04/03/2023
Hello,
My name is Desi Rios and I am a resident of a Pecan Park and also work with the East End Communities Collaborative which includes 12 East End non-profit partners including SER Jobs, Community Family Center, Barrio Dogs, Christus Health, El Centro de Corazon, Magnolia Park Arts & Culture, Sisters of Charity, Houston Area Women's Center, Finca Tres Robles, Communities in Schools/Milby High School, Buffalo Bayou Partnership, and Houston Department of Neighborhoods.
We are launching a Photovoice Project for which we are asking community members to take pictures and tell us about their experiences and concerns in the East End. We have completed a community assessment and so far the five top priorities are Housing, Education, Look/Feel/Safety, Social Networks & Trust, and Arts & Cultural Expression. Our next phase of community engagement is to have residents take pictures and tell us about them, but also have community conversations about what we can do to preserve what we love or to make changes to things that concern us.
Would it be possible to have 5 minutes at the next Pecan Park Civic Association meeting to introduce myself and East End Communities, and invite attendees to submit pictures to the project. Our goal is to have several community meetings leading up to a photo exhibit during Hispanic Heritage month where we will invite all who submitted pictures and their friends/families, community members, our partner organizations, and elected officials.
Thank you for reading this long email! I look forward to hearing from you.
Desi
Desdamona Rios, PhD
