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October 2021 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

We are excited about 2022 and the many partnerships, programs, and events being created for you to enjoy. Thank you to our awesome partner Houston Dynamo Football Club for their $5,000 donation and their commitment to giving back to the Third Ward community. The six week soccer program kicking off early next year will be an amazing opportunity for our youth. We are also thrilled to receive the The Cullen Foundation grant in the amount of $300,000 towards the development of the Emancipation Park Welcome Center.

We are gearing up for our Sesquicentennial Juneteenth Celebration happening in June 2022. Your tax-deductible donation will help us kick-off and plan an extraordinary celebration that the founding community would be proud to see and experience. We also invite you to join the celebration as a sponsor, partner, or participant. To learn more, please contact me here.

Visit our website, follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram for all of the latest park information.

Lucy Bremond, Executive Director

Emancipation Park Conservancy

Engaging with EPC just got easier. Stay connected to Emancipation Park all in one place. 

EVENTS 

We are working proactively to bring you interactive virtual events that keep you connected to Emancipation Park from the comfort of your home. For special events and marketing inquiries or to share your ideas, contact Kynetta Moore at events@epconservancy.org.

Jazzy Sundays at Emancipation Park 

Jazzy Sundays at Emancipation Park was a major success! Thank you to our partners Discovery Green, Buffalo Bayou Partnership, and our sponsor the Kinder Foundation for making this series possible for the Third Ward community. Food, free entry, vendors, a kids zone, COVID pre-screening, and great entertainment was well received and enjoyed by attendees. We are happy to hear that the community had a great experience hosted by Emancipation Park Conservancy! We also could not have done it without our amazing volunteers, thank you!

To learn more about the continued Jazzy Sunday fun happening at the other two parks, click here , visit our website or contact Kynetta Moore at events@epconservancy.org, 346-319-3036. Make sure you follow us on Facebook and Instagram. 

National Night Out at Emancipation Park  

Earlier this month, Emancipation Park Conservancy, in partnership with the Houston Parks and Recreation Department, Emancipation Economic Development Council, Houston Police Department, and several other partners, hosted National Night Out at Emancipation Park. The National Night Out event was an opportunity for policing entities to meet the community in an open and friendly environment while enjoying games, music, and activities.

National Night Out is an annual community-building celebration focused on community safety and crime prevention. NNO is designed to promote camaraderie and trust amongst law enforcement and the community, to make our neighborhoods safer and better places to live. It heightens crime and drug prevention awareness, strengthens neighborhood spirit, and police-community relations.

PROGRAMS

Despite the continuing global pandemic, Emancipation Park Conservancy strives to maintain programs in the areas of economic empowerment, health and wellness, and education that are resourceful, fun, culturally relevant, informative, and offer unique opportunities to our community. For program or partnership inquiries, contact Dr. Muhammad Abdur-Rashid at program@epconservancy.org. 

Get Fit in the Tre Virtual Experience

Get Fit in the Tre with Emancipation Park Conservancy daily! It is important for us to continue taking care of our minds and bodies by eating healthy and participating in some form of physical activity. EPC is continuing to provide virtual fitness programming, encouraging our community to stay vigilant and do our part in helping to stop the spread of COVID-19. Each week Get Fit in the Tre offers fitness options that can be accessed on our YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram pages at your convenience. All of our workouts can be completed from the safety of your home. Be sure to take photos and videos of your workouts and tag @EPConservancy to be featured on our social media pages.

Hip Hop Step Aerobics with Coach Gretchen Jean 

Please note that in-person Hip Hop Step Aerobics classes at Emancipation Park have temporarily been cancelled until further notice. 

You can still join us virtually for a 30-minute, intense workout with your favorite instructor, Gretchen Jean! Gretchen guides us through a fun, interactive experience that is appropriate for all ages and fitness levels. This workout can be modified to participate with or without an aerobic step platform.

Benefits: full-body workout, instructor led class, weight loss possible, community engagement, music selection variety, self-focus

All the workouts are in our Facebook video library to view at your convenience or our YouTube Channel at the link below. 

Engaging with EPC just got easier! Stay connected to Emancipation Park all in one place: https://linktr.ee/epconservancy. You can also join Coach Gee's group on Facebook here to stay updated on the class. 

EPC Receives $5,000 Donation from Dynamo Charities for 2022 Soccer Program

A fun and popular sport is headed to Emancipation Park thanks to the partnership with Houston Dynamo Football Club. Last month Dynamo Charities and star Dynamo forward Fafa’ Picault, in conjunction with MLS, Black Players for Change (BPC), and BPC’s Juneteenth jersey auction, presented a check donation in the amount of $5,000 to Emancipation Park Conservancy.

