TREC also honors nonprofits that received $745,000 in Community Impact Initiatives
Dallas, Texas – The Real Estate Council's 2010 Community Breakfast features Terdema Ussery, president and CEO of the Dallas Mavericks, as well as chairman of the board of commissioners of the Dallas Housing Authority. His speech is entitled “Inspiring Mind: The Importance of Making Personal Commitment.” The breakfast is Thursday, January 21, 2010, at The Fairmont Hotel, Regency Ballroom, 1717 N. Akard Street, Dallas, TX 75201. Check-in is at 7:30 a.m., and the program lasts until 9:00 a.m.
Michelle Corson, president of The Real Estate Council, said, “Terdema’s story will inspire our members and guests. He grew up in a neighborhood where opportunities were limited yet succeeded in business and used his success to improve the community.”
The breakfast is sponsored by Ernst & Young, Haynes and Boone, LLP and Stewart Title.
Terdema Ussery grew up in the Watts section of South Central Los Angeles. After a junior high school teacher encouraged him to transfer to an academically challenging school in Ojai, California, he was accepted to Princeton, “the college I had dreamed about but never imagined attending,” said Ussery.
That teacher's encouragement to reach for his dreams changed his life. Princeton instilled confidence and enabled him to go on to graduate school at Harvard, law school at the University of California at Berkeley, and a successful professional life. Now in his roles as president of the Dallas Mavericks Foundation and chairman of the Board of Commissioners of the Dallas Housing Authority, Ussery is giving back and inspiring others to make the kind of personal commitment that changes lives.
In addition to Ussery’s speech, the breakfast also celebrates TREC’s Community Impact Initiatives, a program in which TREC gave more than $445,000 in members’ pro bono technical assistance and $300,000 in cash to agencies in four key program areas: housing, economic development, education and the environment.
Shared Housing Center Inc.
Investment Value: $225,000 ($75,000 in cash and an estimated $150,000 in Technical Assistance services)
Shared Housing Center, Inc. was established in Dallas in 1984 to break the cycle of homelessness for the elderly, single parents with children and persons with special needs. TREC is assisting Shared Housing in the development of a new 20-unit, LEED-certified, transitional housing apartment complex in East Dallas called the “Green Haus.” This project will house single moms with children for 12 to 24 months as they transition to independent housing.
St. Anthony Foundation
Investment Value: $40,000 ($20,000 in cash and an estimated $20,000 in Technical Assistance services)
Founded in 1946, St. Anthony School in South Dallas/Fair Park is an open-enrollment public charter school that prepares students for college preparatory high schools. TREC is assisting the school in expanding to serve an additional 100 students by constructing modular classrooms and a media/technology center on land adjacent to school.
Forest Heights Neighborhood Development Corporation
Investment Value: $150,000 ($50,000 in cash and an estimated $100,000 in Technical Assistance services)
Founded in 1993, the mission of the Forest Heights Neighborhood Development Corporation is to improve the quality of life in the community around St. Phillips School (near Fair Park) by stimulating affordable housing development, creating and maintaining employment opportunities, encouraging investment, increasing safety and expanding services to residents. TREC is helping Forest Heights in the development of Phase III of the “Elder Friendly” project, which consists of duplexes that provide needed housing for seniors in the area.
Circle of Support, Inc.
Investment Value: $50,000 ($25,000 in cash and an estimated $25,000 in Technical Assistance services)
Circle of Support, Inc. operates the Girl S.M.A.R.T. and S.M.A.R.T. Boys Summer Learning Retention Programs, which are the only comprehensive community programs in the southern Dallas area that target the prevention of summer learning loss for 260 children. The $25,000 grant supports the program cost. TREC members are providing services such as assistance in locating office space and volunteers for various programs.
Uplift Education
Investment Value: $50,000 ($25,000 in cash; estimated $25,000 in Technical Assistance services)
Uplift Education provides a quality college preparatory education to students at all income levels with a focus on low-income neighborhoods near five charter schools. TREC made a $25,000 cash grant for acquisition of adjacent land at Hampton Preparatory to create two science labs and increase capacity. Members are providing engineering and property management services.
