-Al Green
Texas State Representative
After 18 months of intensive renovations with a $10 million federal grant, the Catalina Apartments at 11555 Bissonnet officially reopened with a ribbon-cutting and celebration August 25, 2012.
The rededication festivities included a tour of the complex, with special focus on its on-premises food bank that serves not only the apartment residents, but the entire Alief community. The apartment complex also features an emergency/security center, a mosque for Muslim residents, and its own Boy Scout troop, which presented the flags during the ceremonies.
Catalina Apartments, owned by International Management District Vice Chairman Fred Bhandara, is home to many families, including some who relocated to Houston after Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans in 2005. The renovation required temporary shifting of residents to other apartments and to 17 trailers donated by the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
Among the dignitaries joining Green for the rededication ceremony were Houston City Councilman Mike Laster and former Councilman M. J. Khan. Rev. Jimmie Irving and his wife, Barbara, founders of Houston’s Project L.I.F.T., also attended. Irving said he hopes Catalina will serve as a pilot program and an example for other Houston apartment complexes.
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