Community Funding Requests
FY2026 Community Project Funding Requests
Congresswoman Garcia has requested funding for the following projects in the FY26 appropriations process.
Project Title: Pollution Control Satellite Location
Recipient: Harris County Pollution Control Services
Project Location: North Harris County (77066, 77067, 77060, 77038, 77086)
Recipient Address: 101 S. Richey Suite H Pasadena, Texas 77506
Amount Requested: $1,000,000
Project Description: The project will undergo an evaluation of the optimal location for this new facility. In addition, the project will perform the necessary feasibility study, planning, and design work needed to move forward with the construction of the new facility. The project aims to create a state-of-the-art laboratory for per- and polyfluoroalkyl (PFAS)/ perfluoro octane sulfonic acid (PFOS) water analysis testing. This facility will help Harris County meet pending US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) requirements for qualifying industry compliance. In addition, the project aims to improve environmental inspections and testing pollution control efficiency throughout the County leading to greater services for our residents. A satellite location for PCS will enhance functionality, improve efficiency, and ultimately provide better environmental protection for the region.
Signed Disclosure and Federal Nexus Letter
Project Title: Fulton Corridor Revitalization
Recipient: City of Houston Police Department
Recipient Address: 1200 Travis Street, Houston, TX 77002
Project Location: 1800 to 8400 Fulton Street
Amount Requested: $999,600
Project Description: These funds will be utilized to buy equipment to help support our operations and improve safety and efficiencies. The award will allow the purchase of supplies to improve communication within the community. Lastly, the funds will be used to increase our presence in the area allowing us to conduct more outreach and increasing our enforcement and community engagement.
Signed Disclosure and Federal Nexus Letter
Project Title: Safe Drinking Water for Jacinto City
Recipient: The City of Jacinto City
Recipient Address: 1301 Mercury Drive Jacinto City Texas
Project Location: Various locations in Jacinto City
Amount Requested: $2,067,829
Project Description: The Safe Drinking Water project will provide for the replacement of 4624 feet of 10-inch supply lines and 13,519 feet of 8–inch distribution lines. These new polypropylene water mains will replace the 80-year-old ductile steel and cast-iron pipes currently in place. While the primary function of these water mains will be to distribute safe, clean potable water for residential and commercial use, it will also result in a great improvement in fire protection. After 80 years of service, the existing pipes have become calcified which has severely reduced the inside diameter of the pipe.
Signed Disclosure and Federal Nexus Letter
Project Title: Mason Park Community Center Improvement
Recipient: Houston Parks and Recreation Department
Recipient Address: PO Box 1562 Houston TX 77251
Project Location: 541 South 75th Houston Texas 77023
Amount Requested: $1,200,000
Project Description: The project will revitalize the Community Center returning the benefits of this much needed park facility back to this majority Hispanic, under-resourced community in southeast Houston. The proposed project will focus on the heart of the park, where the community center is an important amenity that embraces the cultural roots of Greater East End residents and serves as a symbol of neighborhood resiliency. Following the COVID pandemic, Mason Park Community Center never re-opened due to its aging, infrastructure and safety concerns as a result of roof damage sustained from natural disasters. The City is providing funding to replace the roof and additional Community Project Funding is needed to close the remaining gap in funding for the building to safely re-open. This project will return positive youth developmental opportunities, senior/adult recreational and leisure programming, and pride in this beloved, historic community park.
Signed Disclosure and Federal Nexus Letter
Project Title: Yellow Cab Site Redevelopment – Mixed-Income Housing and Community Revitalization Initiative
Recipient: Houston Land Bank
Recipient Address: 1214 Elgin St, Houston, TX 77004
Project Location: 1406 Hays St, Houston, TX 77009
Amount Requested: $3,000,000
Project Description: The Houston Land Bank (HLB) respectfully requests $3,000,000 in federal Community Project Funding to support the transformation of a long-abandoned 6.3-acre brownfield in Houston’s Near Northside into a mixed-use, mixed-income development that advances housing access, neighborhood revitalization, and economic self-reliance. This project will deliver up to 40 new homes affordable to working families earning between 50%–120% of Area Median Income (AMI), along with approximately 24,000 square feet of commercial space to support small businesses and community-serving services. All homes will be built to FORTIFIED Gold standards, using resilient materials that minimize damage from natural disasters and reduce the future burden on public disaster relief programs. The commercial space will support local entrepreneurship and create opportunities for small businesses to thrive without the need for long-term government subsidies. The site, once used by Yellow Cab for fueling and vehicle maintenance, was acquired by HLB in 2020 and underwent extensive remediation, culminating in a No Further Action letter from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) in 2024. This redevelopment turns an environmentally compromised property into a productive community asset, aligning with federal goals of maximizing land reuse, protecting taxpayers from wasteful spending, and empowering private investment to solve local problems. Rather than expanding bureaucracy or government dependency, this project facilitates homeownership, restores neighborhood pride, and increases local property tax revenue. It strengthens families through ownership and opportunity, not entitlement.
Signed Disclosure and Federal Nexus Letter
Project Title: East End Railway Improvement Project
Recipient: City of Houston (Houston Public Works)
Recipient Address: 611 Walker St, Houston, TX 77002
Project Location: 4022 Leeland St, Houston, TX 77003
Amount Requested: $2,700,000
Project Description: The requested funds for the East End Railway Improvement Project will be used to install railroad crossing gates, raised medians, sidewalks, traffic signs, and pavement markings for increased traffic and pedestrian safety. Enhanced safety and improved quality of residents' lives. The project will establish a quiet zone at two railroad crossings, resulting in improved safety and quality of life for thousands of residents in Houston's East End. This area of Houston has some of the most congested rail lines in the nation. This year a student was killed at a rail crossing. The need is severe and this is a perfect use of CRISI funds.
Signed Disclosure and Federal Nexus Letter
Project Title: Veterans Memorial Park
Recipient: Harris County Precinct 2
Recipient Address: 1001 Congress, Suite 924 Houston, TX 77002
Project Location: 1896 Tidwell Rd, Houston, TX 77093
Amount Requested: $3,300,000
Project Description: The Veterans Memorial Park project will transform the park into a vibrant hub of community engagement and support. The addition of a community center will provide space for programs tailored to veterans’ needs, offering vital services like job training, financial literacy courses, and counseling. Residents in adjacent neighborhoods will have access to the space for various community-building programs, fostering inclusivity and strengthening bonds within the area. The planned amenities include safe paths for pedestrians and cyclists, a dog park, and pavilions for educational and entertainment events, and aim to enhance the park’s utility for all visitors. These investments will enrich the lives of veterans and residents by supporting those who have sacrificed for their country while enhancing community infrastructure.
Signed Disclosure and Federal Nexus Letter
Project Title: Harrisburg Trail Improvements
Recipient: Harrisburg Redevelopment Authority (TIRZ 23)
Recipient Address: PO Box 22167 Houston, TX 77227
Project Location: Harrisburg Trail in 77003 and 77011
Amount Requested: $4,000,000
Project Description: This funding will allow for enhancements to the many instances where the trail crosses local roadways so that cyclists, pedestrians, and vehicular traffic can interact safely with awareness and caution. It will also provide an opportunity to improve lighting along the trail corridor to further increase safety and comfort. The project will include safety upgrades at 24 intersections along the Harrisburg Trail (a map is provided in the supporting documentation for this application). The proposed improvements are based on safety countermeasures developed by the Federal Highway Administration and include installing stop signs at intersections with local streets, Stop Ahead signs, Use Crosswalk signs, stop bars, high visibility crosswalks, raised crosswalks, street lighting and pedestrian lights (a rendering showing the existing conditions versus the proposed improvements is included in the supporting documentation for this application). This combination of improvements will result in a safer environment for pedestrians, cyclists, and auto drivers.
