If you’ve ever driven through Acres Homes, you know the resilience runs deep. You also know it’s one of Houston’s largest food deserts, where getting fresh produce can feel like a cross-town scavenger hunt.
But thanks to the Metallic Sunflower Foundation and its new hydroponic farm, the community is not only growing food—it’s growing hope, unity and self-determination.
“We’re empowering people to find a voice,” said CC Brooks, founder of the Metallic Sunflower Foundation. “We’re not taking from the everyday person. What we’re doing is giving back, cleaning up, feeding families and showing people how they can grow too.”
Planting roots in purpose
The hydro farm blossomed from a simple question: How can a nonprofit sustain itself while feeding the people?
Brooks, already a “plant person,” found the answer in hydroponics—growing produce without soil, in nutrient-rich water, two to three times faster than traditional farming.
A chance encounter with Marcus Powell of Hoots Smokehouse, who once ran a hydroponic setup behind his East End restaurant, gave Brooks the hands-on mentorship he needed.
“Watching YouTube is one thing,” Brooks explained. “But if you really want to do this on a larger scale and make an impact, you need to learn it right. Mr. Powell was generous enough to teach me.”
Within months, the Metallic Sunflower Foundation was harvesting multiple plants and plans to add cucumbers, herbs, strawberries and additional leafy greens in the near future. With each harvest, the nonprofit is bringing fresh food to a community where a trip to the grocery store often means a 20-minute drive.
Unity, cooperative economics and coming back home
The farm is more than a food source; it’s a manifestation of Black values and Kwanzaa principles in action.
Cooperative economics (Ujamaa) is alive in the partnership between the Metallic Sunflower Foundation and the Acres Home Chamber for Business and Economic Development (AHC), where Sheba Roy serves as community relations director and Farmers Market manager.
“One of our initiatives is to encourage folks to come back home to help,” said Roy. “Even if your family sold your grandma’s house, you can still bring your skills, resources and talents back to Acres Homes. That’s exactly what this partnership is about.”
For Roy, the work is personal.
“It’s about fulfillment. Acres Homes has been a food desert for too long,” shared Roy. “Where I grew up in Tomball, there were more stores than you needed. Here, it can take 20 minutes to get to the nearest H-E-B. That seems by design, and that’s why we do this—to make sure people here have what they need.”
Growing solutions, not just produce
Hydroponics isn’t just about faster crops—it’s about independence. Brooks, who worked in logistics, has seen firsthand how fragile America’s food supply chain is.
“Pretty soon, we won’t have anything if we keep depending on others,” Brooks said. “This farm shows that we can create what we need ourselves. And we’re teaching people to start their own hydroponic gardens at home, too.”
This teaching element ties directly to Kwanzaa’s principles of Purpose (Nia) and Creativity (Kuumba). By transforming shipping containers and vertical towers into green, thriving food systems, the Metallic Sunflower Foundation is reimagining what agriculture looks like in urban communities—and proving that innovation can be rooted in culture.
Feeding the future
Already on its fifth harvest since launching in May, the hydro farm is sparking excitement among local growers.
Farmers in Acres Homes are bringing seeds for the Foundation to propagate, ensuring their crops continue even off-season. It’s a circle of support, one that strengthens the entire community food ecosystem.
“When they see us, they’re excited,” said Brooks. “They know we’re not replacing them—we’re holding their place until they can come back stronger.”
How you can support
This movement isn’t just for Acres Homes—it’s for Houston. The Metallic Sunflower Foundation and the Acres Homes Chamber are calling on the broader community to stand in solidarity.
Here’s how you can help:
- Donate at themetallicsunflowerfoundation.org (one-time or tiered giving, including corporate sponsorships).
- Sponsor a tower to help provide produce for local families, seniors or schools.
- Support the Acres Homes Farmers Market at www.AHCFarmersMarket.com.
- Volunteer for community cleanups and farm support—tools, wheelbarrows, water and safety gear are always needed.
As Brooks put it, “The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few. If I can help one person, I can help many. That’s what this farm is about.”
And that’s what Acres Homes is about—community, resilience and feeding each other in every sense of the word.
