Community Resilience Initiatives: Building Stronger Neighborhoods in Houston

Report by Chris Servideo, Kyle Shelton, Dian Nostikasari
February 2020

Kinder Institute for Urban Research   (Houston)

Building a more resilient city starts with building resilient communities. This report defines community resilience as the ability of a neighborhood and its residents to respond to and recover from both ongoing stresses and sudden shocks. 

Finding ways to address challenges faced by residents and neighborhoods and to build on their strengths is an essential step toward driving the city forward.

Successfully supporting communities means acknowledging the wealth of work already happening within them through the efforts of individuals, community organizations and government agencies. It also requires addressing ongoing issues through collaborative action and by sharing information about best practices across communities.

Effective efforts at the neighborhood level can be sustained and amplified by plugging into broader citywide efforts in ways that better align long-term goals and influence implementation plans at both levels.