is required and must be complete prior to getting in the pool. H.P.A.R.D. staff will conduct initial safety screening in the water.

Online Registration
The Houston Parks and Recreation will be conducting FREE Learn to Swim classes at select municipal pools throughout the city during the summer. There will be 4 (two week) sessions available for children ages 8 to 17. Starting May 20 registration will be available online at https://activenet011.active.com/houstonparks, and onsite registration the first date of each class session if space is available.

Sessions
Session One
Session Two
Session Three
Session Four
Dates
June 18 – June 28
July 2 to July 12 (No class on July 4)
July 16 to July 26
July 30 to August 9

Class Days
Tuesday – Friday
Tuesday – Friday
Times
5:00 p.m. to 5:45 p.m.
6:00 p.m. to 6:45 p.m.

Locations Address
Emancipation – 3018 Dowling, 77004
Greenwood 602 – Beresford, 77015
Hobart Taylor – 8100 Kenton, 77028
MacGregor 5225 – Calhoun, 77021
Oak Forest – 1400 Dubarry, 77018
Sharpstown – 6600 Harbor Town, 77036
TC Jester – 4205 T.C. Jester, 77018
Townwood – 3402 Simsbrook, 77045

All public pools will be closed Mondays throughout the summer.
All public pools will be closed Monday – Friday during the fall phase.
All public pools will be closed following Labor Day.

Agnes Moffitt (10645 Hammerly)
Denver Harbor (1020 Gazin)
De Zavala (907 75th Street)
Glenbrook (8201 N. Bayou)
Greenwood (602 Beresford)
Lincoln City (1048 Grenshaw)
MacGregor (5225 Calhoun)
Memorial (6402 Arnot)
Moody (3201 Fulton)
Northline (6911 Nordling)
Reveille (7700 Oak Vista)
Sagemont (11507 Hughes)
Sharpstown (6600 Harbor Town)
Stude (1031 Stude)
Sunnyside (3502 Bellfort)
T.C. Jester (4205 West T.C. Jester)
Tidwell (9720 Spaulding)
Townwood (3402 Simsbrook)
Westbury (10605 Mullins)
Wilson Memorial (100 Gilpin)

Business, Lifestyle

ALDI expands to the Houston market

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Aldi's Sugarland location before their soft opening.
Aldi’s Sugarland location before their soft opening.

Myra Griffin
The Houston Sun

ALDI opens up nine discount grocery stores on April 11, 2013 in the greater Houston Area. On April 9th the ribbon cutting ceremony was held at the Sugarland store located at 10402 Hwy 6 South, Sugarland, TX 77498, where a large crowd gathered waiting to see the inside of the new addition to their community.

ALDI is a discount grocery that has been in business since 1976 with locations primarily in the Midwest and East. Branching out into Texas three years ago starting in Dallas, ALDI opened 40 stores in North Texas. Now the Houston market is next to join the ALDI shopping experience and is slated to open nine stores on Thursday, April 11, 15 total by the end of the year and 30 in two years time. The areas that will welcome the new stores will be Pearland, Katy, Sugarland, Humble, Pasadena and Spring. Based out of Batavia, Illinois; ALDI has about 1200 stores.

“We serve all demographics and income levels,” said Karla Waddleton, Director of Operations, ALDI Sugarland. “Our customer is a smart shopper who wants to save money and they’re able to save money with us. If that means they can buy more groceries or save for an extra vacation that year that’s what we find successful.”

What makes ALDI unique from other grocers is primarily price. Their claim is to have the highest quality at the lowest possible price. Upon taking a tour of the store with an ALDI representative, The Sun found the produce is extremely competitive in price and that helps keep ALDI in the competition.

“Many national grocers are leaving communities. I’m so excited that there is a national grocer that is coming into this market that looks for communities, sees the value and opportunity and makes a big capital investment in those communities,” Grady Prestage, Commissioner of Precinct 2 Fort Bend. “I hope the community will reciprocate and support the store and as the store grows so will the community.”