Builders of Hope Community Development Corporation
Investment Value: $166,650 ($66,650 in cash and an estimated $100,000 in Technical Assistance services)
Builders of Hope (BOH) is nonprofit community developer committed to revitalizing neighborhoods in West Dallas by providing affordable housing to families and reducing crime rates in the area. TREC is assisting BOH with its recently acquired portfolio of 26 sub-standard houses in West Dallas with a grant to underwrite appraisals, surveys and environmental studies necessary to obtain funding through the City of Dallas. TREC is also extending a $50,000 line of credit to cover BOH’s construction costs prior to implementing the project. TREC members are continuing to provide services such as structural engineering, reduced cost environmental assessments, title, architectural design and finance consulting.
Big Thought
Investment Value: $50,000 ($25,000 in cash and an estimated $25,000 in Technical Assistance services)
Big Thought was founded in 1987 with the mission to make imagination a part of everyday learning. Big Thought plans to reach 98 DISD schools (30%) within the next five years, making it one of the largest, most innovative projects of its kind in the nation. One of Big Thought’s initiatives is the “Thriving Minds After School” Program, which surrounds children and their families with high-quality arts and cultural experiences that stimulate creativity and learning. The program includes a Career and Workforce Readiness component, and TREC is working with Big Thought to develop a Real Estate curriculum for the program to introduce children to architecture, design and other creative aspects of the real estate industry.
Communities Foundation of Texas
Investment Value: $15,000 cash (plus Technical Assistance)
Participation with Communities Foundation of Texas affords a high level of TREC engagement in education at all levels, including investment of intellectual capital to influence public policy.
Additional Initiatives:
In addition to projects listed above, TREC is also providing technical assistance and ongoing project development services to the following agencies/projects:
Central Dallas Community Development, ReVision Project:
Feasibility assessments for three competing plans to redevelop two city blocks in downtown Dallas
YWCA of Metropolitan Dallas, Women’s Resource Center:
Design charrette, cost estimating, development, consulting, structural and environmental assessments and legal assistance
Innercity Community Development Corp.:
Development consultation for transit-oriented development
Dallas City Homes:
Organization capacity building and due diligence projects
Jubilee Park Community Corp.: Development consulting for seniors’ apartments, title and brokerage
Dallas County Buffalo Soldiers, Joppa Rodeo:
Engineering, business plan development and legal services
Corson added, “Through the TREC Foundation’s Community Partners Program (CPP), corporate charities, businesses and family foundations can invest directly in our Community Impact Initiatives. We thank the 2009 Community Partners Program: Bank of America Foundation, Citi Foundation, Compass Bank, Frost Bank and Wachovia Foundation (a Wells Fargo company).” TREC’s CPP is a vehicle in which businesses, foundations and financial institutions can donate funds that are coupled with TREC’s members’ expertise for specific grant recipients. For more information about the CPP, contact TREC at 214.692.3600.
Reserved tables of 10 for members are $450 pre-paid. TREC members are $45 pre-paid, $50 at the door. Costs for non-members are $75 pre-paid, $85 door at the door. There is no charge for Sustaining and Full members if pre-registered. Last year’s breakfast sold out, so reservations are encouraged before the deadline of January 18 by calling 214.692.3600, or online at www.recouncil.com. Valet parking is available for a nominal fee.
About TREC:
Founded in 1990, The Real Estate Council is a dynamic organization of approximately 1,600 commercial real estate professionals representing more than 500 companies in the Dallas area. Through investments of financial and human capital, TREC Foundation works to improve the quality of life in Dallas’ most distressed neighborhoods with programming to address job creation, child welfare, education, community revitalization, the environment and affordable housing. Since 1990 TREC has invested $7 million in cash and $75 million in pro bono professional expertise in the community. TREC is a leader of initiatives shaping the future of our community including the original $1.5 million grant spearheading Woodall Rodgers Park, and $250,000 in funding and $6.3 million in pro bono legal and title services creating the Urban Land Bank. TREC’s Government Affairs Board pursues advocacy efforts on local and statewide public policy issues.
Find out more at www.recouncil.com or by calling (214) 692.3600.