Cadence Bank Foundation leans into a 140-year legacy by supporting the 50/50 Park Partners program that helps neighbors get closer to nature, their community and their joy.

Houston-area neighborhood parks are the workhorses of the city’s parks system. They provide residents with close-to-home access to all the benefits that parks provide—a place to play, exercise, enjoy nature and socialize while contributing environmental benefits like cooling neighborhoods and mitigating flooding.

However, maintaining 377 parks covering 24,000 acres on a tight municipal budget is nearly impossible, so the Houston Parks and Recreation Department (HPRD) asks for support from the private sector to help make up funding gaps.

Enter the 50/50 Park Partners program, a collaboration between the HPRD, City of Houston, Houston Parks Board and the Greater Houston Partnership. The program’s framework gave the Cadence Bank Foundation an opportunity to play a leadership role in reinvigorating Tanglewilde Park, which sits on 4.6 acres near one of the bank’s west Houston branches and adjacent to Emerson Elementary.

It takes a village. The nearly 6,000 residents that live near Tanglewilde Park in West Houston were invited to bilingual input sessions managed by the Houston Parks Board so they could share their ideas about improvements they most wanted made to the space. Helping to cut the ribbon include: (l to r) State Representative Gene Wu, Houston Parks Board Chair-elect Cullen Geiselman Muse, Houston City Council Member (District F) Tiffany Thomas, Cadence Bank Chairman and CEO Dan Rollins, City of Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner, Houston Parks Board President and CEO Beth White, Houston Parks and Recreation Director Kenneth Allen, Houston Parks Board and Cadence Bank Board Member Deborah Cannon and  Harris County Precinct 4 Infrastructure Project Manager Aliza Geretz.
Photo credit: Anthony Rathbun, courtesy of Houston Parks Board

Cadence’s $500,000 commitment to the 50/50 Park Partners Program enabled $500,000 in matching funds from the City of Houston and Harris County. The planning started with a community listening session and survey to let park visitors share their ideas about improvements they most wanted to see done to the space.

“We were very intentional in getting involved with the 50/50 Park Partners Program because we believe our philanthropy gets a big return when we invest where our customers and teammates live, work and play. It’s a community legacy we have stood by for more than 140 years.”

Dan Rollins, chairman and CEO of Cadence Bank

Over the course of a year, improvements were made to the playground equipment, walking loop, multi-purpose athletic fields, picnic pavilion, lighting and drainage.

Area dignitaries including Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner, City Councilmember District F Tiffany Thomas, Harris County Commissioner Precinct 4 Leslie Briones, Texas State House Representative Gene Wu and HPRD Director Kenneth Allen attended an Oct. 27, 2023, ribbon-cutting ceremony to officially reopen the 57-year-old park and meet with community members involved in the project.

“I want to thank Dan Rollins and the Cadence Bank Foundation for partnering with us to make this important step forward in park equity,” said Beth White, president and CEO of the Houston Parks Board. “Thanks to Mayor Sylvester Turner and our wonderful partners, the 50/50 Parks Partners Initiative is investing in 23 parks and their communities with a fresh start.”

“Now neighbors can reconnect with their greenspace and enjoy things like playing a game of soccer, getting their 10,000 steps around the new walking path, pushing a child on a swing or having an evening picnic under a well-lit pavilion. Cadence is passionate about helping people and creating strong communities for generations to come,” Rollins concluded.

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