Community Involvement
2nd Annual E-Recycling Day
14.5 Tons of Equipment Collected
As part of Greenway’s commitment to a greener environment the property held its 2nd annual E‐Recycling Day on May 25,2010. Customers and local residents took advantage of the event to discard 14.5 tons of electronic equipment. A convenient drop off lane in the area between 9 Greenway Plaza and the Frost Bank was manned by volunteers who unloaded vehicles and loaded the recycling trucks. Volunteers included Crescent/Greenway Plaza employees, as well as, employees from several service partners including ABM Janitorial, ABM Security and Standard Parking. 26.5 tons of equipment were collected at last year's inaugural event.
Greenway Plaza is the First Commercial Complex in Houston
with a Community Emergency Response Team
Greenway’s Team of First Responders is trained to FEMA standards
Greenway Plaza’s 21 Member Community Emergency Response Team
Greenway Plaza is the first Commercial Real Estate Complex in Houston with its own Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) trained to FEMA standards. The 21 member team made up of Crescent/Greenway Plaza team members and third-party vendor partners trained for 8 weeks through the Harris County Office of Homeland Security. The course covered disaster preparedness, fire suppression, basic disaster medical operations, light search and rescue, disaster psychology, team organization and terrorism. The terrorism module addressed how to identify situations where Biological, Nuclear, Incendiary, Chemical and Explosive agents may have been used and the protective actions that should be taken in those instances. A full scale simulated disaster including injured victims (played by volunteers) was held at the end of the course so that the team members could put the skills they learned into practice.
Community Emergency Response Team training is a Federal Emergency Management Agency program that educates citizens about the hazards they face in their community and trains them in lifesaving skills. If needed following a disaster, these citizen-responders use their training as part of a neighborhood or workplace team to help others when professional responders are overwhelmed or not immediately available. CERT members provide immediate assistance to victims in their area, organize spontaneous volunteers who have not had the training, and collect disaster intelligence that will assist professional responders with prioritization and allocation of resources when they arrive. A second CERT training class will be held in the first half of 2010 which will increase the number of Community Emergency Response Team members on Greenway’s team.
HFD Conducts Veteran Firefighter Training at Greenway Plaza
Training Program established by Greenway’s Management Team through its Partnership with HFD has now been adopted in other Metropolitan Cities
Greenway Plaza has been a training site for the Houston Fire Department since early 2002 and HFD cadets train in Greenway’s hi-rise buildings on a quarterly basis. Over the years, HFD has used the buildings for elevator and high-rise fire rescue training including repelling techniques. On December 12, 2009, six companies of HFD veterans donned full gear for a training exercise that involved running stairwells and live search and rescue through smoke-filled floors. Amid flashing strobes, alarms and automated announcements, firefighters advanced charged hose lines, located the fire source and rescued downed occupants and comrades.
This simulation included the use of Fire & Life Safety Systems within the building. Elevators were placed in Phase II fire service mode and fireman’s phones, key sets, emergency plans and diagrams were available while an Incident Commander coordinated the events from the fire control room. The exercise lasted the better part of the day and was a huge success. The next veteran training exercise will be held at Five Greenway Plaza on December 29, 2010.
Greenway’s partnership with HFD is mutually beneficial, the hands-on training the firefighters receive on-site provides them with experience that will assist them in any hi-rise fire event within the community, while also creating a familiarity with the Greenway campus that will mitigate many potential challenges if managing an actual fire scene should occur on property.
Houston FACES of Change partnerships inducted into the prestigious HISD "Hall of Fame"
Crescent Real Estate Equities was one of four partners inducted into the HISD Partners Hall of Fame Wednesday, November 30, during a ceremony honoring corporate and community partners of the Houston Independent School District. Jim Wilson, senior vice president property management Houston region, accepted the award on behalf of Crescent. Jim made a brief speech in which he thanked the many Crescent employees, customers and business partners who donate their time and material goods to enhance the lives of students and teachers in Houston schools.
Since 1997, Crescent has partnered with seven HISD schools and contributed more than $800,000 and over 12,000 hours of volunteer hours. Projects include installing wiring for computer labs, funding for field trips, e-mentoring programs, landscaping, new playground equipment, book drives, school supplies, office equipment, and much more. Current Houston FACES of Change partnerships comprise Houston Center partnered with Blackshear Elementary, Greenway Plaza partnered with Longfellow Elementary and Post Oak Central partnered with Thomas J. Pilgrim Academy.
Representatives from more than 350 corporate and community organizations, along with 250 school representatives, attended the partnership appreciation breakfast on Wednesday, which was emceed by the KPRC-Channel 2 Houston news anchor. The four Hall of Fame inductees were Baylor College of Medicine Teen Health Clinic, Crescent Real Estate Equities, Gallery Furniture, and Jewish Women International. Each organization received a beautiful etched crystal vase in recognition of their contributions.
Congratulations to all the Houston FACES of Change volunteers for this well deserved acclamation!
Patterson Elementary School "spruces" up -- with the addition of some "shady characters."
As Patterson Elementary School's corporate sponsor through Crescent's FACES of Change® program, and a supporter of Trees For Houston, Greenway Plaza volunteers were invited to participate in a School Tree Planting on Saturday, January 29, 2005. Friends and family of Greenway's FACES of Change program and Trees For Houston along with students and teachers from Patterson Elementary planted twenty 15 gallon trees along the west perimeter of the school which have all taken root and are doing magnificently.
The Trees for Schools project presented educational programs to Patterson and other Houston area elementary schools that are designed to demonstrate the benefits of preservation and the basic physiology of urban trees. The educational program encourages lasting urban forestry awareness by creating a more informed community through education and heightened awareness of the importance of trees in an urban environment.
The game "Wheel of Literature" (above) was created as a loose spin off of the show Wheel of Fortune and was built by FACES volunteers Doug Hager & Alex Hernandez.
Greenway Continues Partnership with Patterson Elementary School
The 2004-05 partnership was kicked off with the Harvest of Literature Festival of fun and learning. Over 800 students from Patterson Elementary School enjoyed the school's annual "Harvest of Literature Festival" with Greenway Plaza's FACES of Change® volunteers on October 28th. More than 18 volunteers from Greenway Plaza took part in the day's activities where the students delighted in the opportunity to dress up and take part in games and activities.
Patterson Elementary a literature magnet school in the Houston Independent School District (HISD) has an enrollment of 825 students attending kindergarten through fifth grade. More than 25 percent of the students speak limited English.
Greenway Plaza is Named Winner of Heart of Intown Award
Greenway Plaza and its customers have been awarded the Heart of Intown Corporate Award for its FACES of Change business-to-school partnership with Houston Independent School District. Given annually by the Houston Intown Chamber of Commerce, this honor is awarded to businesses who display a superior commitment to the Houston community. The award was presented February 12th during the Heart of Intown Awards Luncheon & Annual Meeting at the Houston Renaissance Hotel. We would like to thank the following customers and service partners for their commitment to FACES of Change and the students at Patterson Elementary: Bisys, Cornerstone Consulting Group, First American Title, FKP Architects, FuelQuest, Haworth, Omicron, PBK Architects, Qwest Communications, Renaissance Houston Hotel, Rimkus Consulting Group, Standard Parking, ABM Janitorial, Cactus Builders, Hou-Scape, TREK, Underwriters Indemnity, and Weinstein, Spira and Company.
To volunteer for FACES or to participate in any of our programs, contact us at 713.966.3980.
