The programs listed below are managed by the CE:CBR, but represent the work of HNI and other Charities. As an integral part of the Charities, the Center works closely with all of the components of SLEHC. Healthy Neighborhood Initiatives (HNI) is most closely allied with the Center, as it utilizes community based participatory research and involves community residents in its work to advance community health.  Programs are:

Aging Concerns
CE:CBR as a representative of the Charities has been serving as co-chair of the evaluation work group and on the governing council of the Care for Elders partnership. With a four-year grant awarded to Sheltering Arms Senior Services by Robert Wood Johnson, a county-wide partnership that includes over 85 organizations and individuals has been developing programs to improve the health of elders in Harris County.

The Center has provided leadership to a research collaborative that identified the key indicators for tracking elder status in Harris County with an initial outcome of maps developed by The Charities and published on the web that depict census-based indicators for the year 2000.

Immigrant Health
Community-based research in several neighborhoods in Houston has raised awareness of the unique health status and needs of recent immigrants and refugees. Plans are being considered to assess recently developed knowledge in order to evaluate the need for specific targeted community-based research with this segment of the population. Depending on community leaders and local collaborative to lead the way, the Center’s researchers are bringing together groups in the neighborhood and researchers to prioritize next steps that will strengthen research and support on issues of health of the largely diverse immigrant community.

Community Health and the Arts
Houston is home to several community arts groups who are working in underserved neighborhoods in order to enrich the lives of young people and to provide a vehicle for communication and community voice. In 2006 the Center convened a number of these organizations for a dialogue on the importance of their work to community health. The conversations with some of these organizations have continued and will be enlarged in 2008.

In working to document the health of neighborhoods, Center researchers along with members of the community have been exploring new methods that gather community voice authentically. By including videotaping techniques and enriching interactive mapping to identify the community as it is known from within, residents play critical dual roles of local experts and research participants.