Signed Disclosure and Federal Nexus Letter
Project Title: U.S. Latino Digital Humanities Center Infrastructure Development Project
Recipient: University of Houston Arte Publico Press
Recipient Address: 4902 Gulf Freeway Houston, TX 77204
Project Location: 4902 Gulf Freeway Houston, TX 77204
Amount Requested: $10,000,000
Project Description: UH’s USLDH contributes greatly to the preservation, and dissemination of Latino cultural and historical legacy at the national, state, and local level. The award will support the creation of a physical space to significantly enhance and sustain this endeavor as it will provide a bilingual (English and Spanish) communal research site available for both academic and public use, offer educational opportunities, and substantive community outreach programs to develop collaborative networks, partnerships, talks, workshops, reading and research groups for general (K-12, community, academic) audiences.
Signed Disclosure and Federal Nexus Letter
Project Title: Worsham Elementary Safe Routes to Schools
Recipient: East Aldine Management District
Recipient Address: 2909 East Aldine Amphitheatre Dr. Suite 200 Houston, TX 77039
Project Location: Worsham Elementary School 3007 Hartwick Road Houston, TX 77093
Amount Requested: $2,725,700
Project Description: The Worsham Elementary Safe Routes to Schools project adds sidewalks along seven streets that border Worsham Elementary School. These seven streets are Foy Lane, Hartwick Road, Castledale Road, Task Street, Fishel Street, Bertrand Street, and Shady Drive. The sidewalks will also include new stormwater pipes in many places. Currently, these streets are two-lane asphalt roads with open ditches and no sidewalks – making it difficult to safely walk along these streets to reach local destinations – notably Worsham Elementary and the Halls Bayou trail. The proposed project converts the existing open ditches to six-foot wide sidewalks, providing a much safer space for neighbors and school children to access Worsham Elementary.
Signed Disclosure and Federal Nexus Letter
Project Title: Addressing Community Food Security Needs in Gulfgate
Recipient: Harris County Precinct 2
Recipient Address: 1001 Congress Street, Suite 924, Houston, TX 77002
Project Location: 7550 Office City Drive, Houston, TX 77012
Amount Requested: $132,000
Project Description: Funding from the proposed project will support the demolition, permitting, and construction costs associated with establishing a facility to address food security needs in Precinct 2. The established food bank will address community food security and nutrition needs in the Gulfgate neighborhood by launching its food bank program in the Gulfgate region. The food bank will address social needs, like food insecurity, poor nutritional knowledge, and lack of access to culinary education, that are prevalent in vulnerable populations, including the African American and Latino populations, and tied to diminished quality of life outcomes. The program proactively embeds a population approach as part of the standard of care for chronic food instability management, strategically intervening with constituents with expressed social needs to improve their overall outcomes. Once enrolled in the program, constituents will be able to select a variety of nutritious foods with a CHW at an onsite or community pantry, connected to the Houston Food Bank navigator for benefits enrollment across the district, and linked to community food resources. Once the program is fully operational, it will provide 275 constituent interactions per month.
Signed Disclosure and Federal Nexus Letter
Project Title: City of Pasadena Strawberry Park Improvements
Recipient: City of Pasadena Parks & Recreation
Recipient Address: 3111 San Augustine Ave. Pasadena, TX 77503
Project Location: 2900 Lafferty Rd. Pasadena TX 77502
Amount Requested: $963,000
Project Description: The funding for this project will be used to complete some needed renovations at Strawberry Park in Pasadena. This park is centrally located in the city and has thousands of visitors that come each year to visit and enjoy some of the City’s great recreational opportunities. Strawberry Park baseball fields are home to the Pasadena Pony League in partnership with the City of Pasadena to provide great opportunities for hundreds of children each year to grow and improve from playing the sport of baseball. The mission of the Pasadena Parks and Recreation Department is to enhance the quality of life for our citizens through the city’s exceptional parks and programs. This funding would help us fulfill that mission by creating an exceptional space and ballfield experience for all who use it. The renovations at Strawberry Park include the replacement of an old fieldhouse at Spiller field located in the Northeast corner of the park. The current building has been deteriorating and may be removed prior to this project starting. A new field house will provide a clean, safe and inviting location for the baseball league to manage games, concessions and maintenance materials. It will also serve as a restroom facility for users of that area.
Signed Disclosure and Federal Nexus Letter
Project Title: East End Innovation Incubator Development
Recipient: University of Houston Downtown
Recipient Address: One Main Street, Houston, TX 77002
Project Location: East End neighborhood
Amount Requested: $15,000,000
Project Description: The award would support the infrastructure development of a community innovation incubator space that would provide a physical location for collaboration between UHD students, researchers, academics and the surrounding community. UHD’s existing community of diverse faculty, staff, students, and regional partners are dedicated to nurturing talent, generating knowledge, and driving socioeconomic mobility for a just and sustainable future, making it the ideal institution to develop and run this multi-purpose community space. The funding will allow UHD to (1) provide the technological infrastructure (2) allocate and renovate physical space, (3) and bring UHD to its community virtually and physically.
Signed Disclosure and Federal Nexus Letter
Project Title: The University of Texas Kitchen Construction
Recipient: The University of Texas at Houston (UT Houston)
Recipient Address: 7000 Fannin, Suite 1700, Houston, TX 77030
Project Location: 7500 Cambridge St, Houston, TX 77054
Amount Requested: $8,300,000
Project Description: The University of Texas Kitchen Construction project will renovate a full kitchen and purchase refrigeration equipment for a new facility which will make it possible to safely refrigerate produce, and freeze protein and other food for our neighbors in need as well as allow larger capacity and backup to the system at their original location. The intended recipient is the University of Texas Health Science at Houston (UTHealth Houston) – School of Dentistry. The project will also enable them to purchase a fully equipped kitchen suitable for preparing unitized meals for their Medically Tailored Meals program, which serves homebound individuals with meals tailored by doctors and nutritionists after they have been released from a hospital or long-term care facility. In addition, the UT Health Houston School of Dentistry will be able to accommodate large-capacity catering, culinary art classes, and small neighborhood entrepreneurs participating in their food hall, providing their businesses with exposure to the thousands of volunteers and community members who will pass through the building. Primarily, the school is requesting funding for this project because it will be a partner in the building, providing sliding-scale dentistry services to the community. Considering that the neighboring community is a food desert and home to many uninsured individuals, providing this opportunity to them will also ensure that they seek out essential dental care, which would be beneficial to their overall health.
Signed Disclosure and Federal Nexus Letter
Project Title: Strengthening Houston Housing, Houston, Harris County, Texas
Recipient: The University of Texas at Houston (UT Houston)
Recipient Address: 7000 Fannin, Suite 1700, Houston, TX 77030
Project Location: Harris County
Amount Requested: $5,000,000
Project Description: UT Houston will work with United Way of Greater Houston, Combined Arms (a nonprofit that connects transitioning veterans with services), the Houston Housing Collaborative, Rebuilding Together Houston, and other nonprofit organizations to build and strengthen the technology and human capacity of coordination for housing needs. The full funding will allow them to scale technology used to improve access to services for housing-related needs across the millions of lives that are served by these non-profit organizations across the Houston region. The project will also support UT Houston's efforts to work with the City of Houston and Harris County to develop and implement comprehensive housing plans for the Greater Houston region to address the drastic housing shortage for low-income families, including military veterans. The funds will support new housing (homeownership or multifamily) development in the local communities that the respective partners serve. Funds would be allocated to UT Houston to work with the Houston Land Bank to benefit low-income families becoming homeowners either through the traditional process of homeownership or through the Houston Community Land Trust program.
Signed Disclosure and Federal Nexus Letter
FY2025 Community Project Funding Requests
Congresswoman Garcia has requested funding for the following projects in the FY25 appropriations process.
