Mayor Sylvester Turner and Houston Health Department Open Sunnyside Health and Multi-Service Center
Style Magazine Newswire | 1/30/2023, 11:32 a.m.
Mayor Sylvester Turner and the Houston Health Department opened the first combined health and multi-service center in the Sunnyside community today, offering a new state-of-the-art facility to better support the underserved community.
The new Sunnyside Health and Multi-service Center located at 4410 Reed Rd., offers more than 57,000 square feet of combined community service-oriented, multi-service center, and health center programs in one facility.
“This new facility has been a long time coming for the Sunnyside community and this community has long been a focus of my Complete Communities initiative,” said Mayor Sylvester Turner. “They now have access to a magnificent health and multi-service center in one state-of-the-art facility.”
The facility is the first of its kind for the Sunnyside community with a large two-story indoor atrium connecting the health and multi-service areas. The new $25.8 million center replaces the nearby 30-year-old former Sunnyside Health Center and Sunnyside Multi-Service Center.
A large auditorium, conference rooms, classrooms will be available for use by community and non-profit organizations and there's an on-site public charging station that houses six pay-and-go charge points for electric vehicles.
The center also has a quarter-mile walking trail open daily for exercise, a community garden for volunteers to help maintain and a fitness room.
The health and multi-service center will also showcase two original public art pieces created by local artists commissioned by the Mayor's Office of Cultural Affairs (MOCA). The pieces will provide Houstonians and visitors an opportunity to engage with art in public spaces.
“I was delighted to be a part of the unveiling of Sunnyside’s new health and multi-service center, which is located in my congressional district. I thank Mayor Turner for demonstrating good stewardship of tax dollars with the construction and unveiling of this multi-service center. The opening of this health center was facilitated by the millions of fungible federal dollars that benefit the overall growing demand across Houston for health and community services, as well as this health and multi-service center,” Congressman Al Green said. I eagerly await to see how this new health and multi-service center will transform the lives of Sunnyside residents and encourage them to lead healthier lifestyles.”
Services include immunization, dental, family planning, sexual health, tuberculosis, a Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) center, and programs for mental health, new mothers, and seniors.
According to data from the Houston State of Health, more than 46 percent of families in Sunnyside received SNAP benefits in 2022 compared to Houston overall at 61 percent, and the number of people with disabilities living in poverty is more than 40 percent compared to the city, at 28 percent.
“There is no doubt this expansion to a combined health and multi-service center was long overdue in the Sunnyside community,” said Houston Health Department Director, Stephen L. Williams. “We are all passionate about providing access and equity and this center will go a long way towards achieving that positive outcome.”
For more information on programs, services, and hours at the new Sunnyside Health and Multi-Service Center people can call 832-395-0069 or visit the center’s website.