Gwendolyn Carter, Past President, Prairie View Retired Teachers

Gwendolyn Carter, past president of Prairie View Retired Teachers, spoke with Invest: about housing, local services, and the relationship between the city and its university community. “We need more businesses here,” Carter said, pointing to opportunities for stores, restaurants, and places for residents to gather.

What makes Prairie View feel like home, and what is important to preserve as the city grows?

I’ve lived in Prairie View for almost 70 years, and my husband and I raised three children here. It was a safe place to live, and it still is to me. It’s a wonderful place to raise children, although we don’t have all the organizations we had when my children were growing up. We had Jack and Jill, and we still have Boy Scouts, but we don’t have Girl Scouts here now.

My husband was a professor and worked at Prairie View for 50 years. I received my master’s in special education at Prairie View and worked as a special education teacher for 43 years.

We need more businesses here. We don’t have a store, so we have to go to other communities or Houston to shop. We have a good police department that encourages us to protect our homes so we can be safe. We have Jones Elementary here, but children go to Waller for high school.

What gives Prairie View its distinctive character?

I’ve enjoyed living in a place where I could raise my children safely and where they had activities to participate in. We also go to the Prairie View A&M campus for events. We’re invited to the theater when there are plays, and I love seeing the students perform.

Recently, I went to a documentary at Hobart Taylor about a woman who grew up in Prairie View and was born at the hospital on campus. Being able to participate in activities at the university is one of the things that makes living here unique.

Which additions would make the biggest difference for families and longtime residents?

We need more housing, including subdivisions. The subdivisions we have now are old, and I think more people would come to live here if we built more. Houses are being built, but we need subdivisions where people can buy homes and make Prairie View their home.

We also need university professors to live here. When I first came, they had to live in Prairie View to work at the university. Now, most professors live in other cities and drive in because we don’t have the housing and subdivisions for them here. Stores and restaurants would be an asset, too, so residents wouldn’t have to go elsewhere to shop and eat.

We have a park, but it isn’t well equipped for children to go after school or during the summer for activities and play. Having that would be an asset to Prairie View and help it keep growing.

What would help strengthen the connection between the university community and city residents?

We need a community center specifically for Prairie View. The Waller County Community Center is available, but we need one for our own community. There are a lot of organizations here, and we don’t have a place to meet. We meet in churches or go to Houston, Hempstead, and Waller, where we rent community centers for our meetings. We should have a center right here where people can attend activities and organizations can meet.

What should newcomers understand about the community and the people who have shaped it?

I think this is an ideal place to live. If newcomers get involved in the community and bring their ideas, we can put those ideas together and make it even better.

Nice restaurants would give us places to eat here. A hotel would provide somewhere for visitors to stay, whether they’re passing through or coming to university games. That would also bring income into our city.

How do you contribute to the community, and how can residents become more involved?

I’ve delivered Meals on Wheels for 15 years or more. When the program started, we were told that without community volunteers, they couldn’t bring the meals. The meals come from Fort Bend, and we pick them up and deliver them to elderly residents who need them. Some wouldn’t have a hot meal that day without the program.

I’m the immediate past president of the retired teachers here in Prairie View. We donate books and supplies to schools so students who can’t buy the materials have something to work with.

I’m also involved in Top Ladies of Distinction, which has a teen group called Top Teens of America. We hold a monthly senior day at the Waller County Community Center in Prairie View. We have bingo, guest speakers, and art activities, and we feed the people who attend. People come from Waller, Hempstead, and Prairie View to enjoy themselves.

I’m a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., and a deputy registrar. I go to campus to register students to vote. I also provide applications for older people who can’t get to the polls so they can receive ballots and vote by mail.

My church awards a scholarship each year to its high school graduates, and I work with that program. I also work with scholarships through the other organizations I’ve mentioned. My sorority provides a $3,000 scholarship for each of three Waller County schools, in Brookshire, Waller, and Hempstead, and I serve on that committee.

What else would you like to highlight about living in Prairie View?

I love living here, and I’ve made a lot of friends. My daughter is taking up the community work I’ve been doing; today she took a resident to the doctor. We love doing things for people, and I make myself available when they need me.

It’s quiet, and it’s easy to know your neighbors and for them to know you. We visit each other and do things together. I love that we’re small enough to know our neighbors and enjoy being together.