Project Title: Fulton Corridor Revitalization
Recipient: City of Houston Police Department
Recipient Address: 1200 Travis Street, Houston, TX 77002
Project Location: 1800 to 8400 Fulton Street
Amount Requested: $999,600
Project Description: These funds will be utilized to buy equipment to help support our operations and improve safety and efficiencies. The award will allow the purchase of supplies to improve communication within the community. Lastly, the funds will be used to increase our presence in the area allowing us to conduct more outreach and increasing our enforcement and community engagement.
Signed Disclosure and Federal Nexus Letter
Project Title: Safe Drinking Water for Jacinto City
Recipient: The City of Jacinto City
Recipient Address: 1301 Mercury Drive Jacinto City Texas
Project Location: Various locations in Jacinto City
Amount Requested: $2,067,829
Project Description: The Safe Drinking Water project will provide for the replacement of 4624 feet of 10-inch supply lines and 13,519 feet of 8–inch distribution lines. These new polypropylene water mains will replace the 80-year-old ductile steel and cast-iron pipes currently in place. While the primary function of these water mains will be to distribute safe, clean potable water for residential and commercial use, it will also result in a great improvement in fire protection. After 80 years of service, the existing pipes have become calcified which has severely reduced the inside diameter of the pipe.
Signed Disclosure and Federal Nexus Letter
Project Title: Clear Creek Flood Risk Management
Recipient: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
Recipient Address: 2000 Fort Point Road Galveston, TX 77550
Project Location: Clear Creek between Cullen Blvd and Hughes Road
Amount Requested: $40,000,000
Project Description: The funding will be used to enhance channel conveyance improvement on mainstem Clear Creek and riparian floodplain habitat restoration. The project is an appropriate use of taxpayer funds because it aims to reduce flood risks in two counties and 17 cities within the Clear Creek watershed.
Signed Disclosure and Federal Nexus Letter
Project Title: Pollution Control Satellite Location
Recipient: Harris County Pollution Control Services
Project Location: North Harris County (77066, 77067, 77060, 77038, 77086)
Recipient Address: 101 S. Richey Suite H Pasadena, Texas 77506
Amount Requested: $1,000,000
Project Description: The project will undergo an evaluation of the optimal location for this new facility. In addition, the project will perform the necessary feasibility study, planning, and design work needed to move forward with the construction of the new facility. The project aims to create a state-of-the-art laboratory for per- and polyfluoroalkyl (PFAS)/ perfluoro octane sulfonic acid (PFOS) water analysis testing. This facility will help Harris County meet pending US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) requirements for qualifying industry compliance. In addition, the project aims to improve environmental inspections and testing pollution control efficiency throughout the County leading to greater services for our residents. A satellite location for PCS will enhance functionality, improve efficiency, and ultimately provide better environmental protection for the region.
Signed Disclosure and Federal Nexus Letter
Project Title: Veterans Memorial Park
Recipient: Harris County Precinct 2
Recipient Address: 1001 Congress, Suite 924 Houston, TX 77002
Project Location: 1896 Tidwell Rd, Houston, TX 77093
Amount Requested: $3,300,000
Project Description: The Veterans Memorial Park project will transform the park into a vibrant hub of community engagement and support. The addition of a community center will provide space for programs tailored to veterans’ needs, offering vital services like job training, financial literacy courses, and counseling. Residents in adjacent neighborhoods will have access to the space for various community-building programs, fostering inclusivity and strengthening bonds within the area. The planned amenities include safe paths for pedestrians and cyclists, a dog park, and pavilions for educational and entertainment events, and aim to enhance the park’s utility for all visitors. These investments will enrich the lives of veterans and residents by supporting those who have sacrificed for their country while enhancing community infrastructure.
Signed Disclosure and Federal Nexus Letter
Project Title: Harrisburg Trail Improvements
Recipient: Harrisburg Redevelopment Authority (TIRZ 23)
Recipient Address: PO Box 22167 Houston, TX 77227
Project Location: Harrisburg Trail in 77003 and 77011
Amount Requested: $4,000,000
Project Description: This funding will allow for enhancements to the many instances where the trail crosses local roadways so that cyclists, pedestrians, and vehicular traffic can interact safely with awareness and caution. It will also provide an opportunity to improve lighting along the trail corridor to further increase safety and comfort. The project will include safety upgrades at 24 intersections along the Harrisburg Trail (a map is provided in the supporting documentation for this application). The proposed improvements are based on safety countermeasures developed by the Federal Highway Administration and include installing stop signs at intersections with local streets, Stop Ahead signs, Use Crosswalk signs, stop bars, high visibility crosswalks, raised crosswalks, street lighting and pedestrian lights (a rendering showing the existing conditions versus the proposed improvements is included in the supporting documentation for this application). This combination of improvements will result in a safer environment for pedestrians, cyclists, and auto drivers.
Signed Disclosure and Federal Nexus Letter
Project Title: U.S. Latino Digital Humanities Center Infrastructure Development Project
Recipient: University of Houston Arte Publico Press
Recipient Address: 4902 Gulf Freeway Houston, TX 77204
Project Location: 4902 Gulf Freeway Houston, TX 77204
Amount Requested: $10,000,000
Project Description: UH’s USLDH contributes greatly to the preservation, and dissemination of Latino cultural and historical legacy at the national, state, and local level. The award will support the creation of a physical space to significantly enhance and sustain this endeavor as it will provide a bilingual (English and Spanish) communal research site available for both academic and public use, offer educational opportunities, and substantive community outreach programs to develop collaborative networks, partnerships, talks, workshops, reading and research groups for general (K-12, community, academic) audiences.
Signed Disclosure and Federal Nexus Letter
Project Title: Worsham Elementary Safe Routes to Schools
Recipient: East Aldine Management District
Recipient Address: 2909 East Aldine Amphitheatre Dr. Suite 200 Houston, TX 77039
Project Location: Worsham Elementary School 3007 Hartwick Road Houston, TX 77093
Amount Requested: $2,725,700
Project Description: The Worsham Elementary Safe Routes to Schools project adds sidewalks along seven streets that border Worsham Elementary School. These seven streets are Foy Lane, Hartwick Road, Castledale Road, Task Street, Fishel Street, Bertrand Street, and Shady Drive. The sidewalks will also include new stormwater pipes in many places. Currently, these streets are two-lane asphalt roads with open ditches and no sidewalks – making it difficult to safely walk along these streets to reach local destinations – notably Worsham Elementary and the Halls Bayou trail. The proposed project converts the existing open ditches to six-foot wide sidewalks, providing a much safer space for neighbors and school children to access Worsham Elementary.
Signed Disclosure and Federal Nexus Letter
Project Title: Addressing Community Food Security Needs in Gulfgate
Recipient: Harris County Hospital District
Recipient Address: 4800 Fournace Place, Bellaire, TX 77401
Project Location: 7550 Office City Drive, Houston, TX 77012
Amount Requested: $132,000
Project Description: The Harris County Hospital District d/b/a Harris Health System (Harris Health) will address community food security and nutrition needs in the Gulfgate neighborhood by launching its Food Rx program at the Gulfgate Health Center. Harris Health operates a unique food prescription program based on a holistic approach to improve the health of the community we serve. Harris Health’s Food Rx program addresses health-related social needs, like food insecurity, poor nutritional knowledge, and lack of access to culinary education, that are prevalent in vulnerable populations, including the African American and Latino populations, and tied to poor health outcomes. The program proactively embeds a population health approach as part of the standard of care for chronic disease management, strategically intervening with patients with expressed social needs and known health risks to improve their health outcomes.
