East End Stories

The City of Houston recently announced that the Valero Energy Foundation has committed over $600,000 in grants and in-kind services to be a founding member of the 50/50 Park Partners initiative, a public-private partnership of the Office of the Mayor, Houston Parks and Recreation Department (HPARD), Houston Parks Board, and the Greater Houston Partnership. Hartman Park, which serves the Manchester community in Houston’s East End, is a key community gathering place. Valero, as part of an ongoing assessment of needs in the area, has been working with the City to develop a plan to completely replace park equipment, and add additional trees to the park. In addition to the financial support, Valero is also committing to additional park improvements through volunteer resources and in-kind support.

The East End District recently partnered with the students and teachers of YES Prep East End to canvass the Magnolia Park community with door hangers. The door hangers educated residents of garbage, recycling, and tree/junk waste guidelines and specified their heavy trash pick-up day. The students and teachers were also joined by Council Member Robert Gallegos and his staff, representatives from the Department of Neighborhoods, Harris County Precinct 6, Houston Police Department, BARC, City of Houston Solid Waste. The event was additionally sponsored by Space City Credit Union and Frost Bank.