Physical Health United States Project #30823

Physical/Mental Health and Disaster Assistance

by S.H.A.P.E. Community Center

Project Report | Aug 8, 2019
Feedback and Fair Housing

By Shondra Muhammad | Executive Administrator

Although Hurricane Harvey may seem like a distant memory to some, there are still people in Houston and surrounding areas who have not been able to return to their homes or still need extensive repair work.

We visited four homes on the outskirts of Houston, in Galena Park, Texas and had a chance to speak with residents who were displaced. Lee shared with us that his home had been in his family for generations and was already in need of some repairs before the storm. After Harvey, he was no longer able to live there and has been staying with friends and family members. He explained that information did not filter through Galena Park as much as it had through Houston, which left many people unaware of resources that may have been available. We were able to help ensure that Lee was connected to the county program that just received additional funding, and he has submitted his application.
Even in Houston, we are receiving calls from community members who are aware that additional funding has been released, but they are confused by some of the language in the application for assistance. We do have a staff member with HUD certifications, and we have been able to help elders in the community go through the application step-by-step.

Aside from individual assistance, we are working with the City of Houston as a Fair Housing Ambassador. Over the next two months, we are planning three events in which the community will be able to share the housing impediments they have been facing. These events will give the community a chance to give direct feedback to the City of Houston and help shape the Fair Housing plan for the next five years.

Permalink

May 9, 2019
Planning & Meeting

By Shondra Muhammad | Executive Administrator

Tour of the center

We are happy to say that we finally have our story prompts available on the Memria platform, which will help us continue the work of gathering essential feedback from the community and our stakeholders. The link will be included a little further down because we would also like to hear from you.

During this time, we have been building partnerships and having conversations with the community. One of our challenges has been technical, so we are very excited that Calpine is donating some expert IT assistance. Their volunteer team will help us work more efficiently by updating our hardware, software, and network. Over the last few months, we’ve had several network failures which disrupted our phones and computers for multiple days. Calpine’s assistance will help further our ability to collect and share the stories that have helped shape our community for the last 50 years.

While we are updating our IT network, we are also growing our community network. We have developed a new partnership with one of the local community civic associations and have been hosting monthly meeting at our Nia Becnel Family Center. Houston is a growing city, and new people are continuously moving into the community. Our new partnerships help us keep up with the changing needs of all our stakeholders.

In April, we hosted a Community Commitment meeting where we received thoughtful and informative feedback. We also received the commitment of about 30 community stakeholders, including residents and business owners, who want their voices… and actions to impact the future of SHAPE.

We received a special surprise in March, when SHAPE was chosen as the event space for the album and movie release of recording artist, Solange. She visited the center and hosted a forum, which has brought more attention to our historic center and work.

As we continue to grow and prepare for the future, we would love to hear from you. Below, you will find the link to our feedback project, We SHAPE History: Let Your Voice SHAPE the Future. And, if you have any questions or comments, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us. Thank you so much for your continued support!

Links:

Let Your Voice SHAPE the Future

Permalink

Feb 11, 2019
Your Voice Counts

By Shondra Muhammad | Executive Administrator

‹ 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 ›

About Project Reports

Project reports on GlobalGiving are posted directly to globalgiving.org by Project Leaders as they are completed, generally every 3-4 months. To protect the integrity of these documents, GlobalGiving does not alter them; therefore you may find some language or formatting issues.

If you donate to this project or have donated to this project, you can recieve an email when this project posts a report. You can also subscribe for reports without donating.