Signed Disclosure and Federal Nexus Letter
Project Title: City of Pasadena Strawberry Park Improvements
Recipient: City of Pasadena Parks & Recreation
Recipient Address: 3111 San Augustine Ave. Pasadena, TX 77503
Project Location: 2900 Lafferty Rd. Pasadena TX 77502
Amount Requested: $963,000
Project Description: The funding for this project will be used to complete some needed renovations at Strawberry Park in Pasadena. This park is centrally located in the city and has thousands of visitors that come each year to visit and enjoy some of the City’s great recreational opportunities. Strawberry Park baseball fields are home to the Pasadena Pony League in partnership with the City of Pasadena to provide great opportunities for hundreds of children each year to grow and improve from playing the sport of baseball. The mission of the Pasadena Parks and Recreation Department is to enhance the quality of life for our citizens through the city’s exceptional parks and programs. This funding would help us fulfill that mission by creating an exceptional space and ballfield experience for all who use it. The renovations at Strawberry Park include the replacement of an old fieldhouse at Spiller field located in the Northeast corner of the park. The current building has been deteriorating and may be removed prior to this project starting. A new field house will provide a clean, safe and inviting location for the baseball league to manage games, concessions and maintenance materials. It will also serve as a restroom facility for users of that area.
Signed Disclosure and Federal Nexus Letter
Project Title: East End Innovation Incubator Development
Recipient: University of Houston Downtown
Recipient Address: One Main Street, Houston, TX 77002
Project Location: East End neighborhood
Amount Requested: $15,000,000
Project Description: The award would support the infrastructure development of a community innovation incubator space that would provide a physical location for collaboration between UHD students, researchers, academics and the surrounding community. UHD’s existing community of diverse faculty, staff, students, and regional partners are dedicated to nurturing talent, generating knowledge, and driving socioeconomic mobility for a just and sustainable future, making it the ideal institution to develop and run this multi-purpose community space. The funding will allow UHD to (1) provide the technological infrastructure (2) allocate and renovate physical space, (3) and bring UHD to its community virtually and physically.
Signed Disclosure and Federal Nexus Letter
Project Title: Turkey Bend Community Facility
Recipient: East Downtown Management District
Recipient Address: 2955 Gulf Freeway Unit D Houston, TX 77003
Project Location: 5401 Navigation Blvd, Houston, TX 77011
Amount Requested: $5,000,000
Project Description: The establishment of the Turkey Bend Community Facility would be the first of its kind on Houston’s historic waterway. The site, Turkey Bend, is located on a protected oxbow off of Buffalo Bayou’s main channel and provides one of the few places along the waterway that will allow safe access to the water. The new facility to be constructed would be designed for flexibility to accommodate a variety of different public uses and programs. Improvements seek to provide community benefit through recreational opportunities, access to nature, cultural enrichment, and economic growth. This project and transformation of the entire Turkey Bend site is a major component of the Buffalo Bayou East Master Plan. The goal of this comprehensive plan is to ultimately transform Buffalo Bayou into a catalyst for holistic community development.
Signed Disclosure and Federal Nexus Letter
Project Title: Mason Park Community Center Improvement
Recipient: Houston Parks and Recreation Department
Recipient Address: PO Box 1562 Houston TX 77251
Project Location: 541 South 75th Houston Texas 77023
Amount Requested: $1,200,000
Project Description: The project will revitalize the Community Center returning the benefits of this much needed park facility back to this majority Hispanic, under-resourced community in southeast Houston. The proposed project will focus on the heart of the park, where the community center is an important amenity that embraces the cultural roots of Greater East End residents and serves as a symbol of neighborhood resiliency. Following the COVID pandemic, Mason Park Community Center never re-opened due to its aging, infrastructure and safety concerns as a result of roof damage sustained from natural disasters. The City is providing funding to replace the roof and additional Community Project Funding is needed to close the remaining gap in funding for the building to safely re-open. This project will return positive youth developmental opportunities, senior/adult recreational and leisure programming, and pride in this beloved, historic community park.
Signed Disclosure and Federal Nexus Letter
Project Title: Charlton Park and Community Center Renovations
Recipient: Houston Parks and Recreation Department
Recipient Address: PO Box 1562 Houston TX 77251
Project Location: 8200 Park Place Blvd. Houston Texas 77017
Amount Requested: $3,550,000
Project Description: The proposed improvements to Charlton Park address three top priorities of HPARD’s Park Master Plan for Park Sector 6 including revitalize existing parks, develop neighborhood connections to parks and trails, and preserve environmentally sensitive areas. Charlton Park is the only park within a ½ mile or 10-minute walk of Park Place residents further highlighting the significance of this greenspace with the community. This project request will focus on improvements to the Charlton Park Community Center, basketball pavilion, and other general site work. These proposed renovations will complement a $2.5 million Phase 1 redevelopment project for Charlton Park currently underway to improve the playground, add a sprayground and outdoor fitness area, improve walkways and lighting, and enhance landscaping.
Signed Disclosure and Federal Nexus Letter
Project Title: Strengthening Houston Housing, Houston, Harris County, Texas
Recipient: The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth Houston)
Recipient Address: 7000 Fannin, Suite 1700, Houston, TX 77030
Project Location: Harris County
Amount Requested: $5,000,000
Project Description: This project will strengthen the housing needs screening, referral for services, and affordability infrastructure needed for Houstonians, including seniors and veterans. The Health Equity Collective (HEC) coalition in the Greater Houston region is currently working with its member organizations, including United Way of Greater Houston, Combined Arms (nonprofit that connects transitioning veterans with services), Greater Houston Healthconnect health information exchange (HIE), and Houston Housing Collaborative non-profit organizations to build and strengthen the technology and human capacity of screening and care coordination between healthcare and social services organizations for housing needs and other non-medical drivers of health. The full funding will allow us to scale out closed loop referral technology to improve screening and access to services for housing related needs across the millions of lives that are serviced by these non-profit organizations across the Houston region.
Signed Disclosure and Federal Nexus Letter
FY 2024 Community Project Funding Requests
Congresswoman Garcia has requested funding for the following projects in the FY24 appropriations process.
Project Title: North Side Water Lines
Proposed Recipient: City of Jacinto City
Recipient address: 1301 Mercury Drive, Houston, Texas 77029
Amount requested: $3,200,000
Project Description: This project will provide safe drinking water and fire protection to a diverse mix of residences and small businesses. Existing metal pipe in this area were originally installed during World War II, using lead to seal many of the connections. These pipes will be replaced with larger polypropylene pipe which will eliminate the threat of lead poisoning and allow our water system to operate at a pressure that can assure the delivery of safe water to each user and supply adequate pressure and fire flows for rated structures. Currently, our static pressure is typically 35 PSI. This provides very little margin since boil water notices are triggered at pressures less than 20 PSI. The project also supports water conservation by installing ultrasonic water meters which will accurately meter the water used and provide valuable data to each user, including prompt email or text notifications of unusual high-water usage. This will allow residents to identify and correct water leaks before wasting thousands of gallons of water and creating a water bill that would be a financial hardship. There is also a tremendous enhancement to safety associated with the dramatic increase in the fire flow rates that will be accomplished.
Signed Disclosure and Federal Nexus letter
Project Title: Galena Park Water System Rehabilitation
Proposed Recipient: City of Galena Park
Recipient Address: 2000 Clinton Drive Galena Park, TX 77547
Amount requested: $4,388,540
Project Description: The project is to continue to improve on the City of Galena Park's rehabilitation of the city's drinking water system by installing and replacing distribution pipes to prevent contamination caused by frequent leaks and breaks which will allow for improved water pressure and quality. Ensuring adequate water pressure is also a crucial component of public safety as it allows firefighters to best extinguish fires. The funds will replace an antiquated system to deliver potable water to residents.
Signed Disclosure and Federal Nexus letter
Project Title: Harris County Veterans Village
Proposed Recipient: Harris County
Recipient Address: 1001 Preston St. Houston, TX 77002
Amount requested: $3,000,000.