ALDI is thriving in Dallas and has high hopes for the 2ND largest market in Texas which is Houston. “We really think we are going to do great here for the same reason since there are so many smart shoppers in Houston that want that same high quality product and value,” said ALDI representative.

ALDI offers a different shopping experience that allots a quick and cheaper run to the store. The shopping experience of ALDI is quite simple, its stream line shopping, five aisles, a quick shop and once customers get to know the ALDI exclusive brands you’re in and out in pretty much a flash. Customers can grab a cart through the quarter cart system, which representatives say, saves on paying someone to gather baskets.

“Carts aren’t in the parking lot dinging cars and it’s a simple quarter deposit put quarter in do your shopping bring cart back put the chain back in and it pushes the quarter back out,” according to ALDI. “ALDI operates on a smart business model that allows them to have lower prices. It starts with the way the products are displayed, we have an open palette display, efficient workers, easy restocking methods,” said an ALDI representative. “We don’t take credit cards so that saves on cost. We only accept cash, debit, EBT, but no checks. We encourage shoppers to bring their own bags. It’s an eco friendly approach and it saves on baggage clerks and if bags are forgotten they can buy an eco friendly bag for $1.99 or a very durable plastic bag for ¢.10.”

Customers also have to bag their on groceries which provide savings that allows the store to have such cheaper prices. Special buys change weekly that are range from 20 to 40 non- food products. The products are advertised either on Sunday or Wednesday depending on the location in the circular. The products change weekly and are seasonal such as rugs, pillows, Swiffer wet jets, steam mops by Easy Home, vacuums, air conditioning filters, shelving, and gardening appliances.

ALDI’s food source is sourced locally whenever possible while partnering with the nations leading food suppliers to get the freshest and most high quality products. They have their chocolates and wines imported from various places such as New Zealand, California, Argentina, Germany and most bottles are priced $6.99 or less.

The have fresh meat, although there isn’t a butcher on site but it is pre-packaged at the ultimate fresh standards with a 25-50 percent price difference. ALDI’s cheeses range from standard to gourmet especially with the new selected line that debuted in the beginning of April. Happy Farms, an ALDI brand, is everyday cheeses and cold cut cheeses. ALDI also has a fit and active line which is low calorie, lower sodium, lower fat and that weaves throughout the store in selections such as lunch meats, salad dressings, and frozen foods. Prices are cheaper as you will see prices like a $1.89 for a gallon of milk, and .79 for a dozen eggs. These are every day and continuous for these prices.

ALDI stores carry mostly their own exclusive brands and that’s another part of this whole efficiency model and how the savings come back to the customers in the end. ALDI produces their own product along with their partnership with food suppliers. ALDI has award winning products such as 14 of their wines, Lullabies Moist Wipes, Nature’s Nectar Juice, Moser- Roth Dark Chocolate Collection, Savoritz Sea Salt Pita Bite Crackers, Belmont Turtle Pie and many more products.

“We have a test kitchen at Batavia, the headquarters which is 40 miles west of Chicago. We have test kitchen chefs that rigorously test the products every day to ensure they’re meeting or exceeding the quality of the name brands,” said an ALDI representative. “When they do they are approved to be put on the shelves for our customers.” For the food that doesn’t meet or exceed the national leading brands such as M&M’s or Pringles they have them in store.

ALDI is confident in their products and offers a double guarantee of its food products. If you try a food product and think its not up to your standards you can bring it back without a receipt and be refunded in cash and given another product of equal or lesser value. The ALDI theory is maybe that particular one is a miss but you’re going to love something else.

All nine ALDI discount grocery stores are open throughout Houston. The locations are 10402 Hwy. 6 South, Sugarland, TX 77498, 2009 S. Mason Rd., Katy, TX 77450, 11510 Broadway, Pearland, TX 77584, 6900 FM 1960 East, Humble, TX 77346 , 13340 Tomball Pkwy, Houston, TX 77086, 2302 FM 2920 Rd., Spring, TX 77388, 5930 Fry Rd., Katy, TX 77449 and 4140 Fairmont Pkwy, Pasadena, TX 77504.

