Third Ward · Sunnyside · South Park
Neighborhood Stabilization & Community Development
Honor the people. Preserve their homes. Reinvest in their future.
Inspired by Anna and Clarence Dupree’s investment in Black Houston, Texas Federation of the People Foundation proposes a resident-led initiative rooted in Third Ward, with neighborhood-specific plans for Sunnyside and South Park. Our commitment brings housing stability, paid work, community care and restored public spaces together.
Explore the neighborhood plansAI-generated concept illustration inspired by Sampson and Drew in Third Ward. It depicts a proposed revitalization scene, rather than current street conditions or a completed TXFPF project.
About The Dupree Promise
Third Ward holds the work of families who built businesses, educated children, cared for neighbors and created places to belong. Its history lives in the people who remain, the students preparing for their futures and the elders whose knowledge deserves a place in every neighborhood decision. Revitalization must strengthen their ability to live here and shape what comes next.
Anna and Clarence Dupree made community investment tangible. In 1939, they built the Eldorado Center, including the Eldorado Ballroom, creating a celebrated gathering place for Black Houstonians during segregation. Their business success supported care for children and elders, education and youth activities. The Eliza Johnson Home opened in 1952, and the couple contributed their own time to caring for its residents. Their support also reached the college now known as Texas Southern University.
In 2023, Project Row Houses rededicated the restored Eldorado Ballroom to Anna and Clarence Dupree and the community it serves. Their legacy offers a standard for today’s investment: strengthen local life, preserve places to gather and make room for people who need care.
The Dupree Promise is TXFPF’s commitment inspired by their example. It expresses our responsibility to turn neighborhood investment into safer homes, paid opportunities, welcoming public spaces and support across generations. This is TXFPF’s initiative and interpretation of their legacy, rather than a historical mission statement written by the Duprees.
For Third Ward, this means helping longtime residents stay housed, protecting community history, connecting young people and returning citizens to work, and replacing neglected dumping sites with maintained pocket parks. A bench gives an elder a place to rest. A paid maintenance position gives a resident income. A history marker keeps the names and contributions of community builders visible. Each improvement must serve people who live here.
Historical sources: Texas State Historical Association, Anna Johnson Dupree and Project Row Houses, Eldorado Ballroom rededication.
Our mission and vision
Stabilize Third Ward, Sunnyside and South Park through resident-led housing preservation, illegal dumping removal, maintained pocket parks and pathways to paid employment. Honor the Duprees’ example of community reinvestment by supporting children, working families, returning citizens and elders, while protecting residents’ ability to remain in their neighborhoods.
Neighborhoods where Black history remains visible, longtime residents stay rooted, children grow with opportunity, elders live with dignity and local investment supports stable homes and livelihoods. Third Ward, Sunnyside and South Park will have cared-for public spaces, meaningful resident leadership and resources serving people at every stage of life.
The Third Ward plan anchors this commitment in the Duprees’ community legacy. Sunnyside and South Park residents will shape their own priorities and historical narratives.
Our proposed approach
This initiative is in the planning and partnership-development stage. Sites, funding, construction and service capacity require confirmation before implementation. TXFPF seeks resident leadership, landowner cooperation and qualified partners to move each project forward.
Address vacancy, unsafe buildings, neglected lots and housing insecurity. Help families stay housed. Restore salvageable homes through qualified partners and evaluate vacant land for lasting community use.
Improve the conditions supporting everyday life: dependable income, housing, accessible public spaces, transportation connections and resident participation. Measure progress through household stability and usable neighborhood improvements.
Reentry belongs in this work. Returning citizens need housing, income, identification and support. Bridge Forward and ForgeWork connect neighborhood investment to practical pathways for residents rebuilding after incarceration.
Three neighborhoods. Local priorities.
Carry the Duprees’ example forward through housing, opportunity and places to gather.
Restore neglected spaces. Protect homes and everyday access.
Maintain existing homes. Turn vacant lots into useful community spaces.
The Dupree Promise: residents and city workers preparing a pocket park. AI-generated concept illustration of proposed work, with an air quality monitor, accessible seating and green spaces.
From illegal dumping sites to pocket parks
A cleanup is the first step. A lasting pocket park needs safe land, public access and a responsible caretaker. TXFPF proposes small neighborhood gathering spaces lined with native or locally adapted pollinator flowers, shrubs and bushes, with shade, benches and accessible paths.
