Media Advisory
April 20, 2005
Zina Garrison All Court Tennis Academy to Dedicate Academy in East End
Who: Zina Garrison All Court Tennis Academy
What: Dedication of Houston’s newest Zina Garrison Tennis Academy in the East End
Where: Community Family Centers, 7524 Avenue E
Date/Time: Wednesday, April 27 at 3 p.m.
Speakers:
- Zina Garrison, Olympic medalist
- Carla Cooper, St. Luke’s Episcopal Health Charities
Background:
Funding from the Zina Garrison Academy will enable several tennis courts to be built at the Community Family Centers and pay for Academy staff members to teach tennis and other life skills to approximately 300 area children. Children at three elementary schools will also be introduced to tennis through the Academy’s community outreach programs.
The Zina Garrison All Court Tennis Academy was founded in 1993, and currently provides tennis lessons to children in two other Houston locations: the Homer Ford Tennis Center at MacGregor Park and the Memorial Park Tennis Center at Memorial Park. To date, the Academy has served more than 15,000 children. At no cost to the children or their families, the Academy intervenes in the lives of at-risk youth during one of the highest risk times for children. Interaction with tennis coaches, adult mentors and especially with other children encourages Academy participants to foster respect for other people, establish goals and value diversity.
St. Luke’s Episcopal Health Charities will also be announcing the funding of the playground for La Casa de los Niños - Barbara Bush, an early childhood education center for 250 children. Both the tennis courts and the playground are designed to provide healthy physical activities for children, an important objective because of increasing childhood obesity rates. Complementing the new facilities will be the John P. McGovern, M.D. Community Sports and Recreation Building. All form part of Community Family Centers’s capacity-building campaign for community services and education.
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St. Luke’s Episcopal Health System comprises the flagship St. Luke’s Episcopal Hospital in the Texas Medical Center, founded in 1954 by the Episcopal Diocese of Texas; St. Luke’s Community Medical Center-The Woodlands, opened in 2003; St. Luke’s Episcopal Health Charities, the largest charity in Houston devoted to health; and Kelsey-Seybold Management, LLP, overseeing 21 area clinic locations. St. Luke’s Episcopal Hospital is home to the Texas Heart Institute, founded in 1962 by Denton A. Cooley, MD., and consistently ranked among the top 10 cardiology and heart surgery centers in the nation by U.S. News & World Report. St. Luke’s was the first hospital in Texas named a Magnet hospital for nursing excellence and the Health System has been recognized by Fortune as among “100 Best Companies to Work For” (2002, 2004, 2005) and by the Houston Business Journal as the top healthcare employer in Houston for three consecutive years.