Community, Lifestyle, News

The crusade to end chronic homelessness in Houston

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Myra Griffin
The Houston Sun

The city wide initiative to end chronic homelessness has become a pressing issue for Mayor Annise Parker. On May 15, 2013, Parker gave a report on her findings from a survey taken as volunteers and herself canvassed the streets of Houston taking account of the homeless in order to see how they can service them.

More than a 160 volunteers, Council members Adams and Costello as well as the mayor went out surveying and chronicled each person according to their own specific needs and specific problems and history.
“We announced January 2012 we were going to have an intensive focus on homelessness in Houston and we are going to make a difference in homelessness. We intend to end chronic homelessness in Houston and we are going to put in place a three part plan to do that,” said Mayor Parker. “We have to have the resources in place first then the outreach and then what we hope to have a success placement for the chronically homeless in Houston.”

There are more than 8,000 people across the city that is homeless. The main focus is to place the chronic homeless first which is approximately 2,000 people.
“We are trying to identify and prioritize the most vulnerable homeless individuals and place them into permanent housing and provide services and treatments around that housing to make sure that we don’t make it easier, better or more comfortable to be on the street we make it possible and imperative that people get off the street,” said Mayor Parker.

Registry week deemed successful as the homeless were asked 33 questions off of a questionnaire that resulted in a list of 847 chronically homeless individuals classified and pin pointed so the city knows exactly who and where they are and what their specific needs and services.

“We did learn some things such as out of the 847 chronically homeless individuals interviewed 18% were veterans, 15% were women, 20% had been victims of some form of domestic violence, nearly half have identified mental health issues, nearly half suffer from one or more serious chronic health condition such as kidney disease, diabetes, liver failure, a third have been victims of a violent attack since becoming homeless and a third are employed despite sleeping on the streets every night,” said Mayor Parker.

Parker also rolled on with the statistics of how the homeless soak up city resources in the criminal justice and medical system. The city has received data that 50% of the homeless go to the hospital and emergency rooms for healthcare, 964 visits went to emergency room care in the last three months, 695 visits ended up as inpatient hospitalizations in the last year and 81% of the homeless have been jailed for unpaid tickets.

The information gathered, which was a part of Houston registry week that is encompassed with the national 100,000 homes campaign, has already gone into use by the Houston Police Department homeless outreach team and many other organizations. The goal is to access all 2,500 chronic and near chronic citizens in the very near future, according to the Mayor.

“We have started to place some of our most vulnerable into permanent housing with supportive services,” said Mayor Parker. “It’s not just hey we find you an apartment and give you a key and you’re good to go, you have to wrap services around it. We already have five we’ve interviewed and they will be in housing by the end of the week. We are continuing forward momentum on homeless veterans and our next goal is to house 300 more veterans in the next 80 days to go through the list identified.”

Mandy Chapman- Semple, the Mayor’s point person for the Homeless Initiatives in the city added more information as she thanked the Coalition for the Homeless, Health and Human Services and the Houston Housing Authority.

“The registry was just the first step in our three part plan and the next step is really about creating more supportive housing opportunity and really bringing the services to these units and individuals so they can stabilize long term in this housing,” said Semple.
The assessment used during the registry will now be used on a daily basis by homeless outreach teams so as they encounter individuals they didn’t find during registry week they will be assessed and placed according to their vulnerability and needs. The assessment will also be accompanied by their picture

The Housing Authority’s focus will be on finding the units and buildings and providing the housing subsidy. The services that accompany housing the homeless is the problem that still needs to be worked out.

“Homelessness is down one quarter and it’s not as simple as I just need a place to sleep,” said Mayor Parker. “We have shelters all across the city that isn’t always adequate in number for shelter with beds but there are options and opportunities.”

Services will be tailored to the problems of the individual and the most severe will be handled first. The city will not force anyone into an apartment. This is an opportunity for the chronic homeless to find stability in a residence and with supportive measures.

