Independence Heights is a historic community located in northwest Houston just a few minutes from downtown and the Bush Intercontinental Airport. .pager__item--ellipsis{padding-top: 1em;} The early Independence Heights pioneers sought equal rights and opportunities for themselves and established an independent municipality known as the first city incorporated by African Americans in the State of Texas. Tanya Bubose is the Director of the Independence Heights Redevelopment Council. article.align-right {margin: 0 0 20px 30px} The Whole Foods Market 365 mural reflects the African American roots of the Independence Heights on Wednesday, Aug. 22, 2018, in Houston. If you'd like to sign up now, fill out the form below and we will add you as soon as we finish the transition. Many American cities got on board: Collectively, theyve made room for roughly 30,000 new freeway lanes over the past quarter century, nearly doubling our highway capacity, and costing upward of $500 billion. Try a low commitment monthly plan today. .views-exposed-form .js-form-item { flex: 0 0 50%;} .ckeditor-accordion-container > dl dd {padding: 25px 25px 0px;} Independence Heights is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and possesses many landmarks, including historic homes such as the home located at 301 E. 35th. The North Corridor light rail gives us greater connectivity, and redevelopment is transforming the neighborhoods immediately surrounding us. Save on AeroGarden indoor herb growing kits at Amazon, Create a bonsai tree out of bricks with this $40 LEGO set, Dyson's air purifying headphones have finally arrived, Preorder 'The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom' today, There are a ton of great patio furniture sets on sale right now, Beat the heat with this discounted Lasko tower fan from Amazon, Apple deal: The 2023 MacBook Pro Laptop is under $2,000 on Amazon. Independence Heights is a community built on a foundation of faith and a historic past. 2020 will be the year Houston decides I-45 project's future This organization is required to file an IRS Form 990-N. Sign in or create an account to view Form(s) 990 for 2018. LISC also supports Acres Homes, Alief, Denver Harbor/Port Houston, Greater Third Ward, Gulfton, Kashmere/Trinity/Houston Gardens, Magnolia park and Sunnyside. 5th Ward .hero__footer p {line-height: 1.25;} .views-element-container h2{font-size: 1.4em;} The use of freeways in the early development of most major cities was deliberately divisive and was used to draw invisible boundary lines separating populations of people based on race and class. Independence Heights is located in the White Oak Bayou watershed. Susan Rogers, Director. The Independence Heights Redevelopment Council has requested TxDOT mitigate impact to the Independence Heights by relocating Greater Mount Olive Baptist Church, which will be impacted by the. For additional information or to request special accommodations for the meetings (interpreter or other), contact Ashley Lawson at (832) 394-5438 or Ashley.Lawson@houstontx.gov. Neighborhoods like Independence Heights were already threatened with clusters of residential home buyouts, including 163 homes just west of the proposed I-45 project. In Pennsylvania, citizens are beating back plans to drastically widen an interstate through the city of Harrisburg. @media (max-width: 36em){ They want to keep the small town front porch feel of the community intact. They established their own nonprofit organizationknown as the Independence Heights Ministerial Alliance that has given birth to other entities that serve the greater community. When you sign up, youll become a member of NRDCs Activist Network. In the wake of the construction, Lady Bird Johnson commissioned a report analyzing the effects of urban renewal. We focus on preserving the rich history and revitalizing historic Independence Heights community. Our highway-building spree began at a time when courts were striking down the segregation policies that had kept Black people from moving into white neighborhoods. Tags Ada Edwards community activists houston city council Rodney Ellis sheila jackson lee sylvester turner. The Independence Heights Redevelopment Council is our Independence Heights neighborhood partner. I- 45 had the worst impact because that split Third Ward, split 5th and 4th Wards, and split areas north of downtown. Fifth Ward CRC is the Convening Agency for the Fifth Ward GO Neighborhood. Independence Heights is a community built on a foundation of faith and a historic past. /* Matrix block widths */ This is why what happened in Houston was a watershed moment. For the first time, the federal government is acknowledging the damage left behind. The Neighborhood Resilience Plans will empower neighborhoods to direct future neighborhood-based investments in the most effective ways possible to help reduce flooding, address vulnerability to climate and multiple hazards, improve quality of life, and drive economic opportunity. Many urban interstate highways were deliberately built to pass through Black neighborhoods, causing destruction of housing and other local institutions.. Email us at info@independenceheights.org, Change is on the horizon in Independence Heights. With initial support from NeighborWorks America and then the Wells Fargo Regional Foundation, they have worked with more than 1,500 residents and 65 institutional partners to create a Neighborhood Health Equity Plan. This plan guides Northline efforts into the future to help resident leaders build a strong, safe, supportive, and connected community. Effective or not, the I-45 expansion would displace some 1,300 homes, businesses, schools, and houses of worshipin many of the same Black and Latino neighborhoods already decimated by those earlier roads. "I hoped for, you know, at least acknowledging African Americans and acknowledging our historical and cultural assets in the community," Debose said. In the early 1960s, Loop 610 was built through the