By Allan Jamail
East Harris County, TX — June 10, 2024 — Precinct 2 Commissioner Adrian Garcia, with Senator Carol Alvarado, Justice of the Peace Lucia Bates; Linda Jamail, Community Liaison for State Representative Ana Hernandez; and Margie Buentello, President / CEO North Channel Chamber of Commerce; and other Harris County Officials, had a ground breaking event for a new East Harris County Health & Social Service Hub in the Channelview area. The idea for the new hub was born in 2019 after Commissioner Garcia and his team learned about some of the gaps in community services.
The new Hub with an approximate $6 million cost will be located on 3-acres featuring a 10,650-square-foot facility with a projected completion and opening date in early 2025. It will be located along the service road north of the IH-10 East Freeway between Dale Dale Street and Sheldon Road.
It is part of Commissioner Garcia’s Revive2Thrive Initiative. Garcia’s goal of Revive2Thrive is to focus on revitalization rather than gentrification by empowering communities and creating opportunities for existing neighborhoods to be more resilient, inclusive, and thriving. Garcia believes with the right investments, resources, infrastructure, commitment, and community involvement everyone can progress and thrive.
Harris County Precinct 2, in partnership with Harris County Public Health, the Sheriff’s Department, Harris County Housing & Community Development, and the County’s Engineering Department spent several years developing the project.
Historically East Harris County communities including areas of Channelview, Cloverleaf, Highlands, North Shore and Sheldon have been underserved and have experienced limitations in accessing healthcare services, affordable housing options, workforce development opportunities, and social services resources. The Hub will expand services that are currently unavailable.
It will be a catalyst in bringing critical services that are currently not available in the surrounding areas. It will provide access to community resources, as well as assist citizens with financial literacy education, improve their understanding of benefits for which they qualify, increase civic engagement, and help them find true housing security.
The areas homeless encampments and families that are under-housed and insecure are prevalent in the North Channel Area and need housing security. In addition, many area residents lack access to health care and social services, which in turn hinders their ability to live healthy, successful lives.
In 2017, Hurricane Harvey devastated the North Channel Area and forced the closure of the only hospital in the area. With the lack of readily access to health care resulting from the closure worsened previously existing health disparities in the area. Additionally, a limited number of service organizations are available in the area to provide access to social services and case management resources to the community.
My friendship with Adrian (Commissioner Garcia) goes way back to when he was a Houston Police Officer working patrol in Houston’s East End for 23 years in the early 1980’s. Afterward, he served as Houston’s City Councilman, (2004 to 2008) Harris County’s Sherriff (2009 to 2015) and now Pct. 2 County Commissioner, which begun in 2019. His current term ends on December 31, 2026. With nearly 45 years of service as a public servant, his broad experiences from the grassroots level to commissioner enables him to see ways of making real life improvements in people’s lives.