Community, Lifestyle, News

Mayor Parker announces 2014 city budget

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Myra Griffin
The Houston Sun

Mayor Annise Parker released the 2014 proposed $4.9 billion budget for the city of Houston on May 14, 2013 that will go into effect on July 1, 2013. Mayor Parker continues her emphasis on jobs and development, public safety, quality of life, infrastructure and fiscal responsibility as she maintains that the budget will not require a tax increase.

The budget has made provisions to finish restoring the services that were cut or rolled back due to the economic issues of the city. The city has also completely funded their Rainy Day Fund which is $20 million strong with a 7.5% allocated reserve which is above the 5% mandated amount, and pensions, health benefits and mandated pay increases for city employees are included as well.

“This budget proposal builds upon the progress of the last 3.5 years,” said Mayor Parker. “We’ve cut waste, made city departments more efficient and balanced every budget without raising taxes.”

Jobs growth is a national issue that always hits home first and Mayor Parker continues to work at providing employment opportunities for Houstonians as she will stay connected with Hire Houston First. According to city data, within the programs first year more than $139 million of city business was awarded to certified firms, sustaining more than 6,000 jobs. The city has attracted more than $2.2 billion of economic development since 2010, generated 250,000 jobs, exported approximately $300 billion in locally-produced goods and services and has issued permits for construction on nearly 74,000 single family homes.

Majority of the money looks to be heading towards public safety as the report shows that’s where two- thirds of the general fund budget will go.

“More than $2.2 million is included in this budget proposal to fund operations of the city’s new public safety radio project, which is improving the city’s capability to communicate with Harris County and surrounding jurisdictions when fighting crime or responding to natural disaster,” said the Mayor’s office.

Public Safety will include the creation of a Forensics Transition Special Fund to keep separate and account for the costs with the Houston Forensics Science LGC which has been under scrutiny for years about its methods and outcomes. This venture will help with the effort to establish an independent crime lab, and will push forward with the elimination of the DNA backlog. The city also will proceed to do more demolitions of dangerous buildings.

The city has added a General Fund line for the first time for infrastructure and the amount is $2.5 million which is representing approximately 2% average annual Capital Improvement Plan for Public Improvement Programs for infrastructure maintenance, renewal and replacement. The city has already invested $180 million has already been invested in drainage and street improvements. In the fiscal year 2014 additional progress on replacement f city information technology and fleet infrastructure which has been underfunded for years.

“These dollars will be used for upkeep to existing city facilities, such as libraries, community centers and neighborhood fire stations, to help avoid the deferred maintenance issues identified in the recent facilities assessment,” said the Mayor’s Office.

The quality of life for Houstonians remains a hot button issue and Mayor Parker in her efforts to clean up the city while going green, has doubled the houses that use single- stream recycling from 100,000 to 200,000. The first part of the expansion will start in July when 35,000 households will be added and then another 70,000 will be added later in the year. The stream recycling will be easier and convenient as all recyclables will go in one big bin. Mayor Parker emphasized the high priority for the planet but it will also be a long term financial investment and it will help preserve the landfills.

“The expansion will impact neighborhoods citywide rather than be limited to one specific area of town,” said Mayor Parker.

The city also prepares for the completion of the new adoption center, the Bureau of Animal Regulation and Control will include an increase in funding for $693,683. There will be progress made on the Bayou Greenways that will link parks and trails throughout the city and the budget will also include revenue for the Mayor’s initiative to end chronic homelessness in the city which has cost the city over a million dollars in the past.

Fiscal responsibility for the city remains on the minds of Houstonians as it affects the quality of the life they live within the city. The city is making the steps to have more transparency with their finances. They have included $676,000 for financial controls and audit capabilities.

“I feel like I spent my first term in office plugging holes in a leaky boat, but the boat stayed afloat and now we have the funds to take the boat and put up a new sail and I’m very excited about this,” said Mayor Parker.

The mayor’s financial plan is set and will begin in the middle of the summer. The Capital Improvement Plan for the fiscal years of 2014 through 2018 will coincide with the proposed budget and will have the same emphasis with infrastructure and public safety.