Verify title, liens, permitted uses and utilities. Obtain written owner permission and a lease, ownership agreement or durable public-access arrangement. Review required permits and approvals before work begins.
Document conditions and report dumping to Houston 311. Use qualified haulers and retain disposal receipts. Hazardous materials, needles, suspected asbestos and contaminated soil require trained professionals.
Arrange environmental assessment and soil testing appropriate to the site’s history. Resolve contamination, drainage and flood concerns before opening the space to the public. Federal funding brings additional review requirements.
Select plants suited to sun, soil and drainage. Plan seasonal pollinator blooms, manageable shrubs and clear sightlines. Include wheelchair-accessible routes, stable seating areas and benches with backs and armrests.
Install a resident-reviewed marker sharing documented neighborhood history and recognizing TXFPF’s verified role, residents and project partners. Use readable lettering and accessible placement.
Name the maintenance owner. Fund watering, mowing, litter removal, pruning, replacement planting, insurance and repairs for at least the first year. Combine weekly inspections with city coordination and lawful dumping-prevention measures.
Residents should use authorized disposal services for household debris. A pocket park remains a public gathering space. Find Houston disposal resources or report illegal dumping through Houston 311.
TXFPF will prioritize existing residents for outreach, assistance and paid work. The plan includes housing-counseling referrals, home repair navigation, heirs’ property legal assistance and tenant support. Any acquisition or redevelopment proposal must address affordability, displacement risk and applicable relocation requirements.
A resident advisory group with representation from each neighborhood will review site choices, park designs and progress. Publish quarterly results and provide a direct route for concerns. Do not treat rising property values alone as proof of success.
ForgeWork employment pathways should record wages, hours, training and retention. Contractors set hiring requirements. Returning citizens deserve paid work, proper training, protective equipment and safe supervision.
Explore ForgeWorkProposed first-year pilot
Launch timing begins after funding and site authorization. Proposed targets guide planning and do not represent completed work.
Hold one listening session in each neighborhood. Identify up to three candidate sites per neighborhood. Establish baseline photos, housing needs and dumping reports. Confirm owners and an advisory group.
Complete site screening, cost estimates and resident design review. Secure site agreements and permits. Obtain cleanup, construction and maintenance quotes. Start housing and employment referrals within confirmed capacity.
Seek to open one approved pocket park in each neighborhood, subject to site readiness and funding. Use phased construction when needed. Document disposal, accessibility, planting and paid local work.
Inspect sites weekly and publish quarterly progress. Track repeat dumping, park use, plant survival, housing referrals and employment retention. Adjust upkeep before selecting additional sites.
Each site budget must include land access, professional assessment, cleanup, drainage, accessible paths, benches, plants, irrigation, the history marker, labor, insurance, maintenance and a contingency. Final requests will use written quotes and a confirmed scope.
TXFPF intends to pursue eligible public funding, foundation grants, sponsorships and in-kind contributions. The Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program supports eligible housing, facilities, infrastructure, economic development and public services. Each activity must meet a national objective: benefit low- and moderate-income people, address slums or blight, or meet a qualifying urgent need.
CDBG public services generally face a 15 percent grantee-level limit and rules concerning new or increased services. A reentry label alone does not establish eligibility. TXFPF must confirm the local funding opportunity, service area, beneficiaries and eligible costs with the administering jurisdiction.
The nonprofit would apply for eligible charitable activities. Any arrangement with TXFPF United LLC requires separate records, conflict-of-interest review, appropriate procurement and documented costs. Prepare for income verification where required, outcome reporting, environmental review, and payment terms established by the award, including reimbursement where applicable.
HUD’s Neighborhood Stabilization Program responded to the foreclosure crisis through funding rounds in 2008, 2009 and 2010. This proposed initiative does not assume a new NSP grant is available.
Authorized sites and waste removed with disposal records. Repeat dumping at 30, 90 and 180 days. Park accessibility, plant survival and completed maintenance. Residents receiving housing assistance and their housing status at follow-up. Paid local hours, wages, placements and 90-day job retention. Resident feedback and resolved concerns.
Residents, civic clubs, property owners, historians, landscapers, housing providers and employers are invited to help plan. Share a dumping location, nominate a potential site or discuss funding and paid work.
Email info@txfpf.org or call 713-538-0466. Send the location and your contact information. Use Houston 311 for city service requests.
Reviewed October 6, 2026.