2021-2022 Annual Report

TEXAS TARGET COMMUNITIES

Annual Report

2022

Image: A student presents their design ideas at a workshop

Table of Contents 01

Letter from the Director

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Executive Summary

Meet the Staff

Spotlights

Evaluations

Our Story So Far

Highlights

Faculty Affiliates

Internship Program

Year at a Glance

Projects

Outreach & External Impact

Letter from the Director This academic year marked a full year inperson following COVID-19 shutdowns when staff came back to campus on June 1, 2021. It is also my first full year as director. And what a full year it has been!

TxTC worked along the Texas-Mexico border with Rio Grande City and Texas A&M AgriLife Extension staff. Together, we focused on holistic ways to tackle public health issues and the City determined a comprehensive plan would allow the greatest avenue to discuss and strategize such an allencompassing grand challenge. Galena Park is located along the Houston Ship Channel and is surrounded by industry-identified health and environmental concerns.

Researchers affiliated with the Hazard Reduction & Recovery Center and Texas A&M Superfund Center modeled flooding and chemical release dispersions and developed green infrastructure design solutions the city is already beginning to implement. We went back to La Grange for the fourth time to work closely with the police department on initiatives and priorities for their efforts in the community.

We continued to work with Comanche County, a rural agricultural community facing new development pressures. With them, TxTC re-envisioned the organization and documentation of the planning process.

Housing innovations were explored with architecture faculty and the Texas A&M Real Estate Center on a number of projects. TxTC also found itself back on the coast, working with passionate

TxTC Annual Report 2022

community members in Galveston to commemorate our state holiday and new national holiday, Juneteenth. Additionally, faculty installed a notable art project in Caldwell, along with many other smaller efforts, outreach, and scholarship to tell the incredible story of community work.

Not many people know, but I am a fourthgeneration Aggie. My great-grandfather, Joseph Hicks, a poor farmer from Pittsburgh, Texas was class of 1906. It holds a special meaning in my life that one hundred years later I would complete my degree at this same university. As I reflect on serving this university, I think about our land-grant mission and TxTC’s embodiment of teaching, research, and service. We dedicate our service to Texans by listening, learning, validating, documenting, organizing, motivating, and propelling. Each project is not a box to check, but a quilt to stitching together the multitude of voices, opinions, hopes, and dreams within communities. That is our charge: to cultivate tomorrow’s leaders beyond the classroom, to uncover new stories that necessitate research, and to serve Texans with our presence.

Jaimie Hicks Masterson, AICP '06

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Executive Summary For 29 years, Texas Target Communities has paired faculty expertise in courses and research with communities across Texas.

This academic year, the most significant accomplishment was winning the 2021 W.K. Kellogg Award for Exemplary Community Engagement for the work with the City of Nolanville given by the Association of Public and Land Grant Universities. Additionally, six students won awards for their project work.

In the 2021-2022 academic year, 46 faculty and 291 students worked with 15 communities and partners, equating to more than 63,000 student-hours or nearly $1.9 million dollars worth of work in support of Texas communities. TxTC also hosted 30 community meetings and 26 community task force meetings in pursuit of highly engaged and participatory projects. The service-learning and community-engaged research projects emerged across several themes: Holistic Health, Community Safety & Resilience, Land Stewardship, Re-imagining Housing, Preservation, Art, and Civic Engagement. Communities and partnerships include: Rio Grande City, Ponderosa Retreat Center near Melstone, Montana, Galena Park, La Grange, Comanche County, Impact Lufkin, Caldwell, Salvation Army of the Brazos Valley, and the Juneteenth Legacy Project in Galveston.

TxTC provided student internship opportunities and hired 21 students with project funds to support deliverables. TxTC began fundraising for the Texas Target Communities John T. Cooper, Jr. Foundation Excellence Award, or as we call it, The Cooper Scholars. This first-of-its-kind endowed scholarship program with the Texas A&M Foundation will allow under-represented students opportunities to hone skills in participatory approaches and engage closely with communities.

Additionally, students participating in TxTC projects continued to express marked benefits. Nearly 90% of students agree that the project made the course objectives easier to learn and over 90% said it made their course more engaging. Over 80% of students agreed that the project increased their ability to analyze complex problems, and 85% agreed that the TxTC project did so more than other courses. Nearly 60% of students thought the project increased their confidence and nearly 90% of students agreed that the project prepared them for work or their careers. Over 95% of students said the project provided opportunities to use their learning to relate to the community and over 90% of students said that the work contributed to making the community a better place to live. All faculty participating agreed the projects were worthwhile for themselves, their students, and the communities they served. All community partners agreed the projects increased their opportunity for data-driven decision-making, were relevant, and encouraged civic engagement.

Several projects were featured across 16 news media publications. TxTC was also featured on the GovLove Podcast, a podcast about local government, describing work with the ENDEAVR Initiative and the City of Nolanville. Additionally, TxTC staff presented at 12 conferences, 9 of which were national conferences. Dr. John Cooper co-authored the chapter “A Path for Rural Resilience” in the new publication, Investing In Rural Prosperity.

TxTC Annual Report 2022

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Our story so far Our Purpose

Our Impact

Founded in 1993, Texas Target Communities is an initiative between the Office of the President at and the School of Architecture at Texas A&M University.

TxTC, positioned within the university, is a trusted bridging organization to connect the assets of the 1) university, 2) industry, and 3) communities. Industry serves as the “movers and shakers” of society that often control or obtain significant amounts of resources.

Communities, particularly the lowcapacity communities TxTC serves, often feel like the “moved and shaken” of society that often are left out of conversations or lack control. Each entity has a range of talents, interests, capacity, and strengths that, when combined, support increased quality of life for people across the state, country, and world. This “Integrated Impact” approach utilizes:

TxTC provides technical assistance to small, under-served communities across the state and focuses on holistic efforts to address land use planning, development management, and a host of challenges (i.e. civic, environmental, economic, etc.) encountered by communities today.

Additionally, the thoughtful community engagement serves as a “real world” transformational learning experience for students at Texas A&M University.

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1. Faculty and students within the university through “high impact service-learning” and “engaged research” to mobilize knowledge, 2. Leaders, the workforce, and consumers within industries through “social innovation” to mobilize application, and 3. Leaders, stakeholders, and the public within communities through “collective impact” to mobilize action.

(Adapted from Van Zandt et al., 2019)

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Meet the Staff

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Highlights 2022

TxTC elevated to President-level program in the

Division of Academic and Strategic Collaborations

NASEM Advisory Committee

2021 W.K. Kellogg Award for Exemplary Community Engagement for the work with the City of Nolanville. This distinct honor is given by the Association of Public and Land Grant Universities at their annual Engaged Scholarship Consortium.

