Houston

Tommy Garcia Prats

Tommy Garcia-Prats is one of the founders and the General Manager of Small Places LLC, a company working to address systemic issues in health through the development and practice of Community Impact Agriculture. To his work, Tommy brings over 8 years of hands-on experience in the areas of farming and farm management.

A born and raised Houstonian, Tommy began farming in 2010 as an Apprentice on a small organic farm in Maine which then led to him farming in Iowa and Nicaragua before returning to Houston in 2013. Together with his brothers, Mark and Dan, Tommy started Finca Tres Robles in 2014. Meaning “3 Oaks Farm” in Spanish, Finca Tres Robles is a 45-acre farm located used as a mixed educational agroforestry space growing seasonal fruits, vegetables, and herbs. For him, agricultural work has become a constant outlet of hope and perspective for him.

Tommy possesses a strong sense of community and is enduringly committed to serving his hometown. A commitment that is best summed up in his favorite quote from a Geoff Dyer book, which says “Everyone who lives in a neighborhood belongs to it, is part of it. The only way to opt out of neighborhood id to move out.” Tommy may have spent some of his professional life away from Houston but since 2013 he has been an active member of the East End community.

In addition to his farming work, Tommy has served as Business Liaison and then as President of the 2nd Ward Super Neighborhood Council championing initiatives to expand affordable housing opportunities and promote civic engagement among area residents.

His knowledge in agriculture and commitment to community wellness and environmental food security is incredibly valuable which he has put it to practical use feeding countless of food insecure families in the East End. Further expanding on his commitment to the health of his community, he and his brothers have expanded their community outreach during the pandemic by offering hundreds of pounds of free produce to local schools and health clinics at the beginning of the pandemic. His heroically critical efforts in agricultural innovation and view of farming as a unique avenue to community-based solutions to larger systemic issues is an asset to Houston community.

Virginia Mendoza

Virginia Mendoza, a pediatric hospice care nurse for Memorial Hermann, views her job as more of a calling than a profession. Being there for a family while their child is sick and dying takes an emotional toll more profound than most people experience during their career.

Mendoza does whatever it takes to make sure the family has time to focus on their child’s last moments. This means she may go grocery shopping, arrange an at-home visit from Santa, or speak with the funeral home in addition to doling out medications and health care. If a child dies, she’s there to help the family with the last bath and to snip locks of hair for mementos.

“Death,” she says, “is a vulnerable time and a sacred time. It’s rewarding to be with someone on that journey, to treat not just symptoms but to honor them.”

She hopes her inclusion in Monuments by Craig Walsh at Discovery Green brings awareness to the support available to families of sick children. Children eligible for hospice care can still continue treatment, she says. In fact, some children get better and “graduate” out of hospice.

Mendoza says her childhood in child protective services and as a ward of the state motivated her to be a nurse. It was an experience she survived with the help of her sister who nominated her. Now she wants to be an example for anyone else going through a similar struggle. “You don’t have to be a statistic,” she says. “Take advantage of tuition waivers and all the support available to you and keep going.”

Preston Witt

Preston Witt has spent the last 16 years working in community-based programs and interventions, but before that he spent 20 years in the corporate world. He was inspired to make that professional change by the passing of a former partner and the compassion they taught him to have for those unseen and disenfranchised by society. Currently serving as the Chief Services Officer for Harmony House, a nonprofit dedicated to serving the homeless in Houston, Witt works to support its mission by planning, developing, and managing client and community projects.

Recognizing that the system can be disappointing and nonfunctioning one, Witt does everything he can to address societal wrongs by connecting the clients he works with to the services that allow them to exit homelessness, manage their mental illness(s), access healthcare, and receive treatment for substance abuse issues. Homelessness is a systemic issue that forces individuals into a vicious cycle many are unable to escape from. Witt’s lifelong goal is to be an advocate for these individuals and help them to exit the trap. He helps them become self-sufficient by “walking with them through their journey.”

The work he does comes from the heart and his fervent desire to minimize the monumental barriers his clients have to overcome to gain access to the critical care and support they need to positively move forward with their lives. His work is an inspiration to us all.

Shirin Herman

Every refugee Shirin Herman meets in her role as a pioneer of Houston ISD’s Refugee Program has her cell phone number. It’s that attention to detail and care for people that led to her selection for Monuments by Craig Walsh at Discovery Green. When asked to summarize her work in her own words, she said, “It doesn’t take that long to help someone so even if I’m eating or something, I don’t need to eat that bad. I can help.”

For 19 years, Herman has helped students from countries such as Sudan, Somalia and Afghanistan find a place in school at HISD and to access higher education. Before taking the role, she was an English as a Second Language teacher for HISD for 17 years. Refugees often come from war torn countries and the children suffer from trauma. Some have never been to school before. While it can be difficult to adjust, they soon learn that school is a safe place where they are served breakfast and lunch. They learn that the U.S is a great country, she says. She says she hopes people realize how important it is to get refugees settled quickly into school and learning English.

Every refugee who comes to the U.S. wants an education and a job and Herman feels honored to help them achieve that goal, she says. Herman says she was motivated to work with English-learning students and refugees after coming to this country in college from Tanzania where she spoke British English. The American accent and idioms were difficult for her to learn. The experience made her realized she wanted to help others. Her passion for her job easily brings her to tears she says because she feels so lucky to witness the impact education has on these children.

Joy Sewing

An award-winning lifestyle and culture columnist for the Houston Chronicle, Joy Sewing has a life-long commitment to serving others. She credits her father Richard Sewing for helping to instill that drive when she was seven years old and watched him buy groceries for another man and his hungry daughter.

In 2015 she embarked on a campaign to bring joy back into her life. Despite her name, she felt she had lost some of that joie de vivre over the years. A former professional ice skater, she had long wanted to find a way to encourage more Black children to discover the sport. During this year she made the dream a reality by reaching out to Discovery Green, friends and coworkers. The result is a yearly ice-skating party for hundreds of children from underserved neighborhoods.

She formed Year of Joy as a nonprofit to allow her contacts and volunteers to donate in a tax-advantage manner. In addition to the yearly ice-skating party, Sewing organizes other great events such as superwoman bowling parties, movie nights and STEM educational events.

“So many people take for granted that children have joy in their life and they have fun just being a kid, but so many kids are dealing with different issues in their home environments and the day-to-day struggle of their parents,” she says. “They might not get to experience pure joy.”

Sewing, who is also a children’s book author, uses proceeds from a book she wrote about her dogs, Ava and The Prince, to help fund these activities for kids in Houston.

Material

ARTICLES

Discovery Green celebrates Houston’s unsung heroes in tree projections. By Molly Glentzer. Read here on Preview.