Meet Terence Narcisse of East Harris County Empowerment Council

Today we’d like to introduce you to Terence Narcisse.

Thanks for sharing your story with us Terence. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
In January of 2008, a childhood friend passed away from injuries in a head on car accident. During the funeral service, the preacher challenged us to live a life of purpose and begin thinking about our legacies. That message stuck with me and I became inspired to take action. I began volunteering on the weekends in our hometown of Crosby, TX. 

On July 22, 2008, we established Barrett Station Council. As a first generation college student, I juggled college studies and planned service projects for youth groups. We helped seniors and cleaned up the local cemetery where our friend was laid to rest. We eventually moved on to other projects that provided school supplies to children, Thanksgiving dinner for families and bags of joy for the elderly for Christmas. This gave our small group great joy and momentum to keep growing.

As we fell in love with the work, our group dynamics evolved as more young adults came aboard. As we tried to get things done on a larger scale, we were repeatedly turned away due to lack of the IRS designation. During the following summer, and a late night Google search, I stumbled upon a grant writing course being offered in the Houston area. The course was roughly $300, this was the same amount that I paid for my half of the rent. The following day I reached out to my landlord and she permitted me to use my rent to attend the class. At the age of 19, I found myself sitting amongst some major nonprofits from across the country. She walked us through a number of concepts and principles from mission statements to proposals. At the end of the class, she discussed the 501c (3) designation from the IRS. My eyes lit up knowing that this was a must have for our group. Of course, this was another $500 investment. I approached the instructor after the course and asked her to help me. Without delay, she told me to send her an email and she would see what she could do. Within the week, she emailed me the 501c3 Do-It-Yourself Kit free of charge. I was blown away. We organized ourselves, followed the directions and by December of that same year obtained our IRS designation.

We revisited missed opportunities. Fortunately, we were very successful and the group grew in numbers and scope. We decided to change the name to East Harris County Empowerment Council to match our regional vision and scope. I searched for courses at my university and stumbled upon a certification for nonprofit leaders. I enrolled and applied everything that I learned to the organization. We were literally flying. Things were awesome and then we started to receive tickets from Houston’s professional sports teams. More than 750 tickets were issued to us to bring youth and their families to various games. We continued with our outreach programs for Back to School, Thanksgiving and Christmas. We also started a scholarship program for high school seniors.

Our work afforded me the opportunity to sit on a variety of committees. These committees game me access to information about the internal workings and data of the area. It was then I realized that the East Harris County area was underserved and that the majority of people in the area lived in poverty. As I ventured into Houston for meetings at the United Way and other agencies, I realized that our area was forgotten. No one could tell me anything about it, where it was or what it needed. People had no clue that it was even in the same county. Frustrated and optimistic, I saw this as an opportunity to educate them. I quickly found myself becoming an advocate for this region. Our strategy shifted to creating partnerships with other agencies that did great work and were interested in serving people in our area. I decided to begin a graduate program at Houston Baptist University. I lacked the business acumen and found myself frustrated as I did not have the knowledge to manage a growing organization. It was my hope that the Masters in Business Administration would fill this gap.

At the beginning of the last semester, Hurricane Harvey struck and change our lives forever. By this time, I had developed so many relationships. Supplies, money and resources flew in by the truck load. East Harris County Empowerment Council launched the East Harris County Recovery Project. The goal of this project was to provide support for the region. Here is what we were able to accomplish through our relationships:

•Launched the East Harris County Recovery Project to efficiently and effectively disseminate information and other resources. Managed 100s of volunteers from within East Harris County as well as those that joined our locally managed efforts.

•Maintained a visible presence in the community since the Hurricane Harvey struck.

•Created an Advisory team for on-going community development.

•Acted as a liaison/advocated for the East Harris County area.

•Fed more than 500 volunteers at 2 distribution centers.

•Coordinated relief efforts with 5 agency partners.

•Distributed more than $40,000 in gift cards to storm survivors.

•Partnered with 4 local school districts to distribute relief supplies.

•Developed new partnerships with 15 agencies that are providing services in the area for the first time.

•Provided support to 4 organizations leading relief efforts.

•Received and distributed $4 million dollars of brand new products (apparel, home goods, furniture) for the
Greater East Harris County region.

•Distributed more than 500 free tickets to events and games through partnerships with the Houston Texans, Children’s Museum of Houston and Houston Dynamo.

•Partnered with the Houston Rockets, Burlington Store, Delivering Good and concerned citizens to provide a shopping spree and tablets for 50 deserving teens.

•Partnered with the Houston Rockets to provide 50 children with bicycles for Christmas.

•Provided Thanksgiving meals with turkeys and the trimmings to 200 families.

•Conducted and are providing ongoing area assessments and tours for outside agencies and partners.

•Partnered to create Christmas for 250 families.

•Designed, developed and implemented a contest for Harvey impacted student leaders and distributed donated tablets to the 50 individual winners.

•Assisted in convening community partners to create the first pop up medical clinic in the region since the only Hospital closed.

•Created an AMAZON wish list for supplies, toys and tablets and will be creating a new one for furnishings as we build the Resource HUB.

Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
It has not been a smooth road. I had to overcome the issue of being young. I was repeatedly blocked from leadership opportunities. I also was mentored by people that used me for my relationships. People that knew nothing about me found time to criticize my contributions. Many thought that I was doing this to run for office someday.

East Harris County Empowerment Council – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
East Harris County Empowerment Council is a nonprofit corporation that is exclusively focused on the eastern, unincorporated region of Harris County. We identify existing resources, programs and opportunities and bring them to our region.

All of our programs are no cost to those we serve. We are most proud of being a home-grown organization that works with the community to improve the region’s quality of life.

We are set apart by our approach to issues and our collaborative nature. We are also working in one of Houston’s historically forgotten areas.

 

Contact Info:

• Address: East Harris County Empowerment Council
  12605 East Freeway #600
  Houston, TX 77015
• Website: www.ehcec.org
• Email: info@ehcec.org
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/ehcec
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/ehcec
• Twitter: www.twitter.com/ehcec

Image Credit:
Terence Narcisse