“Teamwork & Collaboration in Comanche County”

Galena Park receives

$3.5 million

featured in the National

to begin implementing elements of the master plan

Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, COVID-19 Stories of Resilience Across the State of Texas.

“2022 TX-ASLA “Merit Award” “Pipe Dream: An Adaptive Green Infrstruture Model.”

Graduate Student: Tianyi Wang American Society of Landscape Architects, Texas Chapter. Urban Design Category.

“Partnership with the City of Nolanville was featured in Gov Lov - A Podcast About Local Government TxTC projects and partnerships were featured in two National Planning Conference Panels.

Former TxTC student, Sam Addington works with community partner Sam Collins to develop Juneteenth documentary

Established endowed student scholarship,

$33,000 raised

Former intern, Carlo Chunga receives Ford Foundation Predoctoral Fellowship of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine

TxTC Annual Report 2022

Masterson serves on the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) Advisory Committee for Criteria for Community

Former intern and program assistant, Madeline Patton, is now the City of Caldwell Marketing and Tourism Manager supporting our community partner!

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Year at a Glance 2022

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46

PARTNERSHIPS

FACULTY

COURSES

291

63,346

STUDENTS

WORKING HOURS

103

26

30

15

COMMUNITY PARTNER MEETINGS

COMMUNITY TASK FORCE MEETINGS

PUBLIC ENGAGEMENTS

LAST 10 YEARS:

$1.8 MILLION TOTAL VALUE TO COMMUNITIES

51 Partnerships 97 Courses 175 Faculty 2974 Students 362,370 Student Working-hours 48 Community Task Force Meetings 172 Interactions with Public $10,852,981 Total Value to Communities

Spotlights PARTNER IMPACT

Charles X White of Charity Productions

Community Partner, Charles X White of Charity Productions in Houston features in Scientific American, “Underserved Black communities are often depicted as dysfunctional. Their resiliency has long been overlooked”, by Nancy Averett

“There is evidence that White’s [quarterly community breakfasts] are doing exactly what Kawachi and Berry say social capital does: bolstering people’s psyches. Two months after Harvey hit, Garett Sansom, an associate professor at Texas A&M’s School of Public Health, came to a breakfast meeting to see whether he could gauge how a group of Houston’s low-income Black residents was faring after the storm. Sansom administered the 12item Short-Form Health Survey…The survey almost always shows a correlation between physical and mental health scores—if one is low, so is the other…“But what we found was that in this group, even though they had greatly reduced physical health scores ... they actually had higher mental health scores,” [Sansom said]. In other words, despite living in neighborhoods that suffered some of the worst impacts of the storm, they were less depressed, traumatized, and anxious than other people in the area.

TAKE AWAY

Civic engagement matters and improves quality of life!

TxTC matches faculty expertise with community partner needs TxTC empowers communities with data and facts

HEAVY HITTER Dr. Galen Newman

TxTC Faculty Fellow, Dr. Galen Newman, named Department Head of the Department of Landscape Architecture and Urban Planning. Over the last 5 years, working with TxTC on community-engaged projects:

$32,132,953

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RESEARCH FUNDING

BOOK

PUBLICATIONS

Funding from: National Institutes of Health, National Institutes of Environmental Health Sciences, Environmental Protection Agency, Environmental Defense Fund, National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, National Science Foundation BIG LOCAL IMPACTS TAMU work in Galena Park for EPA helps city raise 3 million for improvements Manchester neighborhood in TX receives 10 Million in XQ grant after working with TAMU

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Faculty Affiliates Koichiro Aitani School of Architecture

Anatol Bologan

Alejandro Borges

Tyrene Calvesbert

School of Architecture

School of Architecture

Theodora Chasper

Shankar Chellum

Weihsueh Chiu

Deidra D. Davis

School of Engineering

School of Engineering

College of Veterinary Science

School of Architecture

Bill Eisele

Ivis Garcia

School of Architecture

School of Architecture

Dan Goldberg

Tara Goddard

Dept. of Geography

School of Architecture

Justin Golbabai

Burak Guneralp

Xia "Ben" Hu

Chang-Shan Huang

Dept. of Geography

School of Engineering

School of Architecture

Ken Hurst

Fouad Jaber

Ryun Jung Lee

School of Architecture

Hope Hui Rising

School of Architecture

School of Architecture

School of Architecture

School of Engineering

School of Architecture

Chanam Lee

Dongying Li

Wei Li

Clare Losey

School of Architecture

School of Architecture

Texas Real Estate Research Center

Greg Luhan

Michelle Meyer

Thomas Mitchell

School of Architecture

School of Architecture

Dept. of Geography

Rabi Mohtar

Brian Nakamura

Galen Newman

Michael O'Brien

Walter Peacock

School of Architecture

School of Architecture

School of Architecture

Beth Rauhaus

Russel Reid

Andrea Roberts

Nathanael Rosenheim

TAMUCC

School of Architecture

School of Architecture

School of Architecture

Craig Rotter

Andrew Rumbach

Garett Sansom

Patrick Suermann

Dept. of Geography

School of Architecture

Dept. of Geography

School of Architecture

Alireza Talebpour

James Tate

Kenny Taylor

Andrew Tripp

School of Architecture

Bush School

School of Engineering

School of Architecture

Bush School

Shannon Van Zandt

Jane Winslow

School of Architecture

School of Architecture

Siyu Yu

Xuemei Zhu

School of Architecture

School of Architecture

Randy McCamey

Bill Batson Prairie View A&M University

Gabriel Eckstein

Yang Song

Tarleton State University

School of Engineering

TxTC Annual Report 2022

Dept. of Geography

School of Architecture

School of Architecture

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Holistic Health

Civic Engagement

Land Stewardship

Projects

Artistic Application

Preservation

Safety & Resilience

Reimagining Housing

Rio Grande City Comprehensive Plan PARTNERS: RIO GRANDE CITY COURSE: PLAN 662, PLAN 678, LAND 302 FACULTY: ANDREW RUMBACH, BILL EISELE, RUSSELL REID, YANG SONG

Rio Grande City is located along its namesake river, roughly 100 miles from Laredo and Brownsville.

Purpose: In collaboration with Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Working on Wellness Environment Program (WOW-E), and TxTC, the community developed its first comprehensive plan.

Catalyst: The plan's development is part of an ongoing partnership funded by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) HighObesity program. The CDC supports land grant universities to work with community extension services to increase access to healthier foods and safe and accessible places for physical activity in counties with more than 40% of adults with obesity. The project uses a collaborative approach to prioritizing local solutions and transformative change to address community healthrelated challenges. Through this partnership, the City of Rio Grande City identified a need for a ten-year comprehensive plan.