Project Description: This project will create transitional housing by acquiring 30 tiny homes and locating them in an undeveloped plot of land adjacent to Veterans Memorial Park. Mobile housing workforce and health/ mental health services will be available on a regular basis for veterans who are or have been homeless, justice-involved, or who are in need of temporary housing.
Signed Disclosure and Federal Nexus letter.
Project Title: Preserving Affordable Housing for Low-Income Residents
Proposed Recipient: Avenue
Recipient Address: 3517 Irvington Blvd, Houston Texas 77009
Amount requested: $1,965,013.
Project Description: The project will repair and improve 117 affordable housing units in Houston.
Renters in Houston are struggling with the city’s deficit of 700,000 affordable housing units. The need for affordable housing is great in this neighborhood as it provides good access to transportation, schools, jobs, and other amenities.
The project will focus on Avenue's affordable units which urgently need a full upgrade to the HVAC systems, currently comprised of outdated and inefficient window units and heating units. This project will preserve the affordability at this location while keeping the 250 residents in stable, quality, affordable homes.
By improving these units, the entire neighborhood will benefit. Keeping these 117 families housed is an urgent priority. The projects are located in the Eastex/Jensen and Eastwood neighborhoods.
Signed Disclosure and Federal Nexus letter.
Project Title: CE King Parkway Trail
Proposed Recipient: Harris County
Recipient Address: 1001 Preston St. Houston, TX 77002
Amount requested: $5,300,000.
Project Description: The CE King Parkway Trail between Garrett Road and Tidwell Road is a 2.3-mile, 10’-wide trail that will provide multi-modal access to residents in the Sheldon area and connect the old Sheldon ISD campus to the new campus. The project is located with the existing 300-foot right-of-way for CE King Parkway. The new Sheldon ISD Campus includes the new CE King High School, Sheldon ISD Stadium and Sheldon Lake Elementary School. The old campus on Tidwell Road consists of CE King Middle School, CE King 9th Grade Campus, Crenshaw Memorial Stadium and other sports fields. The project includes a new pedestrian-bicycle bridge over an existing drainage channel and other trail amenities.
Signed Disclosure and Federal Nexus letter.
Project Title: South Houston Community Center Rehabilitation
Proposed Recipient: The City of South Houston
Recipient Address: 1018 Dallas St., South Houston, TX 77587
Amount requested: $550,000.
Project Description: The rehabilitation of the South Houston Community Center will provide a safe building structure for the city to continue its community programs including providing meals for seniors on a daily basis. Core components include roof replacement, interior and exterior rehabilitation.
Signed Disclosure and Federal Nexus letter.
Project Title: City of Houston Parks and Recreation Department
Proposed Recipient: The City of Houston
Recipient Address: 2999 S. Wayside Drive, Houston TX 77023
Amount requested: $2,000,000.
Project Description: Mason Park was acquired by the City of Houston in 1928. At 108 acres, Mason Park is the second largest park in southeast Houston within the Lawndale/Wayside Super Neighborhood. Built in the Spanish Mission style in the early 1950’s, the Mason Park Community Center lies in the heart of Mason Park. Mason Park Community Center is currently closed to the public. The proposed project will revitalize the shuttered Mason Park Community Center returning the benefits of this much needed park facility back to the community. To address the need of an aging facility, the project will address the building envelope and refurbish the interior areas. The funding request provides for Community Center improvements and construction as supported by the Mason Park Master Plan.
Signed Disclosure and Federal Nexus letter.
Project Title: Ripley House Building Management
Proposed Recipient: BakerRipley
Recipient Address: 4450 Harrisburg Blvd, Suite 200, Houston, TX 77011
Amount requested: $2,566,500.
Project Description: BakerRipley requests funding for capital replacements and modernization of our Ripley House campus’ obsolete building management, lighting, HVAC, and electrical systems to create a more healthy, efficient, and resilient environment for over 20,000 children, youth, adults, and seniors annually.
Ripley House has served generations of Second Ward neighbors since opening in 1940, through its rebuild in 2001, and on to today. Equipment and systems to be replaced are original to the rebuilt campus and past or rapidly approaching the end of their life expectancies. By replacing the existing building management system with IP-based automation; retrofitting and upgrading interior/exterior lighting; replacing HVAC equipment; and installing a generator, we will:
• Shift from harmful mercury-containing lighting to LED lighting, creating a healthier environment for neighbors from children accessing Texas Children’s Pediatrics’ clinic to seniors in our senior health and wellness center.
• Reduce operating expenses through zoned, flexible, and energy efficient cooling and heating.
• Mitigate the impact of disasters, vitally important given its role as an American Red Cross shelter site and community disaster recovery site.
This urgently needed project will ensure that Ripley House is well-equipped to continue its 83-year legacy as the go-to place for Second Ward neighbors seeking resources, education, and connection.
Signed Disclosure and Federal Nexus letter.
Project Title: M. D. Anderson Family YMCA Reconstruction
Proposed Recipient: M. D. Anderson Family YMCA of Greater Houston
Recipient Address: 705 Cavalcade St. Houston, Texas 77009
Amount requested: $ 3,000,000.
Project Description: Funding is being requested for the reconstruction of an aging community services facility, the M.D. Anderson Family YMCA, providing critical and essential programming that supports community health, education, workforce development and public safety in the Northside and Northline communities. Programs and services to be offered but not limited to are childcare, summer camp, aging adult services, family services, drowning prevention, community health, physical/mental health and wellness activities, youth sports, teen leadership, and workforce development.
Signed Disclosure and Federal Nexus letter.
Project Title: Lauder Road Basin Multi-Use Trail
Proposed Recipient: Harris County
Recipient Address: 1001 Preston St. Houston, TX 77002
Amount requested: $2,000,000.
Project Description: The Lauder Road Basin Phase 2 Multi-Use Trail will promote a safe and healthy walking and biking environment for residents in the East Aldine area of Houston. The proposed project is a 7,200 linear foot (1.4 miles) long 10-feet-wide paved multi-use path. The path is surrounded by residential neighborhoods with Middle and Elementary schools directly across Lauder Road.
Signed Disclosure and Federal Nexus letter.
Project Title: Pasadena Police Department Virtual Reality Law Enforcement Training
Proposed Recipient: Pasadena Police Department
Recipient Address: 1149 Ellsworth Drive Pasadena, TX 77506
Amount requested: $325,000.
Project Description: A virtual reality training system will allow us to use the scenarios provided to ensure all officers are equipped to deal with situations in a way that offers the least level of use of force as possible while ensuring officer safety.
This training solution offers over forty scenarios in areas such as domestic violence, traffic stops, duty to intervene, dealing with people with mental health issues, and many more. Our agency can select from these scenarios, customize the tasks officers should perform to de-escalate a difficult situation, pause and play to allow trainers to interact with the trainee, and then review the scenario from different vantage points. Metrics collected will allow our agency to determine where additional training resources should be deployed and what training topics need further reinforcement. The ability to standardize this training across our entire agency would be invaluable.
Signed Disclosure and Federal Nexus letter.
Project Title: Denver Harbor Stormwater Drainage Improvements
Proposed Recipient: City of Houston
Recipient Address: P.O. Box 1562 Houston, TX 77251
Amount requested: $ 4,000,000.
Project Description: This project will consist of the regrading of ditches and realignment of culverts in the eastern portion of Denver Harbor to increase the flow of water through the area and restore the capacity of the local drainage system. The proposed drainage improvements are targeted at mitigating ponding and flooding within the Denver Harbor neighborhood for the 2-year storm event.
Signed Disclosure and Federal Nexus letter.
Project Title: University of Houston Technology Bridge Battery Facility Development
Proposed Recipient: University of Houston Technology Bridge
Recipient Address: 5000 Gulf Freeway, Houston, TX, 77204-2013
Amount requested: $5,000,000.
