Houston City Council members unanimously approved an ordinance Sept. 9 to provide $1.79 million in additional housing opportunities for The Montrose Center.

The Montrose Center is a cultural hub and community center for the city's LGBTQ+ community. The center hosts dozens of social and civic organizations and provides services ranging from counseling and substance use recovery to HIV testing and disease prevention.

Current situation: Houston officials approved the extension of an existing contract between the city and the center to provide up to $1.79 million in Housing Opportunities for Persons with AIDS funding to be used as follows:

• $915,000: Tenant-based rental assistance for 78 households

• $525,000: Short-term rent, mortgage and utility assistance for 110 households

• $20,000: Permanent housing placement services for 11 households to help prevent homelessness

• $210,000: Supportive services such as case management, mental health counseling and substance abuse counseling

• $121,846: Administrative uses

The Montrose Center was originally selected for the Housing Opportunities for Persons with AIDS (HOPWA) federal funding grant in March 2025. The current agreement began Sept. 2, 2025, and was set to expire Sept. 30, 2026. City Council's vote extends the agreement by one year through Aug. 31, 2027.

Officials with the Ismaili Center in Houston announced Sept. 3 that they have partnered with Jackson & Company, a high-end event production and catering company, to launch a new all-day café at the cultural landmark.

The setup: Tapestry at Ismaili Center is an approximately 2,000-square-foot café located on the street level that offers continuous service from morning through late afternoon, with extended evening hours on Fridays and Saturdays, according to a Sept. 3 news release.

On the menu: Per the release, the menu blends international influences with "familiar local sensibilities." Morning offerings include fresh pastries such as:

• pistachio baklava croissants

• raspberry rose

• cinnamon-cardamom scones with maple glaze

• chai snickerdoodles

The menu will also offer globally inspired breakfast dishes, including shakshuka, avocado toast, egg bhurji croissants, beef kolaches and breakfast tacos served on flaky paratha.

More information: In addition to the food offerings, Tapestry's beverage program will draw inspiration from international traditions with choices such as house-made masala chai, teh tarik, specialty coffees, fresh juices, mango lassis and smoothies.

• 2323 Allen Parkway, Houston

Kinder Children’s Cancer Center, a new medical facility in the works between The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center and Texas Children’s Hospital, received a $10 million commitment from the Robert R. and Kay M. Onstead Foundation, according to a Sept. 9 news release.

The philanthropic gift will support the future center’s capital projects and further its mission to find a cure for childhood cancer, officials said.

Taking a step back: In May 2025, the collaborating institutions obtained their lead funding source for a multiyear campaign geared toward securing development funds.

The source—a $150 million donation from the Kinder Foundation—put into motion shared plans to construct the Kinder Children’s Cancer Center, the nation’s largest comprehensive cancer center dedicated exclusively to children and the acceleration of drug development, Community Impact previously reported.

What you need to know: Information from the Kinder Foundation’s website states that the Kinder Children’s Cancer Center began operating earlier this year using existing Texas Children’s facilities.

Officials said via news release that planning is currently underway for the new center’s construction. However, a timeline for the project is unclear as of press time.

The joint facility is slated to be located on the 6700 block of Main Street in the Texas Medical Center.

The Harris County Commissioners Court denied a recommendation for County Treasurer Carla Wyatt to receive a 30% raise. As a result, Wyatt will not join the slate of other county elected officials who received pay raises this year.

What happened: The county’s eight elected constables, the district attorney, county attorney, district clerk and tax assessor-collector will earn $305,000 annually.
The court approved those raises in August. Per an Aug. 24 press release, Harris County Clerk Teneshia Hudspeth denied the raise.

Zooming in: The recommendation came as the county seeks to shutter the treasurer’s office. As part of its legislative priorities, Harris County officials will ask the state House and Senate to approve cutting the office. Other large counties in Texas, such as Galveston and Tarrant, have eliminated their treasurer’s offices.

Across Texas, the taxes that homeowners pay to their local school districts went down by about 13.6% in 2025, one state senator found.

The overview: Across the board, many Texas counties mailed out reduced property tax bills for the 2025 tax year, Sen. Paul Bettencourt, R-Houston, reported. During a Sept. 1 hearing of the Senate Local Government Committee, he said the average homeowner's property tax bill went down by about $140 last year, falling from $1,037 per year in 2024 to $896 per year in 2025.

Texas' 2026-27 budget includes $51 billion in property tax relief, previous Community Impact reporting shows. Unless the legislature rolls back existing tax exemptions, the state will be required to spend that much or more on tax relief in future bienniums.

How it works: The state does not charge property taxes, meaning homeowners are taxed by local entities such as school districts, cities, counties and municipal utility districts. The Texas Legislature, however, can place limits on how much local governments raise taxes annually and require tax exemptions for certain groups.