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Outputs State of Community Report The team developed an Engagement Report by establishing community relationships, creating a task force, and collecting community feedback through community engagement meetings, focus group interviews, community pop-ups, engagement kits, and surveys The community identified six big ideas as the overarching priorities for the plan PLAN 662 and PLAN 678 students developed goals, objectives, and strategies for each of the big ideas.

LAND 212 students developed design ideas focusing on downtown and parks to create walkable and vibrant spaces that support community health, safety, and economic development.

Plan Integration for Resilience Scorecard™ assessment

TxTC Annual Report 2022

Outcomes Forthcoming Landscape Architecture master’s project final year of study. The project will include concepts for the historic downtown, redesign of the County park, and connectivity of key landmarks.

A ripple effect of the project was exploring the Plan Integration for Resilience Scorecard™ through the lens of public health. Assistant Professor Dr. Siyu Yu scored policies and their impact on public health across the city’s network of plans. The scoring informs the policies that are recommended within the comprehensive plan. (Funded by the Department of Homeland Security)

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Evidence-based Biophilic Design PARTNERS: CHRYSTAL CHECKETTS, THE PONDEROSA STAGE COMPANY, MONTANA COURSE: LAND 621 FACULTY: CHANGSHAN HUANG, JANE WINSLOW

The project is located on an approximately 320-acre property in Melstone, Musselshell County, Montana.

Catalyst: The project sponsor, plans to develop a wellness retreat based on “the belief in healing benefits of connection to self, community, and nature.”

TxTC Annual Report 2022

Purpose: The primary goal of the retreat center is to provide a nature-nurtured wellness place for individuals, groups, and mission-driven organizations to experience the healing benefits of being in nature through connecting self with nature and socializing with other people.

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Outputs The class spent five days in Montana visiting the project site and conducted an on-site design charrette together with the client. The final design document was presented in a booklet of 160 pages, consisting of five parts: 1. Precedent Studies 2. Project Site Inventory and Analysis 3. Design Program and Schematic Master Plan 4. Preliminary Master Plan and Phase Plan 5. Site Plan for Target Areas

“This studio course has helped me to improve and feel more confident in all aspects of the design process, particularly in design conceptualization and design programming.

Understanding how to identify design programs that will best serve target user groups makes the design conceptualization phase more coherent, concise, and relevant to set design outcomes.”

-Trevor Deines, student

Spotlight FACULTY CHANGSHAN HUANG

Professor Chang-Shan Huang has been teaching at Texas A&M University since 1995. His areas of interest lie in design programming and methodology, urban and community design, therapeutic garden design, design communication, and interdisciplinary design education. He has worked on TxTC projects each year for the last seven years.

Professor Huang has been a key part to the Department of Landscape Architecture and Urban Planning’s success, which is ranked #4 Ranked on DesignIntelligence’s Most Hired From Landscape Architecture Graduate Programs (2019-2020), #7 in 2021 Top Landscape Architecture Bachelors Degree Programs from collegeraptor.com, and #12 Best Landscape Design Schools in the World from worldscholarshipforum.com.

After attending the student final presentations, Chrystal Checketts, the project sponsor, said, “I am so incredibly pleased with the work demonstrated in this project. It's truly incredible and beyond my expectations.”

TxTC Annual Report 2022

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Spotlight : ENDEAVRIDE Small-town residents, particularly those with disabilities and older adults, often face mobility challenges compounded by economic, medical, and social vulnerabilities.

Responding to the urgent need for transportation and health care, planners and entrepreneurs created ENDEAVRide, a novel “2-in-1” service that provides door-to-door service for passengers to access healthcare, food, and shelter and functions as a mobile telemedicine clinic.

ENDEAVR (Envisioning the Neo-Traditional Development by Embracing the Autonomous Vehicles Realm) is an ambitious project to re-envision “smart” city solutions to small towns with students from a wide range of disciplines. Working with Texas Target Communities to connect to a community partner, ENDEAVRide launched in Nolanville in November 2020. On average, it serves 100-person trips per month. In 2021, ENDEAVRide also helped hundreds of Nolanville citizens to get COVID-19 vaccinations.

ENDEAVRide is a collaborative program operated by the ENDEAVR Institute, a 501c3 nonprofit organization, and supported by many partners, such as Texas A&M University, the City of Nolanville, iHealth Clinic, Wocsor LLC, and CatoCare Inc. As a non-profit grassroots initiative, ENDEAVRide has been staffed by community volunteers.

Awards and Media: In September 2021, Texas A&M received the 2021 W.K. Kellogg Award for Exemplary Community Engagement for its work with the City of Nolanville (Association of Public Land-Grant Universities, 2021).

In October 2021, ENDEAVRide received the prestigious Smart 50 Award (Smart Cities Connect, 2021 ).

ENDEAVR’s work has inspired thousands of people and was reported by many media including ABC News, CBS-KBTX, KWTX, and KCEN. Featured on the Gov Love Podcast https://elgl.org/podcast-texas-targetcommunities-with-texas-am-university-and-nolanville-tx/

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Comanche County Comprehensive Plan PARTNERS: COMANCHE COUNTY COURSE: PLAN 678 FACULTY: BILL EISELE, TXTC STAFF

Comanche County is a rural community located between Fort Worth and Abilene in west-central Texas. Comanche County has historical roots in agriculture, including the dairy industry, fruit and nut production, and processing. Emerging industries such as wind and solar energy production are showing an increased interest in the area for additional economic opportunities.

Catalyst: With a central location and easy access to major highways, Comanche County is poised for future growth as more and more people are looking for a slowerpaced life in rural Texas. As the community continues to grow and change, County leadership wants to be proactive with a plan for the community's future.

TxTC Annual Report 2022

Purpose: To develop a county-wide plan to guide growth over the next twenty years.

Based on the community priorities identified through stakeholder engagement, the plan outlines six goals, which include: Manage growth to protect natural resources, preserve rural character, and prepare for expanding housing needs.

Support a reliable, resilient, and efficient infrastructure network.

Prepare for and mitigate all potential hazards.

Promote the overall well-being of all residents by providing and supporting choices for healthy lifestyles.

Provide opportunities to diversify the local economy, support existing businesses, and develop an equipped workforce.

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Outputs The planning process started in September 2020 amid the COVID-19 pandemic. TxTC worked with the County for the next two years to complete the following outputs: TxTC compiled an existing conditions report and sought community feedback to confirm or correct data gathered from a variety of public sources.

The County created a Task Force Committee to represent the County, City of Comanche, City of De Leon, and the youth in the community. The task force committee met 15 times to communicate community needs and validate the plan priorities.