Project Description: Development of a battery facility at the UH Technology Bridge will advance research and creation of batteries that are built from infinitely abundant (earth-rich) elements, to meet energy and power requirements both for electric vehicles and the electric energy grid, that are available at a low cost and minimize environmental impact. This facility will be the first of its kind in the nation and will lead the industry in prototyping solid-state battery technology.
UH researchers believe that a transition to all-solid-state batteries is critical both to future power and energy needs, and to close an increasing technical gap between the U.S. and its international competitors. The facility will specialize in the creation of batteries designed to reduce weight and cost that also feature greater energy density by replacing graphite anode with lithium metal anode. Similarly, the facility will advance creation of a safer solid-state battery by replacing flammable liquid electrolytes with nonflammable solid electrolytes.
Increasing demand for batteries of this type requires that we transition away from their current production model which relies on a limited supply of critical elements.
Signed Disclosure and Federal Nexus letter.
Project Title: Northline Transit Center
Proposed Recipient: Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County (METRO)
Recipient Address: 1900 Main St. Houston, TX 77002
Amount requested: $5,000,000.
Project Description: Replace the existing four-bay Northline Transit Center that is on leased land with a permanent facility across Fulton Street with a seven-bus bay facility and structured parking for approximately 500 spaces. The proposed new facility will also have space for METRO Police, customer waiting, public restrooms, and retail opportunities.
Signed Disclosure and Federal Nexus letter.
Project Title: Houston Food Bank Collective Impact Expansion
Proposed Recipient: Houston Food Bank
Recipient Address: 535 Portwall Houston, TX 77029
Amount requested: $21,000,000.
Project Description: Houston Food Bank is creating a one-stop destination for community well-being and success by co-locating 10 partner organizations for integrated services in one building in Northwest Houston on Mt. Houston Road. The new building will also almost quadruple storage space for produce and other nutritious food. The aspect of the project for which we are requesting funding is construction of a pre-cast garage and associated inspection fees as well as kitchen equipment.
Signed Disclosure and Federal Nexus letter
Fiscal Year 2023 Community Project Funding Requests
Congresswoman Garcia has requested funding for the following projects in the FY23 appropriations process.
Project title: Legacy- Bonham Street Clinic in Galena Park
Proposed Recipient: Legacy Community Health Services, A Texas nonprofit corporation, hereinafter referred to as “Legacy." TIN 76-0009637
Address of recipient: 1415 California St. Houston, TX 77006
Amount of request: $300,000
Explanation of the request: This project will renovate a building in Galena Park on Bonham Street to provide primary and behavioral healthcare services to students enrolled at Cloverleaf Elementary School and other surrounding schools. This location will provide convenient access to children and their siblings with healthcare needs and are convenient for the families of the enrolled students. Legacy currently operates 34 school-based clinic delivery sites throughout the greater Houston area. Under the school-based Health Center model, children never need to leave the school campus to see a medical provider. Legacy practitioners may see children and their siblings during the school day. Furthermore, children seen at a Legacy school-based Health Center are easily transitioned to Legacy’s full-service clinics located nearby. There, children receive additional services, such as oral health, that enhance the primary care received at the school-based clinic.
Project title: Navigation Boulevard Reconfiguration Project
Proposed recipient: Buffalo Bayou Partnership
Address of recipient: 1019 Commerce Street, Suite 200 Houston, TX 77002
Amount of request: $8,000,000
Explanation of the request: The reconfiguration of Navigation Boulevard between Lockwood Drive and Mack Street through converting the existing six-lane roadway into a facility that includes two-lanes including grade separated commuter bicycle/pedestrian facilities and the creation of a linear park with increased greenspace that will enhance access to high-capacity public transportation on Lockwood to the west and Harrisburg to the south. In addition to bicycle and pedestrian connectivity elements, the project also proposes upgrades to existing pavement (bringing conditions to a state of good repair), upgrades to stormwater infrastructure to meet post-Hurricane Harvey design standards, and other public utility upgrades (water/wastewater) as appropriate. This area of the East End is rapidly becoming a redeveloped activity and job center, anchored by the East End Maker Hub, adjacent Harris County administration facilities and office buildings, and the redevelopment of historic industrial sites. This project will support the economic vitality of the area and provide infrastructure necessary to support smart growth.
Project title: Rapidly Deployable Modular Community Healthcare Access
Proposed recipient: Harris County Precinct 2- Commissioner Adrian Garcia
Address of recipient: 1001 Preston St. #924, Houston, TX 77002
Amount of request: $3,980,000
Explanation of the request: This community project seeks to address the healthcare disparity gap in multiple locations across CD29, through the deployment of innovative, award winning, Access2Health SmartPods developed by Baylor College of Medicine. Ten pods, half of which are equipped to provide primary care, and half of which are tailored to provide mental health care, will be deployed across 4 popular community centers and 1 county park.
The proposed locations, all of which are in the current CD-29 maps:
• Jim Fonteno Annex,14350 Wallisville Rd, Houston, TX 77049
• Mangum-Howell Community Center, 2500 Frick Road, Houston, Texas 77038
• Pep Mueller Community Center, 14750 Henry Road, Houston, Texas 77060
• Cloverleaf Park, 825 Beacon St., Houston, Texas 77015
Project title: Expanding Affordable Housing Opportunities - Las Brisas Redevelopment
Proposed recipient: Avenue Community Development Corporation
Address of recipient: 3715 Irvington Blvd., Houston, TX 77009
Amount of request: $3,000,000
Explanation of the request: Avenue will provide much-needed affordable housing in the 29th District of Texas by rebuilding and expanding our Las Brisas apartments, located in the Greater Heights. Avenue purchased the 68-unit Las Brisas in 2012 and has operated it as affordable rental housing since then, but due to the aging of major systems in the 1964 buildings, Avenue has decided to rebuild and expand the complex by purchasing the property next door and replacing the existing complex with 195 new apartments, the majority of which will be affordable to low-income households. Current tenants will be relocated during construction and invited to return after the new buildings are complete. The complex will include a range of unit sizes for families and seniors (studios, 1-bedroom, 2-bedroom, and 3-bedroom units) plus amenities such as a fitness center, co-working office space, pool, courtyard, and community room for resident services such as after-school programs which Avenue will provide.
Project Title: UH Technology Bridge Infrastructure Development
Proposed recipient: The University of Houston Technology Bridge
Address of recipient: 5000 Gulf Freeway, Houston, TX 77204
Amount of request: $2,875,000
Explanation of the request: Located at the University of Houston (UH), the UH Technology Bridge is the premier technology park for intellectual property development and licenses in the Houston region due to its broad-based corporate research activity and top startup portfolio. The UH Technology Bridge’s Innovation Center & Incubator Labs are currently home to 24 small companies and startups, many of which provide critical internship and learning opportunities for UH students, along with 4 federally funded research centers and institutes. The University of Houston is seeking support for a $2.875 million Economic Development Initiative Community Project Funding award as part of the FY 2023 Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies Appropriations bill to provide for the Technology Hub’s infrastructure needs. The funding would be dedicated across several strategic investments designed to reconfigure and build out new space to better meet the needs of both UH researchers and industry partners. Such growth would contribute significantly to the greater Houston area economy, providing new job opportunities, and drawing sizeable new industry partners to the area. It would additionally help establish the University of Houston as a top public university in the country.
ProjectTitle: Target Hunger Campus and Education Center
Proposed recipient: Target Hunger
Address of recipient: 1260 Shotwell Street Houston TX 77020
Amount of request: $4,000,000
Explanation of the request: At a total cost of $7 million, the project will create a dynamic hub for food assistance operations with expanded food storage, educational programming from a new 2,400 sq. ft. Education Center with a 30-seat community classroom, and allow the space for on-site social service navigation. A team of certified Community Health Workers will coach, mentor, and connect food insecure families to job and skills training, affordable health care, federal meal programs, financial literacy training, and other social services. All these services will help lift food insecure residents of the 29th Congressional District out of generational poverty.
