“Neglect” is the word used to describe neighborhoods like Sunnyside, Northwood Manor, and Kashmere Gardens, based on comments from Houston civic club leaders of Black and brown neighborhoods.
Community leaders from underserved communities expect elected officials to consider the residents’ concerns shared during these meetings when making decisions about a district, whether allocating funds or providing resources for the underserved. However, these community leaders say there remains a gap in addressing their issues and in the communication between local organizations and city officials.
These neighborhoods also grapple with issues like gentrification and poverty.
“We’re being left behind,” Frederick Woods, who is the president of Northwood Manor Civic Club. “This is what neglect looks like when you fail to plan for your most vulnerable residence, most impoverished residents ahead of time and communicate with them before a disaster happens…when the sun is out, and the skies are clear, and then a disaster happens, then it’s just chaos.”
Houston’s civic clubs have operated for generations, solving local issues through members’ volunteer work. These include community engagement, cleanups, beautification, collaboration with school districts, and developmental projects. These neighborhood-based organizations hold monthly meetings where residents voice their concerns among those they have known for years.
According to a study by Rice University’s Kinder Institute, four historically Black communities are facing gentrification: Fifth Ward, Third Ward, Independence Heights, and Sunnyside. In the last 20 years, more than half of those living in economically distressed communities are people of color. In Houston, the 77051 ZIP code in the Sunnyside neighborhood has the lowest median income with a 79.4% Black population.
“The reason we have to more frequently advocate, or we can’t stop advocating, is because it’s not a luxury. It’s a necessity,” said Woods. “They don’t pay attention to us if we don’t speak up.
“Too often, I see the communities that are Black and Brown, it is up to the residents, the community leaders that have the wherewithal to fight to get crumbs, to get slivers of parts of pies. Whereas these other communities with sponsors that are more affluent, that have resources, are getting whole pies regularly.”
“This is what neglect looks like…”
Woods has been a long-time resident of Northeast Houston. He is the fourth generation inhabiting the house his great-uncle owned.
As a community leader, he believes this area has been neglected for several years. Woods listed the lack of meeting places, gyms, quality grocery stores, and coffee shops as a few of the area’s residents’ needs. He also highlighted the issues of abandoned homes falling to blight and illegal activities. He said illegal dumping is also common in his neighborhood.
“They [illegal dumping] put their tires in our ditches, in our tributaries, because that keeps ’em from having to pay to dispose of them the way properly,” Woods explained.
Today, Woods advocates for generators and supplemental warming and cooling centers for the northeast’s “historically neglected” communities. He added that centers like the Judson Robinson, Jr. Community Center, Northeast Multi-Service Center, Acres Jomes, and areas in District B with Black majority neighborhoods.
“There are districts that have a history of neglect that are primarily Black and brown, and that really need additional resources, not only for equity, because I don’t think we’ll ever see equality, but for equity where there’s need,” Woods said. “They’re [residents] stuck in a pattern of relief and rescue.”
Woods said it is imperative that the community be considered and a plan developed before a disaster occurs. He added that seniors on fixed incomes and limited resources are often excluded from conversations and that several homeowners in the area do not have electricity.
He added that community leaders are often excluded from decision-making on the county level. Woods says planning ahead of time, asset mapping, and providing resources through churches during emergencies can be beneficial.
“That’s not happening. What happens today…power goes out, and everybody scrambles, you’re left up to figure it out on your own,” he said. “I’ve seen what happens when people get desperate to eat. They don’t have power. They start breaking into people’s homes. They start looting what little convenience stores and dollar stores that we have.”
Residents also have concerns like high water bills.
“The city never forgets us when it’s time to raise the bills,” said Brenda Samuel, a resident who has lived in Northwood Manor for over 50 years.
“This is Houston too…”
Keith Downey, the founder of the Northeast Houston Redevelopment Council and the president of Kashmere Gardens Super Neighborhood Council #52, said elected officials “don’t necessarily have to be right in what they’re saying to people,” but “a community leader can never be wrong.”
Downey referred to the trust residents place in a community leader when addressing concerns. He suggests that council members work alongside community members to cater to residents’ needs. He said residents have different needs, ranging from space heaters to reliable public transportation and quality groceries.