Community engagement strategies included focus group interviews, public meetings, online and paper surveys, virtual engagement, and booths at community events.

Dr. Clare Losey, Assistant Research Economist at the Texas A&M Real Estate Center, compiled and presented a housing affordability analysis.

The plan outlines the goals, objectives, and actions. The recommendations are supported by maps, case studies, and other planning tools.

The implementation section pulls together all of the strategies in the plan, along with timelines, responsible parties, and potential funding sources.

Outcomes The Comanche County Comprehensive Plan was the first time the County, cities, and community members collaborated to identify their shared priorities.

The County Commissioners Court came together to identify and map new subdivisions in the incorporated areas, which was a critical step to plan for managed growth.

Texas Department of Transportation representatives engaged with community stakeholders and students to identify road improvement priorities.

The plan catalyzed conversations with schools, the medical community, and other relevant partners for workforce development.

The project allowed the TxTC team to think creatively about document organization and development.

A graphic created to illustrate how the planning elements can be used in Comanche County.

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Atlas Community Planning Workshop FUNDER: NATIONAL OCEANIC AND ATMOSPHERIC ADMINISTRATION (NOAA) FACULTY: CYNTHIA LYLE (SENIOR ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR, TEXAS SEA GRANT), DOUG WUNNEBURGER, DANIEL GOLDBERG, JAIMIE HICKS MASTERSON, JEEWASMI THAPA, AARON HARMON (GEOINNOVATION SERVICE CENTER), EDGAR HERNANDEZ (GEOINNOVATION SERVICE CENTER), ASHLEY BENNIS (TEXAS SEA GRANT); KATE DE GENNARO (TEXAS SEA GRANT)

The Texas Community Planning Atlas is a web-based mapping tool created by Texas A&M University (TAMU) and designed for planning activities, with a primary focus on coastal communities.

Catalyst: Many communities along the coast have few resources to facilitate planning activities, particularly GIS resources and mapping capabilities.

Outputs Web application Engaged 4 communities Tested the tool with the City of Caldwell and Comanche County Conducted an in-depth workshop with City of South Padre and City of Kingsville Held a public webinar

Purpose: To meet evolving needs for access to geospatial tools by community stakeholders, planners, officials, students, and professors, the development team sought to build upon and enhance the existing Atlas infrastructure to create a framework for increasing stability. The tool incorporates additional data and services, improving user experience, and facilitating the rapid deployment of future enhancements.

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Flooding and Industrial Pollutants in Galena Park FUNDER: ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY, SCIENCE TO ACHIEVE RESULTS GRANT PROGRAM (STAR) COURSES: FALL 2021: COMMUNICATION IN PLANNING (PLAN 661) FACULTY: WEIHSUEH A. CHIU (VETERINARY INTEGRATIVE BIOSCIENCES), DEIDRA D.DAVIS, JAMES KAIHATU (CIVIL & ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING AND OCEAN ENGINEERING), JAIMIE MASTERSON, GALEN NEWMAN, GARETT SANSOM, JUSTIN GOLBABAI GRADUATE STUDENTS INVOLVED: TIANYI WANG (LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE), SARA PRYBUTOK (URBAN PLANNING), RUBY HERNANDEZ (PUBLIC HEALTH), LEANNE FAWKES (ENVIRONMENTAL & OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH), SUJI JANG (TOXICOLOGY), CHIMEDDULAM DALAIJAMTS (TOXICOLOGY), SUNGHOON HAN (CIVIL ENGINEERING)

Galena Park is a city in Harris County, bordering the Houston Ship Channel within the Houston–Sugar Land–Baytown metropolitan area. The demographic makeup is primarily Hispanic and Latino American populations. Named after the Galena Signal Oil Company of Texas, the city has a history as an industrial port with its proximity to a variety of petrochemical facilities and over 130 pipelines running through the city.

Purpose: To improve the resilience of Galena Park to hurricane and flood-induced releases of metals and volatile organic compounds (VOCs). (This is the second year of the three-year project)

TxTC Annual Report 2022

Catalyst: In 2017, Hurricane Harvey demonstrated how natural disasters and changing environmental conditions can substantially increase pollutant releases from industrial facilities. The location of many of these facilities in already vulnerable communities may further exacerbate the public health impacts of these releases.

Additionally, in 2019, a chemical facility including almost a dozen tanks, caught fire and emitted dangerous chemicals into the air, water, and ground. Researchers from Texas A&M monitored the area during what is named the ITC Fire and recorded the highest levels of pollution in and around Galena Park. With this data, the EPA funded further investigations and the development of an action plan for the City of Galena Park.

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Outputs Developed an online hazards dashboard Conducted hydrodynamic modeling, expanding the predictions and flood scenarios to include the impacts of green infrastructure in order to quantify the reduction in flooding under different hurricane scenarios.

Conducted storm simulations based on future climate scenarios in which hurricanes are more severe than average.

Gathered community feedback through Social Pinpoint, an online application.

Generated Imagine Galena Park: Community & Stakeholder Engagement Report.

Collected primary data utilizing Community Assessment for Public Health Emergency Response (CASPER).

Developed a health survey with community feedback.

Developed a Community Master Plan which includes Flooding-Pollution-Health Analysis, Multi-Modal Transportation Plan, Design Strategies Toolbox with Assemblage Units, High-Risk Site Master Plan, and Design Impact Model.

Tianyi Wang, Master of Landscape Architecture, master’s paper: “Adaptive Stormbox: Using Green Infrastructure to Mitigate Hazardous Substance Transferal during Flood Events in Galena Park, TX” Sara Prybutok, Master of Urban Planning, master’s paper: “Planning Policies for Implementing Nature-Based Solutions in Galena Park” Ruby Hernandez, Graduate Research Assistant, Master of Public Health, master’s paper: "Environmental Justice and Health Inequities: The Case For Galena Park."

TxTC Annual Report 2022

Outcomes The City received $3.5 million for the design and construction drawings of the green infrastructure improvements identified in the plan with funding from the Bipartisan Omnibus Appropriations Bill Manuscript under review entitled: “Evaluating the Impact of Proximity to Toxic Release Inventory Facilities and Flood Events on Chronic Health Outcomes in the City of Galena Park, Texas” Manuscript under review entitled: Han, S., and Kaihatu, J.M., “Vulnerability of Residential Community near Houston Ship Channel Industrial Corridor to Flooding from Storm Surge” submitted to Journal of Climate Risk Management Four additional papers are in preparation Ruby Hernandez, was awarded the "Environmental and Occupational Health Department Research Award," the highest award at the School of Public Health for non-doctoral graduate students 2022 TX-ASLA “Merit Award”. American Society of Landscape Architects, Texas Chapter (TX-ASLA). “Pipe Dream: An Adaptive Green Infrastructure Model.”

