Port Houston community is part of the Denver Harbor/Port Houston Super Neighborhood. Located along McCarty road which leads to The Port of Houston, the neighborhood is hidden amid major transportation and other port-related industries. Over one third of the 2000 people who live in Port Houston are children age 18 and under. The neighborhood is 94% Hispanic with a median household income of $24,000 (compared to $36,616 for the City of Houston).  Thirty six percent of households were below the federal poverty level in 1999 (compared to 19 percent for the City of Houston). Approximately half of the residents reside in rental properties and 19% of households have no vehicle available to them.  The neighborhood lacks basic amenities such as shops, sidewalks or access to Denver Harbor by public transportation.

In the Denver Harbor/Port Houston Super Neighborhood, 43% of adults have less than a ninth grade education and 60% of births are to mothers without a high school diploma.

Background
The Port Houston Collaborative was built on partnerships among the Port Houston Elementary School administration, parents of students, and it forms the basis of SLEHC's 2003 Healthy Neighborhood Initiative in Denver Harbor/Port Houston. With the support of the principal, a group of parents continued to meet to address their needs to improve the quality and safety of the school.  Members of the collaborative included: an HISD representative, school administration representative, the school’s science teacher, leaders from the Parents’ Academy, parents, the Urban Boy Scouts, Urban Harvest, Houston Children’s Museum, Edison Middle School science lab instructor and SLEHC.

Activities
In its short existence since July 2003, the collaborative has initiated significant improvements in the school’s environment and enrichment of the children’s lives.

• Parents attended gardening classes at Urban Harvest and helped design a section of land set aside for development of a natural habitat for the students and a community garden.
• In partnership with Houston Children’s Museum and with support from Coach USA Bus Company, children and their parents are able to attend an after-school science lab at Edison Middle School, or travel to the museum twice a month during the school year.
• The school administration, working with the collaborative, set aside an area for development of a community activity center in a pavilion that will permit recreational and cultural activities for the community.

Further Work
Parents and the principal have met with personnel from Houston Communities Health Centers, Inc. (a newly developed clinic in Denver Harbor) to explore how the clinic can serve the Port Houston residents.

SLEHC will establish stronger links between the Port Houston collaborative and the Denver Harbor collaborative, which is focused on developing the community’s health care resources.

More Information:
To learn more about the Port Houston Collaborative, please contact us.