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Message From Your Commissioner
Dear Friends,
My first protest was by my mother’s side when I was 13 years old. Like several other Black neighborhoods, Sunnyside was a dumping ground for all of Houston. What residents called “Dump Row” was home to two city landfills, mountains of garbage, and an incinerator that belched toxic fumes and ash into our air.
After an 11-year-old boy from the neighborhood tragically drowned in a muddy landfill lake, my mother and I joined our neighbors, Texas Southern University students, and civil rights leaders to demand the city shut down Dump Row. Rev. Bill Lawson, the civil rights icon we lost earlier this year, was among the dozens of people arrested at the protests. It was 1967. This was a fight for environmental justice before it had a name. It came at a pivotal moment as the civil rights movement turned its attention to economic justice and environmental health concerns.
It was also, ultimately, a fight for our basic rights and fundamental freedoms—the right to fair treatment and the right to live as equals, free from discrimination, injustice, harm, and neglect. This fight isn’t over. Despite the progress we’ve made, our rights and freedom are still at risk. Black and Brown communities are still underserved and overburdened. Inequality persists. Voting rights and democracy are under attack. Our democratically elected Houston Independent School District board has been taken over by a state that is starving the public education system of resources in order to advance a private school voucher scheme. Abortion is banned, and women have been stripped of their right to make decisions about their health, body, and future.
Harris County is taking action. We are building an economy based on opportunity and bridging the economic divide with paths to prosperity. We are working to make our communities more resilient to climate change and disasters while confronting the toxic legacies of environmental injustice. We are expanding access to contraception and reproductive health care in the wake of the Texas abortion ban. We are fighting every day for people to have a voice in our democracy, and protecting the right to vote.
As we defend our progress and work toward a more resilient and just future for all people, we must also remember to carry the past with us so that we never forget, go back, or fail to make right a past wrong. That’s why I’ll never forget that day in 1967, and that’s why we still fight today.
Thank you,
Rodney Ellis, Commissioner
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Disaster Resilience
There is a myth that nature’s fury is a great equalizer. While fierce winds, floodwaters, freezing temperatures, and dangerous heat don’t discriminate based on skin color, wealth, or zip codes—policies and people do.
Communities have been denied past investments in flood protection, greenspace, and vital infrastructure. At the same time, they have been unfairly harmed by waste and pollution and shut off from the opportunities and resources that all families need to build a better life. When severe, unpredictable weather caused by climate change hits our communities, it worsens existing inequality and makes it harder for people to recover. This all leaves families in neighborhoods that have been redlined, polluted, and neglected far more vulnerable to climate change and disasters.
We’ve seen this during hurricanes and winter storms, power outages, and heat waves—most recently with Hurricane Beryl and the May windstorm. Families in underserved communities are left struggling to recover from one disaster while bracing for the next one without the resources and investments they need.
After Harvey, Commissioner Ellis led the effort to make equity a key part of the county’s investments in flood protection and its broader disaster resilience strategy.
We know more needs to be done. Leveraging federal investments from the Biden-Harris Administration and guided by the principles of justice and equity, Harris County is taking action to prepare for and prevent unnatural disasters caused by climate change so that every community is better protected, more resilient, and able to recover before the next storm.
DISASTER RESILIENCE RESOURCES
Visit ReadyHarris.org for: Disaster Recovery Assistance, Emergency Alerts, Disaster Preparedness
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Climate Justice
Harris County and the Office of Commissioner Ellis are taking local action in the global fight against climate change and making our communities more resilient by:
- adopting an internal Climate Action Plan to increase countywide sustainability and reducing carbon pollution and emissions from county operations by 40 percent by 2030;
- working with community members to develop a Harris County Climate Justice Plan that will foster a healthier, greener, and more resilient Harris County for all to call home;
- fighting for communities harmed by creosote contamination, concrete plants, pollution, and other environmental injustices;
- leading a just and equitable energy transition to strengthen our grid, expand access to solar power, lower energy costs, and create good-paying green jobs;
- making equitable investments in flood protection and vital infrastructure;
- expanding access to nature, parks, trees, and green space.
Collaborating for Climate Justice
More than ever, we must empower communities to foster resiliency and work together toward a shared vision for climate justice and a more equitable future. That’s why the Harris County Office of Sustainability, the Coalition for Environment, Equity, and Resilience (CEER), and county offices are working with the community to create the county’s first-ever Climate Justice Plan. For more information, visit: ceerhouston.org.
Fighting for Clean Air
Determined to safeguard the right of every Harris County resident to breathe clean air, Commissioner Ellis and County Attorney Christian Menefee are working together to protect the health and well-being of our communities. They are safeguarding the right of every Harris County resident to breathe clean air by seeking tougher air quality standards and challenging permits for concrete facilities. Recently, Harris County joined forces with local neighborhood groups to sue the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) to stop construction of a concrete crushing facility near Lyndon B. Johnson (LBJ) Hospital.
Making History with Solar for All
Harris County and coalition partners from across the state received a historic $250 million Solar for All grant from the Environmental Protection Agency’s Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund that was created by the Biden-Harris administration’s landmark Inflation Reduction Act. The grant will support the development of community and rooftop solar programs in Harris County and across the state to help lower energy costs for low-income households, accelerate clean energy transition, and create good green jobs.
