Industry Collaboration For Greater Good

CoreNet Global is an association for corporate real estate professionals and industry affiliates with over 9,000 members around the world, including Page. Local chapters provide venues for networking, idea generation - and community service. The Houston chapter Community Reinvestment Committee (CRC) hosts their main service project every spring and Page Principal / CoreNet CRC member Steve Edwards put together a team of Page volunteers to help create an urban community garden for an underprivileged area of town this year.

The garden will benefit residents of a historic part of Houston that is home to a wide range of ethnically diverse residents, 62% of whom were identified as living below the poverty line in the 2000 census. In recent years, efforts to improve the quality of life have been successful in some areas but today there are still virtually no national retailers such as Wal-mart or Target, and restaurants such as McDonald's are recent additions, located only along the relative safety of the interstate. 

Volunteers constructed nursery tables with shade canopies, aquaponic ponds and painted pre-fabricated tool sheds. Others planted starter plugs, trees and shrubs that locals will be able to use and sell at local farmers' markets. The non-profit for which the garden was constructed also offers educational courses in sustainable urban agriculture and healthy nutrition. To see images of the efforts, click through the above gallery. Thanks to the Pagers who took time out of their weekend to participate, to create the graphic design for the event invitation and tee shirts and to the firm for its financial support.