Neighborhood Centers speak to Optimist club

Neighborhood Centers Inc plans to build a building on the East Aldine Town Center campus

EAST ALDINE – The Aldine Optimist club heard a presentation last Wednesday at their lunch meeting, from Carlos Pax and Jose Rivera regarding plans for NCI to build a new building in the Town Center that would offer Aldine residents job training, academic classes, tax center, a credit union, small shops, and other services that residents are asking for.

The speakers explained that they are in the midst of 100 interviews of local residents, to determine what services are needed in Aldine, and them NCI will tailor their new facility to meet these needs along with partners.

Neighborhoods Centers currently has over 70 locations throughout the Houston area, but most of these are in conjunction with other agencies.

Types of facilities or services offered through NCI include Neighborhood Centers, Economic Development, Healthy Start, Early childhood Development, Charter Schools, Head Start Centers, School-based Head Start Centers, Workforce offices, Utility Assistance & Weatherization, Disaster Recovery, Veteran Services, and Senior Centers.

Rivera said that NCI currently operates two free standing neighborhood centers, and East Aldine would be the third.

Based on interviews that he had conducted to date, Rivera said that some of the services requested have been tax center, credit union, citizenship services, small retail shop space, workforce job provision and training, youth programs, and a “business incubator” a special type of space that would be flexible and help people start-up their own businesses.

NCI has indicated they will build a 20,000 square foot building on the Town Center site, and it will contain many of the services mentioned above as a need for the community.