neighborhood, with 330 residences demolished to make way for the highway, according to Lone Star Legal Aid. That law directs that when destroying a historic resource is unavoidable, the agencies involved must look for ways to address the community's historic loss. Our community is historic as it was the first city incorporated by blacks in the State of Texas. OST/South Union .overlay__content h1 {font-size: 1.75rem; line-height: 1.25;} These plans will weave together climate adaptation and risk reduction, economic development, infrastructure modernization and social empowerment into one neighborhood strategy. div.article__header span.tags { display: inline-block; } Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Funders + Partners - LISC GoNeighborhoods Site Given all of the harmful impacts, its hardly surprising that a growing segment of America has soured on big road projects, says Joseph DiMento, a University of California, Irvine law professor, and co-author of Changing Lanes: Visions and Histories of Urban Freeways. to get more GuideStar Nonprofit Profile data today! In 2020 Norhtline became a Comprehensive GO Neighborhood which will focus on the implementation of the neighborhood plan and the expansion of this efforts. Whats Happening We have a chance to set that right., A Home Owners Loan Corporation redlining map from the 1930s that labeled "hazardous areasmajority Blackof Nashville in red (left) and the subsequent paths of Interstates 40 and 440 (right). .page-body__content figure.align-right {margin: 6px 0 30px 30px;} /* Initiatives in center list */ She said her community had over 1,300 structures and less than 100 exist now. Local grassroots organizations such as the anti-expansion groups LINK Houston, Air Alliance Houston, Stop TxDOT I-45, and others worked for more than a year to halt the Houston expansion over environmental impact concerns and its disproportionate effects on communities of color. In the building of freeways, historic and cultural assets akin to communities of color are often overlooked and therefore unpreserved. .tableauPlaceholder {margin-bottom: 2rem;} Houston, TX 77005-1892, Terms of Use | Privacy Policy | Campus Carry, The National Network of Education Research-Practice Partnerships. Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Independence Heights Redevelopment Council Northline Development. To help Houston neighborhoods recover from disasters and reduce the future impact of flooding in vulnerable and at-risk communities, the City of Houston will establish Neighborhood Resilience Plans in three Houston neighborhoods. .views-exposed-form{display: flex;} Considered by some to be the country's most influential preservation legislation, the act established the National Register of Historic Places which lists Houston's Independence Heights Residential Historic District. Many dont know the history of the community and some are new to Houston. elements[i].href = 'ckeditor-accordion-container'; Clearly, the Black Lives Matter movement has amplified this issue, says Kyle Shelton, director of the University of Minnesotas Center for Transportation Studies, and author of Power Moves: Transportation, Politics, and Development in Houston. If you need help with the Public File, call (713) 778-4745. .resize300 img { width:auto; } To apply, or for more information, call 832-393-6637 or visit the following website: https://www.houstontx.gov/planning/Min-Lot_Size-Min_Bldg_Line.html. While the section of Independence Heights listed in the National Register of Historic Places is not adjacent to I-45, neighborhood representatives argue properties being impacted are also historic and hope that the community will gain more from this highway project than the last. Wesley Community Center is one of our Near Northside neighborhood partners and a LISC FOC. .article__body h6.title{display: none;} Jackson Lee specifically cited the importance of Independence Heights, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places as the first state-chartered community of former slaves. Tanya Debose. An effort to reconnect neighborhoods cut off by historic investments and ensure new projects increase opportunity, advance racial equity and environmental justice and promote affordable access. Houston City Council approves Conservation Districts "Here in Houston, historians have estimated that somewhere between 40,000 people were. Chinese Community Center is one of our Alief neighborhood partners and a LISC FOC. We're in the process of transitioning services for our Today in Houston newsletter. border-bottom: 1px solid #303B61;font-size: 1.15em;} South Union CDC is one of our Sunnyside neighborhood partners and a recipient of the GO Innovative Project and Innovation grant. Tanya Bubose is the Director of the Independence Heights Redevelopment Council. The community is filled with many bungalow style homes that remind us of the days gone by. People have had enough, and theyre getting louder about it, she says. In the process, the program displaced more than 475,000 households and one million people from 1957 to 1977. The Independence Heights Redevelopment Council (IHRC) is the current community liaison for GO Neighborhoods. That might explain why officials were shocked by the fierce opposition from those communities. I-45 PROJECT: Houston, highway builders have a lot riding on I-45 widening project. They include Milwaukee, where residents fighting a $1 billion freeway expansion now have the support of many city council members. .article--story .article__body p {font-family: 'MalloryBook';} In 1908, the first deeds were recorded and by 1915 it was home to some 600 people seeking a better life. During these early days, Independence Heights was physically located outside the Houston city boundary known today as the 610 loop. .views-exposed-form .form-text { min-height: 2.5em;} Infrastructure has been used for decades to create barriers and establish unspoken division lines in communities of color across America.