Project title: Community-Based Survivor Empowerment Centers
Proposed recipient: Houston Area Women’s Center (HAWC)
Address of recipient: 1010 Waugh Dr. Houston, TX. 77019
Amount of request: $1,000,000
Explanation of the request: We will establish community-based hubs in each of these communities so that those needing help can reach us in a neighborhood-based setting – easier to access because they will be close to home, providing individual crisis counseling, individual and group counseling for both adults and children, case management, referral services, and childcare. The hubs will be staffed by advocates speaking both English and Spanish. Clients needing to leave their domestic violence situations quickly will have access to HAWC’s residential housing at 3077 El Camino through these community-based hubs. This project will be in the Magnolia neighborhood.
Project Title: Oral health and dental services for Aldine
Proposed recipient: Asian American Health Coalition-HOPE Clinic
Address of recipient: 3000 ALDINE MAIL ROUTE RD BUILDING C, SUITE 200, Houston, TX 77039
Amount of request: $1,300,000
Explanation of the request: Partnership with Aldine ISD to bridge Oral health and dental services to students and families while partnering with UT school of dentistry to create learning opportunities for dental students cultivating understanding of Aldine community for potential future dentist to work in Aldine.
Project title: Women’s Health Services & Pediatrics New Site
Proposed recipient: El Centro de Corazon
Address of recipient: 7037 Capitol St. N-100, Houston, TX 77011
Amount of request: $5,00,0000
Explanation of the request: El Centro de Corazón is requesting $5M in funding for construction and equipment costs to build a 10,000 SF health care facility that will be dedicated to providing women and children with accessible and affordable health care services. Services will include prenatal care, contraceptive management, ultrasounds, well woman exams, well-child and sick-child exams, vaccinations, behavioral health interventions, wellness/dietician referrals, and dental care.
Project title: High School to High Wage: A Pipeline from Pasadena ISD to Employment
Proposed recipient: Pasadena Independent School District
Address of recipient: 1515 Cherrybrook Lane, Pasadena, Texas 77502
Amount of request: $ 8,000,000
Explanation of the request: With this request for Community Project Funding, Pasadena Independent School District (Pasadena ISD) proposes the High School to High Wage project. This project will help Pasadena ISD ensure our students have access to the proper and up to date equipment, resources, and training so that they are prepared to enter the workforce and fill employment gaps in high demand, high wage occupations vital to the economic and socio-economic success of the Texas 29th Congressional District and greater Houston area. Statewide and regional data indicates that jobs in the healthcare industry, trades, and STEM-related fields are being impacted the most by the shortage of qualified employees. At the same time, ACS 2019 1-Year Estimates show the poverty rate in the Texas 29th to be approximately 22% with an unemployment rate of 6% and a median household income of $48,300. Jobs are available, but training is necessary to ensure the population is trained and prepared to fill those jobs.
Project title: Adding Congregate Breakfasts at Houston Senior Centers to Mitigate Food Insecurity and Improve Health Outcomes for Low-Income Houston Seniors
Proposed recipient: BakerRipley
Address of recipient: 4450 Harrisburg Blvd Suite 200 Houston TX , 77011
Amount of request: $1,300,000
Explanation of the request: BakerRipley partners with the Harris County Area Agency on Aging (which is under the City of Houston Health Department) and multiple community-based organizations including Wesley Community Center to operate 15 senior centers throughout Houston, including four in the Texas 29th Congressional District (at BakerRipley Ripley House, Denver Harbor Multi-Service Center, Magnolia Multi-Service Center, and Wesley Community Center). Each of these senior centers provides a hot free lunch, and collectively BakerRipley is the largest congregate meal provider in Houston serving 169,000 lunches each year to at least 2,000 seniors age 60 and over. This includes 547 seniors currently enrolled at senior centers in the Texas 29th Congressional District: 135 at Denver Harbor, 129 at Ripley House, 100 at Magnolia, and 183 at Wesley Community Center.
Project title: Restoration of the Historic LULAC Chapter 60 Clubhouse, a National Treasure
Proposed recipient: C60, inc.
Address of recipient: 502 Avondale Street, Houston TX 77006
Amount of request: $790,000
Explanation of request: The LULAC Clubhouse was once the epicenter of Latino advocacy and civil rights organizing in the 1950s and 60s, both in Houston and nationwide. Countless functions, discussions, and coordination of political and civic import for the Latino community and others, happened in this building including the creation of many nationally important housing (HUD, educational (Headstart) and employment programs (SER-Jobs). The Historic LULAC Council 60 also had a historic fateful visit by President John F. Kennedy to Houston the day before he was assassinated. Unfortunately, within the last decade, the Clubhouse has suffered deterioration and has ceased to host LULAC meetings. LULAC members were forced to gut the building after Hurricane Harvey to save it from demolition. Today, the modest two-story 1,837 sf structure first built in 1907 sits largely overlooked, unknown, and in need of repair. The $2.7 Master Plan developed in collaboration with the National Trust for Historic Preservation, RLDR Architects, and educational consultants calls for extensive exterior and interior renovations necessary to create a new multi-use cultural and community hub dedicated to preserving Latino history and activating a new generation of civic service. Gutted spaces will be transformed to create an expansive open floor plan including ample community spaces, museum quality display and storage for historic documents, memorabilia, a cafe designed to nurture community engagement. The second floor is dedicated to shared/flexible office spaces for community partners, and a media studio for education and creation of important community content.
Project title: The Magnolia Park-Manchester Services Hub
Proposed recipient: City of Houston
Address of Recipient: 901 Bagby Street Houston, TX 77002
Amount of Request: $1,500,000
Explanation of the request: Funding for additional services hub will kickstart an investment into creating Anchor Hubs in the Complete Communities neighborhood of Magnolia Park-Manchester located in the 29th District which will further the development of the additional programs, projects and services identified by residents in the Complete Communities Action Plans. The Commercial Development in Magnolia Park-Manchester will entail a Social Services Hub that will be a site for future developments in the major corridors on Lawndale and Broadway Street. In the Magnolia Park-Manchester Complete Communities Action Plan, residents ranked as a high priority creating an inventory of retail and commercial spaces to support and attract locally owned small businesses and promoting new commercial development along the area’s major corridors. Development of the Social Services Hub can help to move forward those projects through innovative adaptive reusing of an existing building that may be underused, abandoned, vacant, dilapidated, or functionally obsolete. The project budget for the property acquisition is based on comparable land purchases in other Complete Communities neighborhoods. The relevant Action Plan goals are as follows: connecting residents to local career and job training programs; strengthening, diversifying and expanding neighborhood retail; connecting adult residents to educational opportunities; expanding HISD wraparound services; preserving and repurposing historic buildings; and developing community-based actions to target crime hot spots.
Project title: Baylor College of Medicine OBOT (Office-Based Opioid Treatment) Integrated CARE Clinic with Santa Maria Hostel
Proposed recipient: Baylor College of Medicine
Address of recipient: One Baylor Plaza, Houston, Texas 77030
Amount of request: $1,200,000
Explanation of request: Santa Maria Hostel (SMH) is the largest substance use disorder (SUD) treatment center for women in Texas and one of two that allow women to bring their younger children into treatment with them. Santa Maria serves primarily uninsured women and their families (over 90%) through state-funded residential, outpatient and OBOT services. Gaps in SUD treatment availability, particularly in the office-based setting, remain large over a decade into the opioid epidemic with healthcare professional workforce development continuing to lag community treatment needs. Two BCM Department of Family & Community Medicine (DFCM) faculty board-certified in addiction medicine currently provide OBOT and residential medically managed withdrawal treatment at SMH and serve as faculty preceptors for the Addiction Psychiatry fellows who rotate through SMH as part of their year-long fellowship within BCM Department of Psychiatry. DFCM is uniquely positioned in their longstanding collaboration with SMH to provide additional training in OBOT and integrating primary care and SUD treatment through the proposed CARE Clinic which provide a clinical rotation for BCM Family Medicine residents to gain experience with this model of care which is critical for communities to effectively address the overdose epidemic. The goals of the project are i) to increase access to integrated, outpatient substance use disorders, psychiatric and primary care services to under resourced women and their families in the Greater Houston area and ii) to increase workforce development in providing comprehensive healthcare, including OBOT, to families impacted by substance use.
