Harris County Public Health officials are preparing to open a new community center in Cypress Station that will serve as a neighborhood hub for residents to help reduce violence and crime in the area.

“That is our goal. Get them connected to the resources that they need. We want them to achieve self-sufficiency and really adopt a pro-social lifestyle,” said Lupe Washington, HCPH's director of the community health and violence prevention services division. “So if that's helping them work through some of the trauma that they've experienced because of violence or gun violence, we are there to try and help meet those needs for the participants.”

Digging deeper

The new center, the R.I.S.E. Empowerment Center, is named after HCPH’s program, R.I.S.E., that provides wraparound services to communities in need of violence prevention resources. A ribbon-cutting ceremony was held at the new facility on June 3. Once staffing needs are filled later in the year, Washington said, the facility will open to the public.

While the outreach team in Cypress Station has been working in the area since the program launched in spring 2022, Washington said officials at the center aim to continue building trust and relationships within the community. She said the initiative is supported by Harris County commissioners and works with other county initiatives including HART, the nonviolent 911 response program.



Community outreach specialists, Washington said, go out on a daily basis and engage with individuals who are at the highest risk of being perpetrators or victims of crime and helping them if they need access to jobs, and medical or mental health services.

“There is a large unhoused population in the area, and it’s about meeting them where thy are and bringing a space that they can feel safe coming into, where they won’t be judged and we can actually walk them through the process to get them connected to the services that they need,” Washington said.

The R.I.S.E. Empowerment Center is named after HCPH’s program, R.I.S.E., that provides wraparound services to communities in need of violence prevention resources. (Courtesy Harris County Public Health)
Pictured in center, Lupe Washington, HCPH’S director of community health and violence prevention services, said the new center is named after HCPH’s program, R.I.S.E., that provides wraparound services to communities in need of violence prevention resources. (Courtesy Harris County Public Health)

The details

Cypress Station was selected for the new R.I.S.E. Empowerment Center, Washington said, after county officials completed analysis in 2022 and designated that the area not only had high rates of gun violence in the county, but also lacked resources such as transportation and programming. The team at the center will follow up on intake referrals, ensuring residents get the necessary services, such as transportation and in-person assistance.