Note: This will be an IN-PERSON event!
Thursday, April 10
Location: United Way of Greater Houston, 50 Waugh Drive
(Parking entrance off Feagan St., more detail below)
Doors open at 7:00 pm for social time, meet & greet.
Featured program presentation starts at 7:30 pm.
Everyone is welcome.

Featured April Program:
Redevelopment of the Columbia Tap Trail in 3rd Ward and East End.

Our speaker on April 10 will be Ed Pettit, the founder of Friends of Columbia Tap, an advocacy group for the Columbia Tap Rail Trail and the surrounding Third Ward community. Ed is a Bullard Center Graduate Research Assistant at Texas Southern University and has been leading the effort to improve the Columbia Tap Rail Trail to become a Linear Park and African American Heritage and EJ Interpretive Trail.

From the Bullard Center blog:
"The Columbia Tap Trail, a historic 4-mile hike and bike trail that runs through Third Ward, Houston, was once part of a more than 50-mile rail line built by enslaved Black men to transport sugar and cotton from Brazoria County plantations to Houston's port. After Emancipation, it was used to transport Black convict lease laborers to those same plantations.

Today, the community struggles to gain funding and support to improve the trail, and there is no historical, wayfinding, or interpretive signage. Designating the Columbia Tap Trail as a Linear Park and African American Heritage and Environmental Justice Interpretive Trail is important for several reasons.

First, it would honor the history of the trail and the contributions of enslaved Black men in building it. Second, it would educate visitors and the community on the rich African American history of the area and provide a space for healing and reflection. Third, it would help address environmental injustice issues - such as redlining, transportation inequity, and creosote contamination - in the area by providing access to green spaces and recreational opportunities to a predominantly Black and low-income community that has been historically underserved."

More About the project:
Leaders Announce $7.5 Million in Columbia Tap Trail Safety and Infrastructure Improvements - Houston Southeast

Friends of Columbia Tap - YouTube

The meeting will be at The United Way of Greater Houston.
50 Waugh Dr (corner of Waugh and Feagan)
Houston, TX 77007
On arrival check for the room number at reception area. The room assignment will be on the monitor located in the hallway entrance.
Free parking in the garage. Enter garage from Feagan St.
Please do not park in any of the reserved spots in the garage, and don't park in the lot across the street. There are four levels in the United Way parking garage. From the first level come through the glass doors to the main entrance and reception area. If you are on any of the other levels, you may take the elevator, and you will be at the main entrance.
There is METRO bus access via the #40 bus on Waugh Dr./South Heights Blvd. or the #85 bus on Washington Ave.