March 5, 2004

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HOUSTON --When Ruby Palmer was a little girl, a stop sign and a school house were all that marked the rural farm community of Four Corners. Now, that same corner is the new home of a community building that houses the YMCA, Fort Bend County Parks and Texas Cooperative Extension.

Today Four Corners sits in the middle of the fastest-growing area of West Houston, Sugar Land and East Fort Bend County. With the rapid increase in a phenomenon known as urban sprawl, pockets of unincorporated communities, similar to Four Corners, face unique challenges. Texas Cooperative Extension's Community Development Programs address issues in many of these communities, helping neighbors organize for common goals.

"When you look back at the beginning of this project when absolutely nothing was here, we're already reaching a lot of those goals, and one of those goals was a community center where we could provide educational programs," said Bouche Mickey, Extension director in Fort Bend County, who has been working with Four Corners residents for the past decade.

Palmer was one of the original community leaders in the Four Corners Community Development organization. She said some of the biggest challenges they faced were eliminating racial division, providing community services for adults and children and updating water and sewer services.

Margie Ruiz, another Four Corners resident and community leader, was one of her strongest allies in uniting the community.

"Margie and I were the main two people to kinda push the community at all times," Palmer said. "She'd push her end and I'd push my end."

Mickey was invited to join a group of residents who were trying to establish a community center. Mickey helped the group identify other community partners who could help them meet their goals, including the county commissioner, local business leaders and a state representative. He has also helped them organize as a non-profit and to identify and apply for grants for special projects.

One of those partners was Don Poarch, an owner of Sprint Landfill. One of the landfill owners' first projects for the community was donating street lights. They also donated the land and building for the community center and extended a 20-year lease to the county.

Poarch said, "This just shows that we want to be good neighbors, and it's kind of our 'give back' for them putting up with us over the years."

Early in the process Extension began offering educational programs in the community to meet some of the human service needs. They began providing nutrition education and tobacco prevention programs to youth while meeting in a temporary building. Other agencies joined the effort, and classes were offered in English As a Second Language and graduate equivalency GED preparation. Extension will continue these and other educational programs in the new facility.

One of the biggest challenges facing the community is a water and sewer system. Residents have individual well and septic systems. Surrounding the Four Corners Community are new subdivisions with $150,000 to $300,000 homes. Each of these communities is under the jurisdiction of a municipal utilities district, which provides fresh water and sewer operations.

"The community (has been) seeing it basically wrapped by public water and sewer, and yet they were not able to access it," Fort Bend County Commissioner James Patterson said.

Until the 76th Texas legislative session in 1999, counties were prevented from participating in water and sewer projects. District 27 State Rep. Dora Olivo sponsored legislation making it possible for Fort Bend County to get involved and help Four Corners and another community, Rio Brazos. A freshwater development board has been formed, and these communities will have water systems by 2005 and sewer by 2006.

Olivo emphasized the importance of communities organizing and working together.

"Extension is really good about bringing in other people and trying to involve as many community people as possible to make the program successful," Olivo said.