“No matter the administration in this country, federal, state, or local, whenever it comes to these communities, they never had the funding. They can’t ‘afford it,’” he said.
Downey welcomed the news of a permanent generator at the Kashmere Gardens multi-service center but asked, “What about the other multi-service centers?” According to Downey, the city’s residents have myriad needs: public transportation, cooling and warming issues during harsh weather conditions, food insecurity, and flooding.
“We have to have the county and the city working closer together to address these communities,” Downey said. “Because whenever we have a disaster, the affluent have insurance, they have parachutes, they have something that will slowly get them back on their feet. The residents…have nothing to fall back on but one another.”
Downey believes there are “not enough discussions” about Houston’s proactiveness regarding freezes, hurricanes, storms, and other natural calamities.
“This is a reactive city,” he said.
What’s the plan? Downey and other community leaders have continued to ask this question about the city’s plans regarding residents of northeast Houston’s most underserved neighborhoods. He reminded the city’s leader that during Hurricane Beryl, the Kashmere Gardens multi-service center also lost power. The center was designed to address inequities and provide power and food, among other resources,
“A hurricane comes today or tomorrow, what’s the plan, and how has it been shared with communities and their leaders to know?” Downey asked. “The definition of resilience is to bounce back quickly when a disaster occurs. Unfortunately, we are still trying to bounce back from storms that happened decades and decades ago.”
Downey added that almost one in four residents in these communities do not have the means to reach the resiliency hub due to a lack of transportation.
He recalled his days as a disaster manager during Hurricane Harvey when homes were “still not mucked and gutted” from Hurricane Allison (2017).
“This is Houston too, and these are taxpayers as well,” Downey said.
“We have prehistoric infrastructure…”
Travis McGee, the president of the civic club We The People Of Sunnyside Garden/ Bayou Estates and the 72—South Park super neighborhood, said the area’s top issues are illegal dumping, delays in heavy trash pickup and a lack of quality grocery stores.
“We have prehistoric infrastructure, electrical grid, and drainage system,” McGee said.
For Black seniors, crime, gentrification, food deserts,s and lack of police presence make life harder, while the youth need quality education. McGee believes that inclusion in city decisions and holding elected officials accountable are key to alleviating these issues.
“I don’t refer to them as elected officials. I refer to ’em as elected employees because the people have the opportunity election after election to hire and fire who they want,” he said. “Why should they be so comfortable when we are so uncomfortable?”
McGee continued that discussions on affordable housing should be equitable for all, with an affordable market, insurance, and taxes.
“But you have $300,000, $400,000 structures in areas below the poverty level,” he said. “The goal is to run people out, price people out…but city ordinances are supposed to be written to protect the residents, the taxpayers, the constituents.”
As a civic club, volunteers conduct cleanups, senior home repairs, and food distribution to the unhoused. McGee said that at times, members take their issues to the city council and commissioners court.
“We are the faces that they see all the time…”
Tracy Stephens, the president of Sunnyside Civic Club, said Sunnyside residents need the city’s help in public safety, street and ditch maintenance, flood mitigation and drainage, neighborhood protection, street mowing, and repairs. He said the civic club works alongside Metro to channel resources into fixing neighborhood streets where Metro stops are located.
Stephens, who has worked for six mayors’ administrations, says residents call him first with their issues before involving city officials because of their “familiarity” with community leaders. He is also a team member of the Harris County Community Flood Resilience and the Deep South Consortium for Environmental Justice.
“We are the faces that they see all the time in the neighborhoods because your elected officials don’t come out on a regular basis,” Stephens said. “Even the new Mayor Whitmire has said, ‘I’m not coming out to have two or three meetings, and I’ve already met with the community,’ but who did you meet with that you say represents the community?”
This is not Stephens’ first rodeo. He is a retired City of Houston Public Works and Engineering, a vice-chair of Gulfgate TIRZ 8 Board, and a chair of the South Park Super Neighborhood Infrastructure Rehab. Previously holding these roles, he has advocated for changes in Sunnyside for years. Meeting with the city’s leaders, engineers, and department heads has sometimes brought about those changes.
