Leaders from Third Ward, East End, Greater Northside and Independence Heights will meet with Houston city officials to present visions of their revitalized communities created through strategic visioning and planning with the University of Houston Community Design Resource Center (CDRC).

The presentations begin at 4 p.m., Friday, June 5 at the UH Gerald D. Hines College of Architecture, Room 150. A reception will follow.

"We believe design is a strategy for change," said Susan Rogers, faculty fellow and director of the CDRC. "We hope to arm these communities with the tools they need to see community and economic development in their neighborhoods that meets their needs."

The presentations follow 12 months of planning and strategizing on ways to strengthen their underserved neighborhoods by using physical design.

"The elected officials will hear about immediate projects and ones that are long term," Rogers said. "Our goal is to assist communities in realizing their visions through architecture and design. We want to focus our efforts in ways that can make a difference."

The UH Community Design Resource Center collaborates with neighborhood organizations, non-profit groups and local governments to provide technical assistance for design services, neighborhood revitalization projects and affordable housing plans.

The CDRC and its projects are supported by grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Urban Land Institute and the Local Initiatives Support Corporation.

For more information on the UH Gerald D. Hines College of Architecture, visit http://www.arch.uh.edu/index.php.

WHO:	UH Community Design Resource Center
WHEN:	4 p.m., Friday, June 5
WHERE:	UH Gerald D. Hines College of Architecture, Room 150

For directions and parking information, visit http://www.uh.edu/campus_map/buildings/ARC.php.

For more information about UH visit the university's Newsroom at www.uh.edu/newsroom.