Rick Lowe of Project Row Houses talks to Jeffrey Brown about his advice for young people hoping to help their community. A project fostering community growth in Houston’s Third Ward could help inspire young people to create change in their communities. Project Row Houses is an artist community that provides space for locally-oriented businesses, art and social services. The houses provide temporary shelter for single mothers as well as long-term subsidized housing. Current projects in the space include a co-op that aims to bring fresh fruits and vegetables into the neighborhood as well as a live radio station. The community began when Rick Lowe, a Houston-based artist, and several others bought 22 homes in the Third Ward. The neighborhood, located in a mixed-income part of Houston, played an important role in the civil rights movement but struggled with drugs and crime in the early 1990s. Lowe said he hoped Project Row Houses could serve as a foundation for lasting improvement to the neighborhood. Assata Richards, director of the Young Mothers Residential Program, said that Project Row Houses helped support her while she earned a college degree and Ph.D. “What I believe is art and creativity has the potential to transform the lives of individuals and lives of a community,” Richards said. Young people have the ability to contribute positive change to their neighborhoods, Lowe told PBS NewsHour correspondent Jeffrey Brown. “You just have to show up and take a stand…and keep doing it, consistently,” he said. For more coverage on the ways young people give back to their communities, check out Student Reporting Labs' Giving Back series.