Hermanowski Family Foundation Initial Request Form<\/p>\n
Organization Name: Nature Discovery Center
\nLegal Name (if Different): Darenda Dorsey
\nAlso Known As:
\nMailing Address: 7112 Newcastle St
\nCity: Bellaire
\nState: Texas
\nPostal Code: 77401
\nMain Phone: (713) 667-6550
\nMain Fax:
\nOrganization Website: naturediscoverycenter.org
\nEmployer ID Number:
\nOrganization Tax Status: 74-2132718<\/p>\n
Proposal Information<\/p>\n
Today’s Date: 2\/20\/2026
\nRequested Amount: 5,000<\/p>\n
Project Title: Nature Discovery Center: Enchanted Woods Nature Play Space & Classroom
\nProject Description:<\/p>\n
Every child deserves a space where imagination knows no bounds and nature feels like home. The Enchanted Woods Nature Play Space & Classroom will bring this vision to our park and create a magical place rooted in learning, discovery, and playful adventure. The Enchanted Woods will reimagine the existing nature play area in the south corner of Russ Pitman Park as an immersive, ever-changing landscape. Here, children will be free to climb, dig, splash, build, invent, and uncover the wonders of the natural world.<\/p>\n
Throughout the play space, children and caregivers will discover thoughtfully designed features including the Overlook Deck, sensory bins, parent seating areas, a play hut, water runnel and pump, dry creek, mulch paths, elevated boardwalk and more. Together, these elements will help create a landscape rich with movement, discovery, and connection to nature.<\/p>\n
Over the past two years, the Nature Discovery Center has partnered with TBG Partners to design a play environment rooted in child development, nature education, and joyful exploration. With the design nearing completion, the Board of Directors has selected Forney Construction to bring this vision to life, marking an exciting milestone as the project moves toward construction. We hope that Hermanowski Foundation will join us in our next chapter at the Nature Discovery Center.<\/p>\n
Total Project Budget: 2,000,000<\/p>\n
Other Funding
\nSources For The Project (Committed & Potential): We are deeply grateful for the generous support of leading philanthropic partners and community donors who have helped move this project forward. To date, we have raised $1,397,919, reaching 65% of our overall fundraising goal. Major support has been provided by the Brown Foundation, Cullen Foundation, Elkins Foundation, Fondren Foundation, Halliburton Charitable Foundation, Robert L. Cook Charitable Fund, Trees For Houston, The West Endowment, The Wortham Foundation, Inc., CenterPoint Energy, and The Williams Stamps Farish Fund. In addition, we are thankful for the commitment of Patrons for Bellaire Parks and numerous individual donors whose generosity reflects strong community investment in this initiative. Their collective support demonstrates broad confidence in the project\u2019s impact and brings us significantly closer to full funding.<\/p>\n
Project Duration: 1-2 years with groundbreaking construction starting fall 2026
\nGeographical Area Served: Houston region, Texas, Harris County, Bellaire TX
\nAge Group To Be Served: All ages – focused on early childhood development ages preschool to middle school. <\/p>\n
Contact Information<\/p>\n
Contact Prefix (Mr,Mrs etc.): Mrs.
\nContact First Name: Darenda
\nContact Last Name: Dorsey
\nContact Title: Development Director
\nContact Phone: 832-343-7970
\nContact Email: ddorsey@naturediscoverycenter.org<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Hermanowski Family Foundation Initial Request Form Organization Name: Nature Discovery Center Legal Name (if Different): Darenda Dorsey Also Known As: Mailing Address: 7112 Newcastle St City: Bellaire State: Texas Postal Code: 77401 Main Phone: (713) 667-6550 Main Fax: Organization Website: naturediscoverycenter.org Employer ID Number: Organization Tax Status: 74-2132718 Proposal Information Today’s Date: 2\/20\/2026 Requested Amount: […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9230","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-grants"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/hermanowskifoundation.org\/members\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9230","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/hermanowskifoundation.org\/members\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/hermanowskifoundation.org\/members\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/hermanowskifoundation.org\/members\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/hermanowskifoundation.org\/members\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=9230"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/hermanowskifoundation.org\/members\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9230\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9231,"href":"http:\/\/hermanowskifoundation.org\/members\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9230\/revisions\/9231"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/hermanowskifoundation.org\/members\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=9230"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/hermanowskifoundation.org\/members\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=9230"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/hermanowskifoundation.org\/members\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=9230"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}