Empowering the Self Development of
Communities

The Molina Neighborhood

Across Corpus Christi’s Westside, this simple phrase is becoming more than a slogan. It is the sound of neighbors remembering who they are, honoring where they come from, and imagining what Molina can become when residents lead the way.

Molina is in the early emerging stage of a resident-led community development process. Through coaching, listening, and leadership formation, neighbors are learning to identify their own gifts, name what matters most, and organize around the strengths already present in their community. This long-term approach is designed to build capacity over time, with residents—not outside institutions—guiding the work of neighborhood renewal.

The process began in 2025 with a resident Listening Team, a group of Molina neighbors committed to hearing the hopes, concerns, memories, and priorities of the people who call Molina home. Early conversations revealed a deep desire for stronger relationships, renewed neighborhood pride, and a fuller celebration of local history and heritage. From those conversations, residents formed their first Action Team focused on neighborhood history. Already, more than 70 residents have been engaged, and two resident-led action teams have begun advancing priorities such as community connection, shared vision, civic investment, and meaningful partnerships.

With support from the Harte Institute, residents also brought their story to life through the “Molina Movie,” a community documentary designed, written, produced, and shared locally. Premiering at West Oso High School in 2025, the film gathered neighbors to share memories, reflect on their collective identity, and look toward a future they could shape together. The documentary became more than a film; it became a catalyst for connection and the launch of additional community-driven action.

Today, a Molina native serves as the Neighborhood Advancement Coach, mentored by CBCE’s Executive Director. Together with resident leaders, this work continues to strengthen local leadership, support action teams, and nurture a growing movement of neighbors leading their own revitalization from the grassroots up.

Molina’s story is still being written, but its direction is clear: a neighborhood reclaiming pride, deepening relationships, and building the leadership needed to shape a stronger future together.

Homeless Helping Homeless

Homeless Helping Homeless began during the uncertainty of COVID, when a community of people living outside in the Sacred Heart Catholic Church parking lot in Corpus Christi had already given themselves a name. That name—Homeless Helping Homeless—captured both their reality and their strength. They were not simply a group in need of services; they were a community caring for one another, organizing around shared concerns, and beginning to claim a collective voice.

CBCE first became connected to the community through an effort with the Catholic Diocese. What began with relationship-building and help navigating basic resources soon grew into weekly gatherings, virtual participation with agencies, birthday celebrations, internal listening, and the formation of teams around the priorities that mattered most to HHH members. From the beginning, the work centered on dignity, voice, and the belief that people experiencing homelessness must be part of shaping the systems meant to serve them.

When the community had to leave Sacred Heart, members moved through a season of instability—first near Mother Teresa Shelter, then to Cabra Park on the outskirts of town. Yet even there, living off the grid, they continued to meet, organize, and mature as a community. They used funds they had raised to support one another, developed leadership, and strengthened teams focused on shared priorities.

After safety concerns forced the community to leave the park, many members entered housing through a partnership connected to the Salvation Army. HHH used its resources to help members furnish apartments, purchase food, and make the difficult transition from survival outdoors to stability indoors. Even as some members became housed and others remained unhoused, the community continued meeting and began to focus its energy on a larger shared goal: ending homelessness in Corpus Christi.

As HHH’s leadership grew, CBCE became an institutional partner supporting the community’s commitment to systems change. Meetings with service providers, agencies, and stakeholders created a public forum where people with lived experience of homelessness could speak directly into the conversation. This effort became the Ending Homelessness Together team, which met regularly to identify the tools, partnerships, and systems needed to make homelessness rare, brief, and nonrecurring.

Through that work, HHH members and allies learned more about the local homeless response system and began participating in the Homeless Issues Partnership, the recognized local coalition connected to HUD and the Texas Homeless Network. HHH members became official participants, attended meetings, and sought to align the coalition’s work with its stated mission. Over time, however, members grew concerned that the voices of people with lived experience were not being fully recognized or respected, and they continued to advocate diplomatically for accountability, transparency, and mission-centered leadership.

Today, Homeless Helping Homeless continues to evolve from a survival community into an organized force for change. HHH representatives have raised questions about governance, compliance, and public accountability within the local homeless response system, while also helping build new action teams focused on affordable housing, advocacy, and the rebuilding of essential tools such as Coordinated Entry and the Homeless Management Information System.

The story of HHH is a story of people refusing to be defined only by homelessness. It is a story of neighbors becoming leaders, of lived experience becoming public wisdom, and of a community insisting that any effort to end homelessness must include the people who have endured it. With CBCE’s support, HHH is helping shape an emerging coalition committed to practical systems change, deeper accountability, and a future where every person has a place to belong.