The Julia C. Hester House, the historic nonprofit at the heart of the Fifth Ward will become a full-fledged Harris County-owned community center, following a decision by the board to donate all of the organization’s assets to Precinct 1.
The donation of more than $3.4 million and 4.7 acres of property will allow Harris County to begin funding the community center’s maintenance and operating costs while the organization’s leadership can focus solely on its programming schedule, said Jeremy Brown, chairman of the nonprofit’s board of directors.
“Assets are part of what Hester House is, but the main focus for Hester House is the programming — making sure we deliver quality programming to the community.”
The community center, which was founded in 1941, has worked with Harris County Precinct 1 for more than a decade, beginning with a joint operating agreement forged by late Precinct 1 Commissioner El Franco Lee.
Since then, Precinct 1 has provided nearly all of Hester House’s annual funding, upwards of 90 percent, Brown said.
Before Lee’s intervention, the community center primarily had been funded by the United Way.
Brown acknowledged the nonprofit has had difficulty raising money in recent years, attributing it to Hester House’s service-oriented mission.
“We are working with the Hester House board to address long-term financial funding needs,” Precinct 1 Commissioner Rodney Ellis said.
Before the board donated its assets to the county, the nature of the funding agreement between Hester House and Precinct 1 would have allowed for the county to stop its funding with 30 days’ notice, Brown said.
The new partnership, he said, formalizes the funding relationship beyond just the decision of a sitting commissioner.
“For years my office has proudly invested substantial resources in Hester House to ensure it continues to thrive,” Ellis said in a statement. “Yesterday the Hester House Board of Directors took a bold step towards ensuring its financial stability for generations to come.”
The nature of Hester House’s business model, Brown said, made the idea of the community center achieving financial independence tricky. The community center mostly offers no cost, or low cost programming for children and senior citizens, making revenue generation difficult.
Brown views Hester House programming as a public good, making a solidified partnership with the county government the center’s best option for sustained funding.
“As a board, we want a business model that says, ‘Come as you are, regardless of your socioeconomic background,’ That you will get service at Hester House,” Brown said. “And, unfortunately, that business model, the only place that has that type of business model, is a public good, a public entity.”
The next step for Hester House, Brown said, is to hold community meetings for residents to hear their concerns and explain details of this new funding partnership. Going forward, he said, transparency will be crucial.
“We want to make this transparent,” Brown said. “The board wants to be transparent with the community, as I know the precinct wants to be transparent in this.”
Republish our articles for free, online or in print.
