Juhi Varma – The Katy News Journalist
The Brookshire Chamber of Commerce recently marked its first anniversary at its monthly luncheon, where members reflected on the organization’s first year, announced an upcoming membership drive and heard from keynote speaker Becah Butler, chief programs officer for the Brookwood Community.
Its formation followed the dissolution of the former West I-10 Chamber of Commerce during the COVID-19 pandemic, which left the area without a local chamber organization for several years.
“We didn’t have anything to do chamber-wise since that time,” said Pastor Sue Lyle, who attended the new chamber’s first meeting and subsequently joined its board.
Tony McAnelly, one of the chamber’s founders, identified the original group as himself, Paul McConnell of Key Insurance, Vic Morsbach of Morsbach Construction and Lyle. The chamber meets on the third Tuesday of each month and now has more than 25 members, primarily from Brookshire and surrounding communities.
McConnell described the chamber’s first year as “very up and down,” with attendance varying depending largely on the program and speaker. The first meeting filled the room, he said, while typical meetings since then have drawn about 15 to 20 people.
Speakers during the chamber’s first year have included Royal ISD Superintendent Rick Kershner, representatives of area developments and local law enforcement officials.
For McConnell, the chamber’s role is closely tied to the rapid growth taking place in and around Brookshire.
“As a chamber, we’re always looking at growth,” McConnell said. “We’re always looking at trying to make the business environment conducive to bring in more people.”
Residential development is also expanding throughout the area, he said, pointing to new subdivisions around Brookshire and between Brookshire and Fulshear.
The chamber is now preparing a membership campaign as it enters its second year.
Jackie Craver, who has previously worked with chambers in San Antonio and the Galleria area, told members the organization was ready for its next stage of growth.
“We are ready to grow, and we want and need your help in growing,” Craver said.
The campaign will officially kick off Oct. 13 with a business after-hours event. Members are encouraged to reach out to businesses and contacts throughout Brookshire, Pattison, Waller County, Katy and Fulshear.
The anniversary luncheon also highlighted one of Brookshire’s longtime institutions, The Brookwood Community, which recently joined the chamber. A nonprofit, Brookwood is residential facility and vocational program for special-needs adults.
Brookwood traces its beginnings to founder Yvonne Streit and her daughter Vicki, who was severely brain damaged after contracting mumps encephalitis as a young child. At a time when families were often encouraged to institutionalize children with significant disabilities, Streit instead searched for ways to educate her daughter.
That effort eventually led to the creation of The Briarwood School in Houston and, as Vicki and other students reached adulthood, to a new question: What would meaningful adult life look like for them?
The answer became Brookwood.
Streit acquired land in Brookshire, and by the early 1980s adults with disabilities were participating in day programs there, followed by the arrival of residential participants. Today, Brookwood encompasses 485 acres.
“Our vision is to change the way the world thinks about adults with disabilities,” Butler said.
Brookwood currently serves 265 adults, whom the organization calls “citizens,” through its residential and day programs. About 126 live on its Brookshire campus, while roughly 100 commutes to the main campus for day programming. Smaller satellite programs operate in Fort Bend County and The Woodlands.
The Brookshire campus has 13 citizen homes and a residential inn, and Brookwood is constructing two additional homes. Butler said the organization expects its residential population to grow to about 160 over the next two to three years. Demand remains high, with a lengthy waiting list for residential placement.
Central to Brookwood’s philosophy is meaningful work.
Each day, citizens work in one of several enterprises, performing jobs suited to their abilities. Some participate in the lengthy process of creating ceramic products, while others work with plants, crafts or in Brookwood’s cafe.
The work is deliberately structured so that a complex task can be divided into smaller jobs, allowing people with different abilities to contribute to the finished product.
“Our citizens know whether they’re working on something real or whether they’re just wasting their time,” Butler said. “What we know is that having real work brings purpose and worth to them.”
Brookwood’s horticulture program includes 52 working greenhouses. This year, citizens and staff began preparing for the Christmas season in August by planting more than 50,000 poinsettias.
Butler said Brookwood does not accept government funding. About half of its operating budget comes from tuition, 30 percent from donations and 20 percent from the sale of products. Scholarship assistance is an important part of the financial model, she said.
Brookwood’s citizens range in age from 21 to 78, illustrating another challenge facing families of adults with disabilities: finding appropriate housing and support as they age.
“One size definitely doesn’t fit all,” Butler said while discussing the different residential and community options available to adults with intellectual disabilities.
As Brookwood looks toward its future in a rapidly developing part of the Houston region, Butler said the organization wants to strengthen its ties with its neighbors — one reason it recently joined the fledgling chamber.
“As business grows, we’re trying to figure out where do we fit into it, just like you all are,” Butler said. “We very much want to be a part of the community.”
The chamber, meanwhile, already has programs lined up for the coming months. McAnelly said an engineer involved with the Highway 36A project is scheduled to speak in October, followed in November by the director of the Small Business Development Center at Prairie View A&M University. The chamber is also planning quarterly educational programs for small businesses next year and a holiday mixer in December.
For an organization that began with only a handful of people a year ago, McAnelly said the goal now is to keep building.
“The chamber is going to continue to grow,” he said. “We really want to get our community to come and be a part of it.”