Houston Dynamo Football Club will hold six weeks of soccer programming at the park starting in 2022. The free youth soccer program, Futbolito in the City, exposes and ensures a generation of kids have access to the necessary equipment, gear, and instruction required for learning the sport. To learn more about this partnership and initiative, click here.

Darren Walker Scholarship 

On Tuesday September 20, 2021, Emancipation Park Conservancy's Executive Director, Lucy Bremond, Board Vice-Chairman, Ms. Jaqueline Bostic, and Manager for Programs and Strategic Partnerships, Dr. Muhammad Abdur-Rashid presented Ms. Jalyn Martin with the Darren Walker Juneteenth Scholarship.

The Darren Walker Scholarship is awarded to students from Jack Yates High School who show strong academic promise and who plan on attending an Historically Black College and University in their freshman year of college. Ms. Martin graduated from Jack Yates High School with a 4.0 GPA, in the top 5% of her graduating class, ranking number 7 out of 161 students.

The Darren Walker Scholarship is a one-time award of $5,000, made possible by the Conservancy and the generosity of Mr. Darren Walker, President of the Ford Foundation and the 2021 Juneteenth Honorary Chair. We would like to recognize the high academic achievements of Ms. Martin and wish her well at Prairie View A&M University this fall!

SUPPORT

Your support will help us with capital initiatives, operational improvements, programs, and events to benefit current and future generations. For donation or sponsorship inquiries, contact Patrina Johnson at development@epconservancy.org.  

Support Our Mission | Honor Gifts| Memorial Gifts

EPC Receives Grant from The Cullen Foundation

Emancipation Park Conservancy is thrilled to announce the receipt of grant funding from The Cullen Foundation in the amount of $300,000 towards the development of the Emancipation Park Welcome Center. The purpose of the center will be to create, through innovative technology, an interactive portal which will provide experiential learning activities based upon the rich history of Third Ward, Emancipation Park, and other African American communities through the state of Texas.

The Emancipation Park Welcome Center will provide general park information; its history and preservation information; tours of the park and promotion of other historic and related sites in the area; cultural and historical educational programs; and genealogy research. A primary focus of the history of the park will be about its four founders, the unprecedented level of activism among numerous black leaders during that time; their history, and life in the historic Third Ward area, also allowing families (locally and throughout the country) to gather information on their individual histories.

150 Donors Needed to Support 2022 Juneteenth Celebration

Emancipation Park, founded in 1872, will be celebrating its 150th anniversary on June 19, 2022. Emancipation Park Conservancy invites you to become one of 150 donors to make a monthly recurring gift of $18.72, $150, or a one-time gift of $2,022. Join us in this historic journey of change and impact by making your tax-deductible donation to kick-off our 150th Juneteenth Celebration. Plant your seeds now and let's see what the harvest will bring next year.

Enjoy this support message from Mrs. Jacqueline Bostic, vice-chairman of Emancipation Park Conservancy's Board, chairman of Emancipation Park's Juneteenth celebrations, and great-grand daughter of Rev. John Henry “Jack” Yates, one of the park founders. 

For more information, contact Patrina Johnson, development@epconservancy.org, (346) 319-3033.

Click a link or button below to learn more about others ways to support Emancipation Park. 

Birdies for Charity

Emancipation Park Conservancy is proud to participate in the Houston Open Birdies for Charity® presented by THINK Neurology for Kids fundraising program. When you make a payment or pledge through the Astros Golf Foundation, 100% of your contribution given through this program will go directly to support the Conservancy and the invaluable work that it does to serve the community. The Houston Open will also award the top fifteen donation-collecting charities and four randomly drawn charities with an additional bonus. Help us reach our goal of $20,000!

To make a donation, click on the link below and select the 'Register Here' button for instructions. For assistance with this process, please contact Jaclyn Escareno at charities@astrosgolf.com. For more information about the Conservancy and how you can support, contact Patrina Johnson, development@epconservancy.org.

Per issue with the clickable link, copy and paste it into the address bar:

https://events.trustevent.com/templates/index.cfm?fuseaction=templates.home&eid=3919

Event Reservations, Rentals, and Permits during the COVID-19 Pandemic 

Please note updated information per the City of Houston regarding event reservations, rentals, and special event permits during the COVID-19 pandemic. Mayor Sylvester Turner and the Mayor’s Office of Special Events (MOSE) have advised that event producers are now allowed to submit applications for their proposed events. For more information, contact MOSE at 832-393-0868, specialevents@houstontx.gov or click here.