An emotional Deloyd Parker was at a loss for words on Feb. 7 as he walked through one of his two beloved SHAPE Community Center buildings that was recently engulfed in flames.
Shattered glass cracked under Parker’s footsteps as he shone a flashlight on damaged artwork and photos. Extensive soot covered the ceilings and the smell of smoke overwhelmed the Nia Becnel Family Center in Third Ward at 3815 Live Oak St.
“Oh boy,” Parker, SHAPE Community Center co-founder and executive director, muttered as he surveyed the damage and mourned everything he lost.
His life took a devastating turn on Jan. 19 when a volunteer called to tell him that SHAPE — a storied, community staple he helped establish nearly 56 years ago — was ablaze.
Houston Fire Department arson investigators determined that an electrical wiring malfunction inside an office’s drop ceiling caused an accidental fire amounting to $500,000 in estimated damage, according to records obtained by the Landing. HFD also said that $720,000 in estimated property was saved and all occupants safely exited the building without injuries.
While the structure was not deemed a total loss, the fire caused irreparable damage to Parker’s collection. Thousands of priceless photos lined the walls of the center and told stories of Black excellence, from the first Black astronaut to local Black luminaries, like the late Rev. William Lawson and Parker’s family.
“I’m going through a bit of trauma right now,”Parker said. “Everything in that building was pretty much demolished.”
SHAPE, which stands for “Self Help for African People through Education,” aims to improve the quality of life for people of African descent through programs and activities, with an emphasis on unity, self-determination, collective work and responsibility, cooperative economics, purpose, creativity, and faith. Parker, along with student volunteers from Texas Southern University and the University of Houston, founded SHAPE on June 1, 1969. Rev. Lawson of Wheeler Avenue Baptist Church, Parker’s pastor at the time, had made a call for Parker to start an organization that empowers families.
“We wanted to start an institution that would help and strengthen the family socially, culturally, economically, politically and spiritually,” Parker, 77, said. “Strong family, strong nation. It’s in everything that we do.”
Outreach from the community
As Parker walked around the damaged main building on Live Oak street, countless community members who lived nearby stopped to see how he was faring since the fire.
“We’re OK. We’re just standing in the need of prayer,” Parker said responding to an onlooker who stopped his truck. “Keep us in your prayers. I’m serious, man.”
Many asking how they could help whether monetarily or devoting their time to cleanup efforts.
Charnelle Thompson, who has lived across the street for years, said she started praying immediately after she spotted the smoke and fire trucks from her window.
“When y’all are ready to get back going and y’all need helping hands, I am ready,” she told Parker.
Thompson said it’s the least she can do for Parker, someone who she said is the epitome of a good neighbor, always willing to lend a helping hand. He helped her establish a garden at the Houston Praise And Worship Center, which is also the same place where SHAPE started before moving to the now scorched building across the street at Live Oak Street.
“You can see how he loves himself through the way he treats others,” she said of Parker. “Always encouraging, always empowering others, always building community by bringing people together. He’s never too far away for a greeting, or a tour, or being introduced to someone who he finds value in.”
Even during what she called “trying times,” she said Parker’s pleasant, humble character has prevailed.
“For the first thing for him to say to me is, ‘Pray for me’ is crazy,” she said. “But then I was renewed soon after that thought because it’s Deloyd and I know they’re going to bounce back stronger than before.”
A storied past
Since its inception, SHAPE has served families for decades in the greater Houston area with dozens of programs, such as after-school childcare, summer youth programs, parenting programs, an Elders Institute of Wisdom group, and free legal assistance programs. Its Marcos Mazula Technology Center has offered essential resources, like laptops, copiers, printers, and fax machines that community members can use to scan crucial documents, apply for jobs, and register to vote. Its In-SHAPE Café has also served as an incubator fostering entrepreneurships by providing affordable rent and utilities to food businesses. Local eatery Sunshine’s Vegetarian Deli and Health Food Store built its clientele and eventually established its own brick-and-mortar location after being housed at In-SHAPE Café.
Aside from his personal sorrow, Parker said one of the most distressing consequences of the fire has been its impact on the numerous groups that gathered at SHAPE, such as the Association of Black Social Workers, the Death Penalty Abolition Movement, Cocaine Anonymous, and grieving mothers of gun violence.
“SHAPE was like the United Nations of the neighborhood. People came to SHAPE for everything,” he said. “Everybody and their mama came to SHAPE.”
He has been struggling to sleep at night, consumed by the challenge of maintaining all their programming and continuing to serve the community.
“When I get in the bed, my mind is racing,” Parker said. “I’m thinking of all the stuff that’s happened, who’s going to be affected, where they’re going to meet, where the kids are going to be, what the parents are going to do…. I’m working it out in my mind but there’s some things I’m running into some stumbling blocks with.”
What’s next for SHAPE
Parker said SHAPE had recently installed a new $30,000 roof, bought 16 new computers, a new air conditioning unit, and a brand new television. The kitchen recently had new appliances, tile and counters installed. Neither the equipment nor the priceless memorabilia inside will be able to be recovered. The whole place will have to be gutted, he said.
The organization, which spent decades fighting for justice, supporting the community, and helping Black families become self-sufficient, is now asking the community for help to recover from its losses and rebuild for a brighter future.
SHAPE is seeking monetary donations either electronically, via mail, or in-person, and in-kind donations such as goods, supplies, toiletries, and volunteer/contractor services as part of its “Together Building Back Better” restoration campaign. The in-kind donations will be used to clean the facility, maintain programming, and aid in restoration efforts from archiving, computer/photo restoration, and professional fire remediation.
In the month since the fire, they’ve raised $110,000 of its $2.5 million goal in hopes of reenvisioning SHAPE to fulfill its mission to even greater heights.
SHAPE marked $843,000 in revenue with $786,000 in expenses in 2023 according to its latest available tax data from ProPublica.
Although Parker said recovery will take some time, he is sure that with the community’s support, they can reach and exceed their goal.
“I think we’ve made a mark in the community, not just in Third Ward, but all over the City of Houston,” he said from his office at the SHAPE Harambee Administration building at 3903 Almeda Road.
SHAPE has applied for a license to operate its after-school enrichment program previously held at its Live Oak location, at its Almeda location. In the meantime, the space is being used to continue some of SHAPE’s programming and gatherings.
“Just because the building is messed up [doesn’t] stop us,” Parker said. “You can kill a revolutionary, but you can’t kill a revolution. We have not stopped doing what we do. We just do it differently now.”
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