Project title: HISD-Rice Planetary Project
Proposed recipient: Houston Independent School District
Address of recipient: 4400 West 18th Street, Houston, Texas 77092
Amount of request: $ 1,983,322
Explanation of request: To strengthen the Houston community’s pipeline of students who are engaged in planetary sciences that leverages NASA, JSC, Lunar Planetary Institute (LPI), Museum of Natural Science and Rice University partnerships with Houston ISD (HISD), we propose a scaffolded approach that engages elementary through graduate students in exciting, interwoven programming. Graduate and undergraduate students will be trained on effective communication strategies and teaching pedagogies to prepare them to bring current research and hands-on activities into HISD classrooms. The following areas will be focused on: Earth, Environment, and Planetary (EEPS) Student Outreach Teaching Assistants (TAs) HISD Teacher Professional Development Elementary, Middle, and High school. Planetary Open Houses
Fiscal Year 2022 Community Project Funding Requests
Chairwoman Rosa DeLauro announced that the House Committee on Appropriations will be accepting Community Project Funding (CPF) requests from Members. This is in addition to the standard programmatic and language-based requests. Each Member is limited to no more than 10 Community Project Funding requests across all subcommittees for Fiscal Year 2022 and there is no guarantee that all requested projects will be funded. The FY2022 CPF process has a limited scope with combined earmarks capped at 1% of all discretionary spending and eligible accounts restricted to those listed in the table below.
All projects must meet the relevant statutory and administrative criteria for funding through the grant program under which it is submitted.
Congresswoman Garcia’s Projects Requested:
Project Name: HOPE Clinic – Aldine School-Based Clinic
Requested Amount: $1,000,000
Intended Recipient: Asian American Health Coalition of the Greater Houston Area dba HOPE Clinic (AAHC)
Full Street Address of the intended recipient: 7001 Corporate, Suite 120, Houston, TX 77036
Project Description: The funding would be used to develop a school-based clinic at Aldine Middle School. The clinic would deliver both physical and mental health services to the nearly 16,000 in the school’s feeder patterns.
Signed Financial Disclosure Letter: Click Here
Project Name: TXRX Labs Workforce Development for Manufacturing and Construction
Requested Amount: $ 542,863
Intended Recipient: TXRX Labs
Full Street Address of the intended recipient: 6501 Navigation Blvd Houston, TX 77011
Project Description: The project proposes to train more than 150 veterans and second-chance residents, and service another 75 adults through the apprenticeship programs. The youth STEM initiative will train over 500 local high school kids in innovative and relevant job skills for the future of our workforce.
Signed Financial Disclosure Letter: Click Here
Project Name: Early Childhood English Language Learner Initiative (ECELLI)
Requested Amount: $700,000
Intended Recipient: YMCA of Greater Houston
Full Street Address of the intended recipient: 1331 Augusta Drive Houston, Texas 77057
Project Description: The project proposes to create and pilot the Early Childhood English Language Learner Initiative/ECELLI that aims to support the success of English Learners enrolled in licensed childcare facilities and home childcare programs in underserved communities.
Signed Financial Disclosure Letter: Click Here
Project Name: Long-Covid Model System of Care
RequestedAmount: $ 1,650,000
IntendedRecipient: Baylor College of Medicine
Full street address of intended recipient: One Baylor Plaza, Houston, Texas 77030
ProjectDescription: The BCM Long-COVID Model System of Care will advance our understanding of this post-COVID-infection syndrome, while providing critical services to promote the full recovery and long-term care of everyone in the Texas 29th Congressional District and across the Houston community. In addition to the establishment of the physical clinic location, BCM will develop a secure and longitudinal database, maintained and analyzed by analytical experts in the Institute for Clinical and Translational Research, creating an indispensable resource to understand the varied impacts of Covid-19 on our multi-ethnic population and to determine how best to care for them.
Signed Financial Disclosure Letter: Click Here
Project Name: HVAC Chiller and Controls Update
Requested Amount: $2,600,000
Intended Recipient: Pasadena ISD
Full Street Address of the intended recipient: 1515 Cherrybrook Pasadena, Texas 77502
Project Description: Students at Pasadena High School and South Houston High School will be provided updated HVAC that provides for better ventilation and is more conducive to a safer learning environment. Due to parts of the current system being obsolete that repair times are extended causing disruptions to learning.
Signed Financial Disclosure Letter: Click Here
Project Name: Increasing Access to Healthcare
Requested Amount: $220,000
Intended Recipient: El Centro De Corazon
Full Street Address of the intended recipient: 412 Telephone Rd. Houston, TX 77023
Project Description: The funding would be used to expand the dental clinic by adding additional space and dental equipment. It would also be used to purchase flood pedestrian gates to prevent clinic flooding and ensure access to care during severe weather events.
Signed Financial Disclosure Letter: Click Here
Project Name: City of Galena Park Water Line and Fire Protection Improvements
Requested Amount: $ 4,483,905
Intended Recipient: City of Galena Park
Full Street Address of the intended recipient: 2000 Clinton Drive Galena Park, Texas 77547
Project Description: This project would replace and upgrade the aging system and allow the city to guarantee delivery of potable water to residents and provide adequate fire water in case of fire. The project would replace over 52,000 linear feet of water mains and install over 100 new fire hydrants for fire protection.
Signed Financial Disclosure Letter: Click Here
Project Name: City of Jacinto City South Side Water Main & Fire Hydrant Construction
Requested Amount: $997,365
Intended Recipient: City of Jacinto City
Full Street Address of the intended recipient: 1301 Mercury Drive Jacinto City, Texas 77029
Project Description: This water infrastructure project will replace existing 80-year-old water mains serving a region from Market Street to Lane Street. This will yield a significant increase in water flow and pressure to ensure access to potable water and required water pressure for fire protection.
Signed Financial Disclosure Letter: Click Here
Project Name: The Houston Financial Empowerment Center
Requested Amount: $621,000
Intended Recipient: City of Houston
Full Street Address of the intended recipient: 901 Bagby Street, Houston, Texas 77002
Project Description: The HFEC launched in January 2020 as a free, on-demand, professional financial counseling service for all Houstonians regardless of income, employment status, or resident status. The professionally trained counselors help individuals manage their finances, pay down debt, increase savings, establish and build credit, and access safe and affordable mainstream banking products. The program has three locations, including the Magnolia Park Multi-Service Center.
Signed Financial Disclosure Letter: Click Here
Project Name: Carbon Management Hub at the UH Center for Carbon Management (CCME)
Requested Amount: $ 2,000,000
Intended Recipient: University of Houston
Full Street Address of the intended recipient: 4800 Calhoun Road, Houston, Texas 77004
Project Description: The Carbon Hub's work is critical for the growth of sustainable energy development and commercial deployment of carbon management technologies in the future. Rapid and transformative commercial deployment of carbon management (Carbon Capture, Utilization and Storage (CCUS) technology remains an unconquered challenge and is critical for the growth of sustainable energy development. Yet, these challenges can and will be solved through partnerships between the energy industry, academia, and government. Establishing the state of Texas as the center of carbon management technology development and deployment will secure this state as the center of the energy industry for the next 100 years or more.
Signed Financial Disclosure Letter: Click Here