Leaders of St. Francis Assisi TMO and Gulf Coast Leadership Council (GCLC) organized a workshop led by Dr. Esmaeil Porsa, President and CEO of Harris Health System to educate members of the church and community about key health issues facing African American communities. Dr. Porsa provided an engaging and informative overview of health conditions wi such as hypertension, diabetes and high cholesterol which undermine the health and wellness of our communities. GCLC and TMO leaders worked closely with Dr. Porsa and Harris Health to pass the district's $2.5 Billion bond election in November, 2023 that will invest over $2 Billion in the campus of LBJ Hospital which is just across the 610 N Loop from St. Francis Assisi.
Leaders also discussed ongoing efforts to oppose current plans to build a concrete crushing plant only 400 yards from the LBJ campus. After the bond election, GCLC and TMO leaders learned that a company is seeking to obtain an air permit from the Texas Commission for Environmental Quality (TCEQ) to build the plant. Members of St Francis, New Pleasant Grove Baptist Church, Our Mother of Mercy Catholic and New Hope Baptist have have led the fight and generated over 600 comments to TCEQ against granting the permit and over 2,000 letters to Gov. Abbott and Lt Gov. Patrick expressing their opposition to the plant being located next to the LBJ campus.
GCLC is educating TMO leaders about the the health risks for elderly and medically vulnerable neighbors, including those in the hospital complex itself that a plant of this sort will create. Harris County has filed suit asking a court to reverse the TCEQ decision to grant the air permit to build the plant.