Urban Design Category. Graduate.

Student: Tianyi Wang

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La Grange Police Plan PARTNERS: CITY OF LA GRANGE FACULTY: TXTC STAFF

The project developed a five-year Police Plan for the City of La Grange. The plan documents the La Grange Police Department's existing initiatives, future needs, and potential strategies.

Catalyst: TxTC developed La Grange’s 2018 Comprehensive Plan. Because of its success and implementation, the La Grange police chief had an opportunity to develop specific goals and actions for the police department.

Purpose: To facilitate community-wide discussions to identify existing conditions, key issues, and values of the Police Department in order to generate a comprehensive and locally contextual plan for the police department.

TxTC Annual Report 2022

Outputs Formulation of community task force Community-wide survey Two departmental and stakeholder workshops List of strengths, key issues and opportunities for the police plan Police department vision Police department goals and objectives Planning document

Outcomes First time the Police department engaged with the community for future planning purposes.

Police officers and department staff collaborated to identify the department’s strengths, opportunities and priorities.

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Spotlight

HAZARD REDUCTION & RECOVERY CENTER Since 1989, the HRRC has brought together scholars, students, practitioners, and community members for research and educational opportunities to foster disasterresilient built, social, and natural environments.

The HRRC envisions a world where communities reduce hazard vulnerability and disaster impacts, promote social equity, and enhance environmental sustainability through innovative and locally-grounded research and education.

The globally-recognized research center led by Dr. Michelle Meyer has received major grants from the National Science Foundation, National Institute of Science and Technology, FEMA, and others. Since 2013, HRRC has received over $50 million in research funding to better understand how to mitigate, prepare, respond, and recover from disasters. HRRC faculty work with TxTC community partners. TxTC also provides outreach, training, and community engagement support to the HRRC. Latest Research Understanding of how communities can effectively leverage philanthropic resources to meet housing-recovery needs after disasters.

Evaluating cascading effects among interconnected infrastructure, models and tools to integrate social systems vital to the functioning and recovery of communities — healthcare, education, social services, and financial institutions.

Identifying disparities in business and nonprofit impact and recovery from Hurricane Harvey, COVID-19, and Hurricane Laura Organizing a Community of Practice to help guide the development of small towns and rural communities in the Gulf Coast region to utilize land-use planning tools.

Guidance Disaster Recovery: with the American Planning Association developed a guide for planning practitioners on leveraging existing planning activities and programs for recovery and resilience.

Planning for Community Resilience: This handbook guides any community through the process of determining their level of hazard exposure, physical vulnerability, and social vulnerability with the goal of determining the best planning strategy.

Disaster Recovery Housing Plan Evaluation Protocol: This protocol supports local communities to design high-quality housing recovery plans in order to maximize funding opportunities, and supports state agencies to evaluate housing recovery plans.

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Small Town Housing Design Strategies PARTNERS: IMPACT LUFKIN FACULTY: JAMES MICHAEL TATE, JOHN T. COOPER, JR. STUDENTS: SHANE BUGNI, STORMY HALL, ROB WILLIAMS

Lufkin, a community in rural East Texas faces a number of housing challenges linked to the environment, cost, and accessibility.

Grounded in local economic and cultural considerations, the project explores a series of residential unit prototypes that support the efforts of Impact Lufkin. The project team considered units that could support individuals, particularly units that would allow for aging in place; and single-family units that address concerns of durability, efficiency, and energy performance.

Catalyst: Impact Lufkin, a local non-profit organization focused on resources and programming for the North Lufkin neighborhood, a historically African American community, sought to re-envision an abandoned golf course in 2016. Through discussions with elected officials, the need to explore workforce housing and affordable housing options emerged.

Outputs Schematic and Design Development Drawings Models Architectural Design Recommendations for a range of housing unit typologies/

Outcomes AIA Brazos Unbuilt Design Award ACSA National Conferences Initiated conversations with the local timber manufacturing industry about opportunities to integrate locally manufactured building products Mass Timber Wood Design Faculty Development

Purpose: To develop and design authentic, locally-contextualized affordable housing prototypes to meet the needs of the North Lufkin community.

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Workforce and Student Housing PARTNER: CITY OF CALDWELL COURSE: ARCH 206, 406, 601 FACULTY: ANDREW TRIPP

The project utilized the relationships with Caldwell to prototype architectural designs for workforce housing, specifically studentteacher housing. The project further explored the concepts in six other rural communities in Texas. The goal of the project is to continue to develop ideas and innovations to best support the lack of available affordable housing across rural communities and to develop a case study for a statewide teacher housing incentive program.

Outputs Four workforce housing design prototypes within the context of small Texas rural cities.

Outcomes Forthcoming paper on student teacher housing.

Catalyst: The development of the city's comprehensive planning process in 2020 Purpose: To develop architectural design prototypes for workforce housing in Texas.

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Expanding Salvation Army's Services PARTNER: SALVATION ARMY OF THE BRAZOS VALLEY COURSE: ARCH 305, URPN 492 FACULTY NAME: TYRENE CALVESBERT, WEI LI

The Salvation Army is a non-profit organization of the universal Christian Church that exists to “meet human need wherever, whenever and however it can.” The Salvation Army provides services for homelessness prevention, youth programs, food insecurity, Christmas assistance, emergency disaster services, and spiritual care.

Catalyst: The Brazos Valley has experienced significant growth over the last 10 years. The pressure on affordable rental housing has only increased since the COVID-19 pandemic. Because of these economic shifts, more residents in the Brazos Valley are on the brink of homelessness and lack available affordable housing.

Purpose: To develop research and exploratory components addressing a new addition of transitional housing and support services for the Salvation Army of the Brazos Valley.

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Urban planning students researched and generated data and information to inform transitional housing options, including: an analysis of the built environment (e.g. change in urban patterns, land use, zoning and local regulations); an atlas mapping social and institutional networks of regional housing and supportive initiatives; case studies of transitional program housing; regional transportation demand analysis; survey instrument and structured interview question design; and updated the 2015 Community Needs Report.

Architecture students documented the site in 2D and 3D drawings and established general design strategies, for scale, material, programs, and distribution. Students generated a site plan, sections (long & short), elevations, specific program & elements, and axonometric drawings.

