City of Houston Kicks-off National Community Development Week with MECA Groundbreaking of Dow School Restoration.

HOUSTON -- MECA 

WHAT:           The City of Houston will join communities across the
                nation in celebrating National Community Development
                Week during the week of April 17-21, 2006. Designed to
                promote public awareness of the Community Development
                Block Grant (CDBG), the observance recognizes CDBG's
                significant contributions to enhance the quality of
                life for low- and moderate-income persons in Houston.
                The City will kick-off the week with the MECA
                groundbreaking of the Dow School Historic
                Rehabilitation. The City of Houston allocated CDBG
                funds to help restore the historic Dow school
                building. The building is a three-story facility
                dating back to 1912 and is listed in the National
                Register of Historic Places.

                Founded in 1977, MECA is a community based non-profit
                organization whose mission is to promote social,
                cultural and academic development of at-risk
                inner-city youth through education in the arts. More
                than 1,500 students attend MECA and more than 3,000
                students participate in workshops and projects.

WHEN:           Monday, April 17, 2006
                5:00 p.m.

WHERE:          Multicultural Education and Counseling Through the
                Arts (MECA)
                1900 Kane Street
                Houston, Texas 77007

NOTE:           The groundbreaking was originally scheduled for April
                6, 2006, but was moved to April 17, 2006, to
                coordinate with the City of Houston's plans to
                celebrate National Community Development Week.