January 03, 2010

Happy New Year from the Greater Inwood Partnership!

For 2010 we are introducing a new way to communicate with our friends and partners. Every few weeks we will send out an email newsletter to let you know what projects we're working on, upcoming events and other important things going on in the community.

In addition to GIP projects there are so many positive things happening in our community that we wanted to take a moment and recap 2009 in this first edition of our newsletter.

Please forward this newsletter to your neighbors and friends using the link at the bottom. Click here to make sure you receive future newsletters

IFCIA Wins Lawsuit!

The Inwood Forest Community Improvement Association won their case against the new owners of the now closed golf club to keep it from being developed. The verdict in this case sets a legal precedent. Please note that IFP has the option to appeal this verdict but this a HUGE step forward! It could take several months before it is known if they will file for an appeal. We will keep you up to date on this.

Click to read Leader Article for more details.

What are those circles on Antoine?

The "circles" are the first phase of what we're calling the Antoine Landmark Project. The design was prepared for us by Keiji Asakura for esplanades on Antoine at Hollyview in front of Aron Ledet Park.

This is NOT a city project... This is our way of putting a stake in the ground and saying this our community! GIP applied for and received a matching grant which allowed our volunteers to complete the first phase.

The "circles" are the first of three phases. The second will be the planting of the esplanade. The third will be the placement of a large art sculpture.

Stayed tuned for more updates...

Trees for Houston - Toshiba

In October volunteers from Toshiba Inc., under the direction of Barry Ward of Trees for Houston, participated in a major planting in the Aron Ledet Park. The CEO of Toshiba also participated by physically helping to plant trees in the park and presented a $20,000 check to Trees for Houston to cover the cost of the project.

A big thank you to Toshiba for their generous gift to our community!

Community Service Workers

Did you know that the Greater Inwood Partnership is an agency that provides community service hours to Harris County community service workers?

Each Saturday GIP volunteers supervise community service workers and pick up litter, maintain the esplanades, work on other community projects and provide them with a lot of education in the process.

So the workers you see out every Saturday are NOT paid city employees... these are GIP volunteers and community service workers each helping to improve the look of our area. In 2009 we picked up tons of litter and planted hundreds of trees and shrubs. Click to see our esplanade sponsors.

Would you be interested in volunteering your time to be a supervisor? We could certainly use your help... plus you can pick the places that get attention. Like the entrance to your neighborhood! Email and let us know if you can help.

GIP thanks The Christian Outreach Center for providing a meeting place for the Greater Inwood Partnership's Community Service Retribution Probation Program. Without their facility we would not be able to run our program.

311 Program

The 311 program is a joint effort between the Greater Inwood Partnership and the Near Northwest Management District to Utilize city services through 311. Each Saturday Greater Inwood Partnership volunteers drive the major corridors documenting concerns/problems that can be phoned into the city’s 311 service. All items recorded are forwarded to the Near Northwest Management District to be submitted to 311. The Near Northwest Management District keeps a record of all 311 activity generated by the program.

We are currently looking for volunteers to help with the 311 program. The commitment is only a few hours. Email us and let us know if you can help.

Aldine School District

In June the Greater Inwood Partnership was acknowledged by the Aldine Independent School District during the AISD Annual Business Partners Appreciation Luncheon for our continued commitment to education through mentoring programs, participation in the peer review, funding 2 Aldine Lone Star Scholarships and area beatification work.

Peer Reviews

The Greater Inwood Partnership participated in 6 Peer reviews for academic year 2008-2009 and 2 so far for 2009-2010. The peer review is to ensure that the school district’s vision, objectives and goals are being developed throughout the district in every school and department.

Congratulations to AISD!

AISD was awarded the 2009 Broad Prize for Urban Education, the largest education prize in the country. This prize honors large urban school districts that demonstrate outstanding performance and improvement in student achievement while reducing gaps for poor and minority pupils

GIP welcomes Lone Star College to the Neighborhood!

Victory Drive property adjacent to Inwood Forest Park purchased by Lone Star College System for $1.8 million. According to Dr. Stephen Head, President of Lone Star College, the college will use the property to build a new 50,000 square foot facility envisioned to be a center for workforce and academic preparation, economic and community development. The campus is set to open in 2011.

Below is one of the concept drawings...

Expanded Website

In 2009 the Greater Inwood Partnership's website was expanded to showcase our neighborhoods. The new website was designed to provide home buyers and realtors information about our great community.

Each Subdivision is included along with a link to their website if they have one. We're also asking each subdivision to write a short article to add to the website. Click to viist the neighborhood page and see if your subdivision has submitted an article. Contact us if you would like to write an article about what makes your neighborhood great.

When home buyers are researching our neighborhhoods on the interent they will find the GIP website which now showcases all of us together as ONE strong community!

Rail Quiet Zone

The Greater Inwood Partnership applied for and was awarded the Quiet Zone in 2009. The City of Houston is implementing Quiet Zones Program and improvements to grade crossing safety in neighborhoods. The Inwood rail quiet zone will extend from Mangum to West Little York.

A special THANK YOU to Pat Turner, Candlelight Oaks Village resident and newest GIP board member for her hard work in making this happen!

100% Supported by our Members!

The Greater Inwood Partnership is supported 100% by our members. We do NOT have any paid employees or facilities.

Becoming a 2010 GIP member is an easy and affordable way to give back to the community that you live and/or work in. The money you pay for membership goes directly into the improvement of our great area. Without your membership dues we cannot apply for government and corporate grants to fund our community projects.

Please don’t delay. Become a 2010 member today. Thank you for your support. We are looking forward to another successful year in 2010!

Click to pay membership through our website or Click for form to mail in.

In Next Months Newsletter...

We'll post our calendar for 2010 to let you know about our various committees and projects for those interested in participating in the exciting changes that are happening in our community! Click to see our 2009 committees.

You can also visit our website anytime for the most up-to-date information!

The Greater Inwood Partnership is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization devoted to developing, encouraging, promoting, beautifying, protecting, and unifying the greater Inwood area of Houston. The Inwood area comprises 35 neighborhoods bounded roughly by Gulf Bank Road to the north, Pinemont to the south, T.C. Jester to the east and Hollister to the west.

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