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Outputs 7 background reports 7 schematic design proposals for the Salvation Army campus master plan 6 Graphic Reports Final schematic site design of the Salvation Army campus Final presentations of all report content

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Outcomes Private donor-funded student work opportunities The Salvation Army broadened the institutional conversation around transitional housing and the redevelopment of their Bryan location Expanded vision, strategies, and opportunities for Salvation Army’s future capital campaign

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Spotlight:

TEXAS A&M REAL ESTATE RESEARCH CENTER The Texas Real Estate Research Center (TRERC) was created by an act of the Texas Legislature in 1971 at the request of the real estate industry. It is the nation’s largest publicly funded real estate research organization.

The Center’s mission is straightforward: conduct studies in all areas related to real estate, urban and/or rural economics, and disseminate results and findings. Center data and analysis are heavily relied upon by public policymakers at all levels (city, county, councils of government, river authorities, economic development agencies, legislators, the State Comptroller, Governor, citizens, and others). The high-quality, objective information produced by the Center has proven to be invaluable to the broadly defined real estate industry in Texas and beyond.

In recent years, Dr. Clare Losey has developed a model to assist municipalities by quantifying affordable housing needs and identifying areas within those communities that lend themselves to locally appropriate solutions. Dr. Losey has worked with the cities of Corpus Christi, Belton, Dallas, and the Austin Board of Realtors. Current work continues in Kingsville and Graham. TRERC supplements TxTC reports on housing affordability and assisted TxTC in Rio Grande City, Caldwell, Comanche County, and Jacksonville. She is also strengthening relationships with the Texas Municipal League and the most prominent affordable housing agencies in Texas.

The positive impact of the Center’s work on the state and its citizenry is expansive.

Every Texas homeowner benefits from an ad valorem tax break afforded by the homestead exemption, which is based on Center research.

Center research led to the agricultural open space tax exemption enjoyed by all landowners involved in agricultural activities or wildlife preservation.

Leaders of the Texas Association of Homebuilders credited the Center’s data and research during the Great Recession with helping them stay informed of market conditions. This led them to not overbuild, making the depth of the recession, driven largely by a crash in home prices, less severe in Texas.

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Gulf Coast Heritage Preparedness Initiative FUNDER: TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY X-GRANT FACULTY: ANDREA ROBERTS, SARAH POTVIN (UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES), ANDREW RUMBACH, SIERRA LADDUSAW (UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES), IAN MUISE (UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES), JEANNE GOODMAN (UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES), REBECCA HANKINS (UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES), TROY HARDEN (RACE AND ETHNIC STUDIES INSTITUTE), JAIMIE HICKS MASTERSON, JOHN COOPER, SARAH GATSON (SOCIOLOGY), HEATHER THAKAR (ANTHROPOLOGY), CAROL BUNCH DAVIS (TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY GALVESTON), JEEWASMI THAPA

The Gulf Coast Heritage Preparedness Initiative builds on the work of the Texas Freedom Colonies Project and Atlas. These projects provide assistance with the preservation of community heritage, which is integral to accessing planning processes and public services after disasters, as well as, fostering social cohesion required to successfully respond and recover.

Catalyst: Severe weather events are growing in frequency. These events disproportionately impact low-income, rural, Black, and Indigenous People of Color (BIPOC) residents. Residents often lose their homes, leaving behind essential documents, photos, and artifacts associated with their family histories. Beyond these risks, the freedom colonies’ aging population makes this a time-sensitive priority to capture history.

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Purpose: To develop the materials, approach, and lead model testing for protecting endangered places and heritage among freedom colony descendants in the Brazos Valley region.

Outputs Literature review Established relationships with community partners Next Year: Working with classes Develop preservation training and guidance for freedom colonies

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Juneteenth Commemorative Spaces FUNDERS: TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY T3 GRANT; TAMU SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE DIVERSITY COUNCIL; TXTC; DEPARTMENT OF ARCHITECTURE; PRIVATE DONORS FACULTY: ARCHITECTURE: GREGORY LUHAN, STEPHEN CAFFEY, ANDREW TRIPP, JOHN T. COOPER, JR.; DEIDRA D. DAVIS, ANDREA ROBERTS PRAIRIE VIEW A&M UNIVERSITY: IKHLAS SABOUNI, BRUCE BUCKHORN, WILLIAM BATSON, STEPHEN SONG, NESTOR INFANZON, MICHAEL HURD, JASON SPENCER, CAROL BUNCH DAVIS TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY-GALVESTON: JOANN DIGEORGIO-LUTZ, DONNA LANG Juneteenth is the oldest celebration of the abolishment of slavery in the United States.

June 19th marked the day when Gen. Gordon Granger stepped onto Galveston Island with 2,000 troops and issued General Order No. 3 proclaiming freedom for more than 250,000 enslaved people in Texas in 1865.

Catalyst: After gaining national attention and federal recognition in 2021, passionate local citizens in Galveston County approached TAMU in July of 2021 to help rethink and reimagine how Galveston would best develop

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commemorative spaces of the historic event at its place of origin. TxTC formed and met monthly with a local task force beginning in January 2022. The task force represents various stakeholders with past and current interests in commemorating the Juneteenth historical event and fostering the development of a proposed museum in Galveston with local "knowledge bearers" of Juneteenth in Galveston. Task force members discerned that as the country grapples with re-imagining monuments and memorials, we also needed to expand the narrative of our shared history.

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Purpose: To provide design concepts of commemorative spaces, programs, and scholarship associated with or inspired by Juneteenth in Galveston.

Outputs Produced measured drawings of three sites.

Conducted a series of design charrettes to develop potential design schemes.

Conducted oral history interviews.

Developed proof-of-concept "Freedom Walk" AR/VR vignettes and the B-roll footage for the documentary.

Participated in a Reinventing the 21st museum workshop and used those ideas to lay a foundation for the TAMU+PVAMU designs.

Utilized Hello Lamppost to gather crowdsourced data for the distributed museum approach Worked with casting artists to develop the bell, the proof-of-concept public art displays at various critical locations.

Designed and built installation for Juneteenth 2022 celebration.

Freedom Walk: To bring the historical content beyond the walls of a traditional museum, students and faculty developed concepts for a distributed, open-air, public art project that integrated virtual and extended reality formats. The TAMU research also launched a proof-of-concept crowdsourced collection tool at different nodes of Galveston's "Freedom Walk." These locations connect to the TAMU team's AR/VR vignettes and the Hello Lamp Post texting application. Visitors learn about the history and share stories by accessing the vignettes and applications, so data can be woven into and included in a distributed museum, thus enabling deeper connections to the expanded narrative.

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The Bell: The Nia Cultural Center installation features a full-scale, proof-of-concept "bell" art display that symbolizes plantation bells, slave ship bells, and fugitive slave bells. This bell also symbolizes freedom and a call to action. The TAMU team developed a tripartite, large format exhibition screen that featured the historical narrative of the bell, the making of the bell with Dallas-based artisans Brad Oldham and Christy Coltrin, and the output of the TAMU/PVAMU Design Charrettes.