Restoring the Almeda Prairie
You never know until you let it grow. To reduce emissions, the Precinct One team decided to scale back mowing in an area attached to parkland off Almeda School Road. After turning off the gas-guzzling mowers, rare plant species emerged from the soil while birds and butterflies flourished. This revealed the previously unknown presence of a rare native prairie at a time when preserving and restoring biodiversity is crucial to combating climate change and protecting pollinators.
Expanding Green Space with Hill at Sims
In the heart of Sunnyside, Hill at Sims, a Harris County Flood Control District detention basin that is being converted into a regional park, will connect residents to nature, expand access to green space, and protect residents from flooding. In collaboration with the community, Commissioner Ellis and his office are leading the effort to transform a hill of dirt and a flood detention basin into a lush 100-acre green space, complete with hike and bike trails, a collection of lakes, and a bridge linking the Hill at Sims Loop to other trails and parks. This is part of a broader plan to connect underserved communities to parks and green space.
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Economic Opportunity for All
Harris PROSPERS is a plan and a promise to make Harris County a place where everyone can prosper, thrive, and build a better life for their families instead of struggling to get by without a way to get ahead. People need an economy that creates opportunities instead of barriers. We have work to do to realize this vision of economic freedom and shared prosperity for all of Harris County.
That’s why Harris County is taking bold, visionary action that speaks to a plain truth. People deserve a safe roof over their heads, good jobs that pay a living wage, access to resources, and hope grounded in real opportunity that a better future is within reach. We are working to:
- Create Good Jobs: The county’s Advantage Apprenticeship program partners with labor unions and nonprofits to connect people in underserved areas with the training they need to access good-paying jobs.
- Level the Economic Playing Field: The Department of Economic Equity and Opportunity’s Minority- and Women-owned Business Enterprise (MWBE) and small business programs help small businesses, entrepreneurs, and companies owned by people of color and women succeed, fairly compete for county work, and create jobs in our communities.
- Support Housing for All: Everyone deserves a safe and stable place to call home in Harris County. To address our region’s housing crisis, the county is working to increase access to safe, stable, and affordable homes; protect renters; encourage homeownership; and reduce homelessness.
- Expand Access to Childcare: Harris County is supporting working parents and ensuring children have a bright start in life and a safe place to learn and grow. The Early REACH program increases access to high-quality childcare programs for children ages 0-4. Other initiatives focus on early education, supporting families with in-home care, and providing quality after-school and summer programming for youth of all ages.
- Foster Economic Stability: The Harris County Community Prosperity Program is a pilot to provide families in high-poverty zip codes who are struggling to make ends meet with flexible cash assistance to help cover the basics like groceries, utilities, rent and other essential needs. Similar programs across the country have increased employment, reduced poverty, and improved participants’ overall health and well-being.
Visit:
HarrisProspers.com.
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Precinct One Remembers
Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee
A native of Queens, N.Y., the late Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee dedicated nearly 40 years of her life to public service, including as a Houston City Council member and a municipal judge. Throughout her career, she constantly fought for racial, criminal justice, gay rights, and other progressive issues. She exhibited a ceaseless and unwavering dedication to those she represented, even during crises and disasters.
Reverend William A. Lawson
The late Reverend William “Bill” A. Lawson, who founded Wheeler Avenue Baptist Church, left an indelible mark with his work as a civil rights icon, educator, and relentless advocate for the underserved. His commitment to justice and equality knew no bounds, courageously hosting the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. at his church and supporting Texas Southern University students during the sit-ins that spurred integration.
Community Activist Felix Z. Fraga
The late Felix Fraga, a longtime Second Ward activist, diligently worked in community advocacy and social work to improve the lives of everyday people in Houston. Fraga took that same dedication to Houston City Council and the Houston Independent School District Board to help all people in his hometown. Most importantly, he had an unwavering commitment to empowering Houston’s Latino communities.
Back Cover
There is still distance to go to make real our country’s promise of freedom, justice, and equality a reality for all people. As we work to close that distance, building on the hard-fought victories and struggles of those who came before, we must also defend that progress from a movement to push our country backward to a darker time in our nation’s history.
We deserve a future where people are truly free, where opportunity is real and within reach, where history is remembered instead of denied, and where justice and fairness are guaranteed to all people.
As we work toward a future that belongs to all of us, Harris County is defending and advancing:
- The Freedom to Vote: The right to vote free from unfair barriers, intimidation, and misinformation is a cornerstone of our democracy. Harris County is committed to ensuring all voters have access to the ballot, know their rights, and can take part in our democracy.
- The Freedom to Decide: While the fight to restore abortion rights is ongoing, Harris County’s Reproductive Health Access Fund expands access to contraception and reproductive health care in hard-to-reach and underserved communities that are disproportionately impacted by the Texas abortion ban.
- The Freedom to Learn: Texas has now banned more books than any other state. Harris County has designated all of its libraries as book sanctuaries. Commissioner Ellis has also partnered with the Children’s Defense Fund to add CDF Freedom Schools, which foster literacy and academic achievement through civic engagement and social action, to the precinct’s summer and after-school programs.
- The Freedom to Exist: Harris County is working with impacted communities to reduce racial, economic, gender, and social disparities that unfairly create barriers to opportunity, mobility, and freedom. These barriers can be found throughout the criminal legal system, health care system, educational system, and economy.