Long before countless corporations and foundations reneged on their pledged millions in the wake of the Summer of George Floyd to combat racial inequities, one local foundation began its quiet yet powerful legacy of actually investing in a better, more equitable society.
The Kinder Foundation (KF), established in 1997 by Rich and Nancy Kinder, has unassumingly more than honored its mission “to support Greater Houston as a model city for economic opportunity and quality of life by providing transforming grants in the areas of urban green space, education, and quality of life.”
You would be hard-pressed to find any one entity that has invested more funds in making Houston a model city. In fact, just focusing on what KF has done for entities primarily impacting Houston’s Black communities is noteworthy – to the tune of over $122 million.
The KF website states “Our priority is to make impactful gifts that transform Houston in significant ways.” Here are some examples of how the foundation has done that for Black Houston.
URBAN GREEN SPACE
Emancipation Park
Anyone familiar with the history of Black Houston knows the timeless significance of Emancipation Park. Established in 1872 by a group of community leaders and formerly enslaved individuals led by Richard Allen, Richard Brock, Elias Dibble and Jack Yates, the park was established as a place dedicated to celebrating freedom, particularly freedom won via Juneteenth, and serving the African American community. Throughout its 152-year history, Emancipation Park has served as a gathering place for Juneteenth celebrations and stands as a monument of hope in the Third Ward and the City of Houston. In early 2017, a $33.6 million park improvement project was completed by the OST/Almeda Corridors Redevelopment Authority (TIRZ#7) and City of Houston Parks and Recreation Department (HPARD).
KF granted $5 million to Emancipation Park including a $2 million grant in 2012 to renovate the existing historic pool house and shade structures and, in 2017, committed another $1 million to the park’s conservancy to further programming and operations matching a $250,000 challenge grant by H-E-B.
The park was officially re-dedicated with a public ceremony of events on June 17, 2017.
MacGregor Park
For nearly a century, the 65-acre MacGregor Park along Brays Bayou in southeast Houston has served as a gathering and recreational space for many Houstonians. In December 2023, the Kinder Foundation provided a $27 million catalyst gift to the Houston Parks Board that will help restore, enhance, and redevelop the park while maintaining its rich history and cultural significance.
QUALITY OF LIFE
Buffalo Soldiers National Museum
The Buffalo Soldiers National Museum, located in Houston’s Museum District, is the nation’s largest museum dedicated to the legacy of African Americans in the military and the largest private collection of African American military memorabilia anywhere in the world. Also known as the Center for African American History, the Buffalo Soldiers National Museum exists to tell the stories and contributions of African American soldiers who have served in the United States Armed Forces in every war in our nation’s history.
In October 2022, the museum announced an anchor grant of $2 million from KF toward the museum’s $13 million “Ready and Forward” campaign. The grant, along with gifts given by Texas Historical Commission, Houston Endowment, and the National Trust for Historic Preservation, supports the museum’s efforts to repair and renovate the museum facility (the historic Houston Light Guard Armory building), expand and improve its exhibitions and programming, and establish long-term sustainability and an endowment.
THIRD WARD
Though KF’s investments in Third Ward fall under their quality of life initiatives, the foundation has committed so much to the historic neighborhood that it deserves its own section – which includes and goes beyond the foundation’s investment in Emancipation Park.
Young Mothers Residential Program/Project Row Houses
A $100,000 2016 grant from the foundation to the Young Mothers Residential Program at Project Row Houses affords young, single mothers with support to pursue their education and fulfill their career ambitions.
Lawson Academy and Yellowstone Academy
The foundation committed a$1 million matching grant for the construction of the Lawson Academy/WALIPP Preparatory Academy, a charter school encouraging the continued quality education of young students in the Third Ward. KF also contributed a grant in 2017 to Yellowstone Academy, the premier Christian private school in the Third Ward serving pre-K3 through 8th-grade students.
Emancipation Economic Development Council
With $2.25 million in support from the foundation in 2016, the Emancipation Community Development Partnership has studied affordable housing, equitable economic development, and ongoing community planning and set the stage for new investments and initiatives. The foundation went on to commit funding in 2017 toward the Emancipation Economic Development Council’s (EEDC) seven “early impact projects,” which include programs encouraging sustainable employment for residents, the feasibility of and reception to small affordable housing units, and other neighborhood improvement initiatives. In 2018, $500,000 of this grant was directed to the EEDC for first-year operating support as the organization began work on several initiatives including the Emancipation Avenue Main Street program, a small business assistance program, and more.
PRH Preservation, Inc.
With initial funding of $2 million from the foundation in 2018, Project Row Houses formed PRH Preservation, Inc. whose mission is to maintain and enhance existing buildings in Houston’s Northern Third Ward to ensure long-term, safe, and affordable housing for its residents.
The Law Harrington Senior Living Center
In July 2019, KF announced a $1.5 million grant to the Law Harrington Senior Living Center to establish an affordable independent living center for LGBTQ-affirming seniors at 2222 Cleburne Street.
Blue Triangle
In 2018, KF awarded $100,000 to the Blue Triangle Multi-Cultural Association to help restore John Biggers’ 1953 mural “Contribution of Negro Women to American Life and Education,” which suffered damage during Hurricane Harvey. In December 2022, the Foundation granted $300,000 for renovations to the Blue Triangle Community Center, a registered Texas Historical Landmark.
University Village Pocket Park
In 2021, KF granted $550,000 to the Houston Parks Board in support of the University Village Pocket Park renovation. Designed from input from Third Ward community members, the 5,000-square-foot pocket park provides a play experience area and offers a walking trail and picnic tables.
EDUCATION
KF’s commitment to education directly impacting Black Houston goes beyond its investments in Lawson and Yellowstone Academies.
Kinder Institute for Urban Research at Rice University
It’s hard to quantify the specific impact this institute has on improving the lives of Black Houstonians. However, the research the institute has conducted over the years has been transformational in innumerable ways. Grants totaling $81.7 million include a $15 million endowment in 2010 to support the institute’s work providing analysis on a range of pressing urban issues such as a $10.7 million grant to the Houston Education Research Consortium (HERC), a research partnership between Rice and HISD, to expand its work to additional school districts in the Greater Houston region; $6 million in 2018 to solidify the institute’s permanent home on the Rice campus; and $50 million granted to the institute in September 2022 to focus on improving lives through data, research, engagement, and action and equipping the institute to work with partners regardless of whether they can afford to pay for research.