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City Satisfaction Survey PARTNER: CITY OF LA GRANGE FACULTY: TXTC STAFF

TxTC designed a survey instrument (approximately 15 minutes in length) to: assess overall resident perceptions of living in La Grange gauge resident satisfaction with the City’s performance in providing services and programs collect resident feedback on local issues, including parks and recreation, transportation, economic development, housing, safety, information sources, and others.

Outputs Survey instrument

Catalyst: TxTC developed La Grange’s 2018 Comprehensive Plan. Because of its success and implementation, the City of La Grange asked TxTC to develop a survey instrument it could use annually to determine community service needs.

Purpose: To develop a Community Satisfaction Survey for the City of La Grange

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Utilizing Texting Applications to Engage PARTNER: CITY OF CALDWELL & JUNETEENTH PROJECT FACULTY: TXTC STAFF

Hello Lamp Post is a platform that creates engaging and insightful conversations with residents through SMS texting. It is inherently designed to serve three main functions: 1. Create unique and engaging conversations with a range of people 2. Ask questions of the participants who interact around key themes 3. Disseminate information playfully and creatively through each conversation.

Catalyst: In the past, community engagement has been bound by in-person interactions. Some platforms used, like Social Pinpoint, require internet access, which is more challenging in low-capacity and rural areas. TxTC sought to engage residents with limited internet access and time or interest in attending in-person community meetings.

Purpose: To engage a wider range of residents at their leisure and in a format comfortable to them.

TxTC tested the Hello Lamp Post platform with the City of Caldwell after the adoption of the comprehensive plan. Questions posed to residents centered around public arts, parks improvement, and ongoing city initiatives.

TxTC then utilized Hello Lamp Post with the Juneteenth Commemorative Spaces project.

Six signs were posted at key historic markers. The virtual engagement provided historical facts about the event, opportunities for participants to add their oral histories, and questions to gather feedback on the possibility of a future museum.

Outputs Caldwell: Six signs installed - signs around Davidson Creek Park and the Downtown Square 94 interactions, 44 conversations with 23 unique users Juneteenth: Six signs installed First weekend results: 86 interactions, 40 unique users, and 44 conversations The first object received 29 conversations

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Caldwell Mural PARTNER: CITY OF CALDWELL FACULTY: RUSSELL REID

Students and faculty worked closely with the Caldwell Main Street board to develop mural designs of an empty wall on City Hall in downtown Caldwell. The faculty piloted a new course with students with an interest in visual arts and communication to plan, design, and implement the mural.

Catalyst: Residents expressed a desire for more public art in public engagement during the comprehensive planning process.

Professor Reid participated on the project as faculty for the LAND-212 Design II studio – which developed design concepts for Davidson Creek Park and the Downtown (Courthouse) Square.

Outputs Measurements/Assessment of surface Preliminary sketch and final design Photomechanical reproductions Construction, reconstruction, and/or preparation of the surface Projection of the line work Application of paint

Outcomes Final installation of the course-designed mural

Purpose: To uplift cultural heritage and showcase art in the downtown area.

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Program Overview

Evaluations Students Benefit

The vast majority of students thought the TxTC projects increased their learning and furthered their career goals.

90% 80% 85% agreed that the project made the course objectives easier to learn

agreed that the project increased their ability to analyze complex problems

agreed that the project increased their ability to analyze complex problems more than other courses

60% 90% 95% thought the project increased their confidence

agreed that the project prepared them for work or their career

Faculty Benefit All faculty participating agreed the projects were worthwhile for themselves, their students, and the communities they served.

said the project provided opportunities to use their learning to relate to the community

100% Satisfaction

Communities Benefit All community partners agreed the projects increased their opportunity for data-driven decision-making, were relevant, and encouraged civic engagement.

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100% Satisfaction

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Internship Program

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Student interns

8600 Hours worked this year

Flavia Lopez, Houston, Texas Lyssa Maki, Dallas, Texas Garrett Powell, Cedar Park, Texas Rafael Alvarado, San Antonio, Texas Jarrod Butts, Thorndale, Texas Edgar Millard, Houston, Texas Carlo Chunga Pizarro, College Station, Texas Leanne Fawkes, Portland, Oregon Pancho Mackin-Plankey, College Station, Texas Chandler Rowe, Killeen, Texas Sarah Judkins, Round Rock, Texas Sarah Cumm, Annapolis, Maryland Jordan Cooper, Austin, Texas Sam Schaaf, Colleyville, Texas William Mohamad, Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas Isabella Davies, Brownsville, Texas Matt Bodine, Broomfield, Colorado Muyang Li, Qingchuan, China Austin Patterson, Wichita Falls, Texas Robert Williams, Houston, Texas Ruth Zuniga, Hico, Texas

Initiating an Endowed Scholarship Thanks to the generosity of a Texas A&M Foundation donor, we are establishing an endowed student scholarship program, the Texas Target Communities John T. Cooper, Jr. Foundation Excellence Award. The spirit of the gift is to provide scholarship funds for minority students and students from diverse backgrounds. Incoming funds will be matched dollar for dollar from the Texas A&M Foundation. This allows TxTC to provide more opportunities for students and honor our former director, Dr. John Cooper!

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Student success Awards

Student Ruby Hernandez, awarded the "Environmental and Occupational Health Department Research Award," the highest award at the School of Public Health for non-doctoral graduate students Department of Landscape Architecture Excellence in Service through Engagement and Outreach Award was presented to students Arthur Chambers and intern, Sarah Judkins Intern Chandler Rowe, Department of Landscape Architecture Planning Spirit Award Intern Flavia Lopez, Department of Landscape Architecture Impact Award David Pugh Urban Planning Scholarship awarded to Regina Alvarez

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Student-led projects Katie Ridlin. 2022. IntraHousing: Housing for Student Teachers in Rural School Districts. Master's thesis, for the Master of Architecture.

Sara Prybutok. 2022. Planning Policies for Implementing Nature-Based Solutions in Galena Park. Master’s Thesis for the Master of Urban Planning.

Where are they now?

Former TxTC intern Carlo Chunga received membership into the prestigious Ford Foundation Predoctoral Fellowship Program of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.

Carlo is working on his doctoral degree in urban and environmental planning and policy at the University of California, Irvine.

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Outreach & External Impact

Trainings Faculty Training

Student Training

TxTC offers Community Engaged Research for Faculty. The training focuses on ways faculty can ethically include community involvement and participatory practices within their research projects.

