HOUSTON, July 2, 2019 /PRNewswire/ read it >
The State of Qatar, through its $30 million Qatar Harvey Fund, today announced a gift of $1.7 million to Multicultural Education and Counseling through the Arts (MECA), a cultural community center that provides arts and educational programming throughout Houston. The funds will be used for repairs and improvements to MECA’s historic Dow School Building. The grant will also provide 16 three-year scholarships to MECA students whose families are still recovering from Hurricane Harvey.
The announcement was made today at MECA by H.E. Sheikh Meshal bin Hamad Al-Thani, Qatar’s Ambassador to the U.S. and Chair of the Qatar Harvey Fund, who said: “Helping to provide continued access to educational resources and opportunities in the wake of Hurricane Harvey is a primary goal of the Qatar Harvey Fund. MECA has been an educational beacon in the Houston area for more than forty-two years, and we want to help ensure that it continues to brighten the lives of children for many more generations to come.”
Alice Valdez, Executive Director and Founder of MECA, said this: “We are just so grateful to Ambassador Al-Thani and the State of Qatar for their generous gift. Our vision of transforming MECA into an even greater cultural space and educational treasure for the Houston community can now be realized.”
Ambassador Al-Thani also announced grants from the Qatar Harvey Fund totaling $8.7 million. These grants are the remaining ones from the Qatar Harvey Fund, thus fulfilling the country’s pledge of $30 million for long-term recovery projects in southeast Texas in the wake of Hurricane Harvey.
Blue Triangle Community Center – $4,988,123
A grant of $4,988,123 will fund renovations to the historic Center in Houston’s Third Ward. Blue Triangle, which was badly damaged during Hurricane Harvey, has a long history of providing programs and activities for children and adults, and houses a mural by the well-known artist John Biggers.
Habitat for Humanity – $3,196,611.43
A grant of $3,196,611.43 will support approximately 64 repairs and rebuilds of homes damaged or destroyed during Hurricane Harvey in Harris, Jefferson, Orange and Refugio counties.
Rebuild Texas Fund – $549,580
In addition to the $5M grant to the Rebuild Texas Fund announced in 2018, a $549,580 supplement will support: Learning Undefeated to build out two mobile science laboratories to be deployed to schools across southeast Texas; and Target Hunger to restore warehouse and food pantry capacity in North and East Houston damaged by Hurricane Harvey
For more information about the Qatar Harvey Fund and the State of Qatar, please visit www.QatarHarveyFund.com and http://washington.embassy.qa/en.
