Changing Lives – and a City – for the Better!
After years of dreaming, planning and hundreds of appreciative inquiries with a diverse base of community stakeholders, we are proud to announce the conclusion of our $25 million New Century Campaign. This achievement is possible thanks to you – our supporters, neighbors and partners. Thank you!
Baker-Ripley Neighborhood Center
The campus is named the Baker-Ripley Neighborhood Center in honor of two leaders instrumental in the creation and success of Neighborhood Centers Inc. Alice Graham Baker formed the Houston Settlement Association in 1907, with a purpose of extending "educational, industrial, social and friendly aid to all those within our reach." Throughout our 102-year history, descendants of Mrs. Baker – and other founding families, such as the Clevelands, Sharps and Kirklands, to name a few – have remained connected to Neighborhood Centers as Board members, supporters and ambassadors for the agency.
In the late 1930s, Edith Hudson Ripley contributed the funding to construct a new community center in the East End, which opened in 1940 as Ripley House. In the front lobby hangs a bronze plaque with the likenesses of Mr. and Mrs. Ripley and the inscription that "this recreation and health center is their gift to Houston." To this day, the Daniel and Edith Ripley Foundation is among our most loyal friends and supporters, and Ripley House remains a vibrant educational and cultural center.
The Baker-Ripley campus sits on four acres in the Gulfton/Sharpstown neighborhood and includes a public market, business incubator, classrooms for citizenship and leadership development and a Community Development Credit Union. The campus also features an elementary charter school with a library and technology wing. We are proud to report that our charter school earned "Exemplary" status from the Texas Education Agency – the highest ranking possible – because of our students’ scores on the TAKS tests last year.
The LEED®-certified campus consists of five separate buildings, which allows us to simultaneously complete construction and open each facility on the following schedule:
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The Charter School and Cultural Arts Center will open in December
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The Center for Economic Development, which includes business incubation classrooms, a café and the Credit Union, will open in January 2010
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The Welcome Center and Reunion Hall, which includes a gymnasium and performance space, will open by March
Great care has been taken to preserve all of the existing trees on the property to facilitate the best possible use of green space. Because of this, many activities on the Baker-Ripley campus will take place outdoors in a public plaza that will include a community garden, outdoor performance stage, marketplace, children’s playground and picnic space for families.
The New Century Campaign unfolded in two phases, with Houston businessman and civic leader Mr. George A. DeMontrond, III leading Phase I and Mrs. James A. Baker, III bringing the campaign across the finish line.
Even though the campaign is completed, we want to continue to benefit from your feedback. Please feel free to contact us anytime at ncc@neighborhood-centers.org– and we hope you will take advantage of the classes, cultural celebrations and community events taking place at the center.
We are grateful to all of our generous donors who contributed to the New Century Campaign.