This year we conducted the training with the Hazard Reduction & Recovery Center Fellows.

TxTC offers Community Engagement 101 for Students within courses. This year we conducted the training with ENDEAVR classes to prepare students for work in Nolanville and beyond.

Scholarship Book Chapter Cooper, John T. and Jenna Bryan. “A Path for Rural Resilience” in the book, Investing In Rural Prosperity. Washington DC, Federal Reserve Bank of St Louis: 2021; 169-180

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Conferences COA Research Symposium

Academic Minute: Four Questions for More Thoughtful Community Engagement 10/4/21

Texas Municipal League (TML) Conference 2021 The Evolution of Community Engagement in Texas Communities 10/6/21 Speakers: John Jablowski, Jeewasmi Thapa, Forrest Williams The pandemic has permanently altered how we shop, work, and live. Citizens now are engaging in a whole new way and an effective local government must also enhance its citizen engagement. The session presented the engagement process for Caldwell Comprehensive plan to show how community engagement is evolving for Texas local governments.

EPIC-Network Conference 2021 Internationalization, SDGs and DEI 10/5/21 The session reviewed and discussed how partnerships advanced university and community goals.

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Association of Collegiate Schools of Planning (ACSP) 10/7/21 Focal Event, Track 8 – Land Use Policy & Governance Improving the Quality of Individual Plans and Coordination of Networks of Plans: An Application to a Low-Capacity Community Vulnerable to Disasters and Climate Change

Association of Collegiate Schools of Planning (ACSP) 10/7/21 Focal Event, Track 4 – Environmental Planning & Resource Management The Challenge of Integrating Resilience in Planning: Lessons Learned, Guiding Principles, and Future Directions

NASEM Gulf Research Program Enhancing Community Resilience (EnCoRe) program 10/18/21 Partnering with Communities on Local Health and Community Resilience Building Efforts panel.

Presented on TxTC's community engaged process and methodology.

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Association of Collegiate Schools of Planning (ACSP) 10/23/21 Track 10 – Planning Education & Pedagogy Roundtable: Interdisciplinary ServiceLearning Projects that Turn Small, Underserved Communities into Smart Cities

NASEM Gulf Research Program Enhancing Community Resilience (EnCoRe) program 10/25/21 Criteria for Community Participation in the Gulf Research Program's EnCoRe Initiative Panelists discussed best practices for community engagement in research and service-learning.

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Webinar with EPIC-Network 1/27/22 Resilience Webinar Series: City of Rockport and Texas A&M University Presented on the innovative project with TxTC past partner, the City of Rockport. https://www.epicn.org/events/resiliencewebinar-series-partnership-projectsoutcomes-and-impacts-on-localresilience-city-of-rockport-texas-andtexas-am-university/

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Center for Chamber of Commerce Excellence (CCCE) Conference 2/9/22 Planning For Community Resilience Presentation on the book, Planning for Community Resilience, speaking on ways for local chambers to be involved in disaster preparedness and recovery. https://ccce2022.com/

BAF, Bill Anderson Fund 2022 Spring Workshop 4/8/22 The Hazard Reduction & Recovery Center at TAMU works closely with the BAF, a charitable organization, mitigating disasters through fellowship, mentorship, and research for minority communities.

TxTC staff provided best practices on community engagement in research.

Aspen Ideas Festival Fellow at the Institute’s Rocky Mountain, Colorado campus 6/22/22 Dr. John Cooper was nominated as the Aspen Ideas Festival Fellow to contribute his expertise on participatory planning, particularly as it relates to increasing the extent to which communities can prepare for, survive, and recover from threats to their culture, environment, or economy.

The Aspen Ideas Festival Fellows are a diverse group of global leaders selected for their work, accomplishments, and ability to transform ideas into action.

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In the News Killeen Daily Herald

Galveston County Daily News

10/13/21 Nolanville’s Main Street Overpass Gets New Paint https://kdhnews.com/news/local/nolanvill e-s-main-street-overpass-gets-newpaint/article_450263e8-2c70-11ec8904-9f68332829bb.html

12/09/21 Galveston needs a plan and process for creating Juneteenth museum https://www.galvnews.com/opinion/editor ials/article_7cedd569-5960-53b99ea2-e2e29564d6e2.html

The Climate Impact Forum 10/28/21 Featured in the presentation of the international conference, The Climate Impact Forum,: How can universities accelerate the global transition to net zero? https://www.timeshigheredevents.com/climate-impact-forum2021/agenda/session/576915

Houston Chronicle 11/02/21 Galena Park residents want to bring a farmers market to their food desert. But no vendors will come. https://www.houstonchronicle.com/lifesty le/renew-houston/health/article/GalenaPark-residents-want-to-bring-afarmers-16585397.php

Galveston County Daily News 12/08/21 Juneteenth Partnership: Groups seeks virtual reality museum https://www.galvnews.com/news/article_ 3813de73-586b-563f-a91eac178be52cd6.html

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Galveston County Daily News 12/13/21 Guest commentary: Galveston has opportunity to support national Juneteenth museum https://www.galvnews.com/opinion/guest _columns/article_75f6585c-8989-5f4fab29-6a927b3cec03.html

KBTX 03/07/22 Caldwell looking towards the future with ‘Envision Caldwell’ https://www.kbtx.com/2022/03/08/caldw ell-looking-towards-future-withenvision-caldwell/? fbclid=IwAR2D1Yke_IEb6Hox6IGzdmrI6RIS yvsUChVCSh44mGpWmipUYdyugogZgC0

KBTX 03/07/22, Historical mural in Caldwell nearly complete https://www.kbtx.com/2022/03/08/histor ical-mural-caldwell-nearly-complete/? fbclid=IwAR2KRokqZ7aLsxov7ghQsQsapu MdmdFS9QOOrDv_7Gyzuv3PJAPKZWysU4

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Galveston County Daily News

Galveston County Daily News

03/28/22 Texas A&M students collaborate on designs for Juneteenth museum in Galveston https://www.galvnews.com/news/article_ bf866d69-2a90-5bd7-b73b5eb33b70b59a.html

06/21/22 Guest commentary: Let’s put to rest the Juneteenth reading myth https://www.galvnews.com/opinion/guest _columns/article_252fdfe3-b317-507bb1dd-946be155770a.html

National Public Radio NPR

Next Avenue

06/20/22 The new Juneteenth federal holiday traces its roots to Galveston, Texas https://www.npr.org/2022/06/20/11059117 85/the-new-juneteenth-federal-holidaytraces-its-roots-to-galveston-texas

06/21/22 ‘Prof. Juneteenth’ Dedicates Himself to Teaching History https://www.nextavenue.org/profjuneteenth-teaching-history/

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