The Brookwood Community was founded in 1983 for adults with intellectual and/or physical disabilities preventing them from living and working independently.
The heart of Brookwood is reflected in its Mission Statement and Purpose:
Through the Grace of God, The Brookwood Community provides an educational environment that creates meaningful work, builds a sense of belonging, and awakens genuine purpose in the lives of adults with disabilities.
Our purpose is to provide opportunity through education so that Brookwood Citizens will:
• Acquire meaningful skills and work in The Brookwood Community’s own business enterprises
• Experience the pride that accompanies the ability to contribute to one’s own support, and to the community in which they live
• Grow professionally, socially, emotionally, and spiritually.
Our vision: To change the way the world thinks about adults with disabilities.
Now celebrating our 41th year, 240 adults are currently Citizens of the Brookwood Community: 113 residential Citizens live at Brookwood’s Brookshire campus full time; another 100 adults participate in our day program at Brookwood’s main campus and 20 work at Brookwood Grand Parkway inside Gallery Furniture, with ten working at our Woodlands program located at the Woodlands Methodist Church.
We are a diverse community! Our population includes adults with autism spectrum disorders, intellectual disabilities, developmental disabilities, traumatic brain injury, dual diagnosis, and/or aging care needs. We celebrate our cultural and ethnic diversity, too.
Our beautiful 485-acre campus in Brookshire is a serene setting with ten group homes, six single-family staff homes, a residential inn, health and dental clinic, Worship Center, education and enterprise building, activities and administration building, 48 greenhouses, Gift and Garden Center and Café, and several other support buildings.
How do we afford this substantial effort? Our programs are funded through a enterprise revenues, tuition (many families need and receive over $1 million in tuition aid from Brookwood annually), and private sector donations (individuals, corporations, foundations, churches, and civic groups). Brookwood has operated independent of government funding since its inception.
The "Business" of Brookwood
• Horticulture began with two greenhouses and a small tree farm and has grown to 48 greenhouses with specialized environments for bedding plants, plant propagation, transplanting, and showroom/sales. Our Citizens grow approximately 200,000 plants each year. Plants are sold to the general public and wholesale customers.
• Handcrafts started as a small individual workshop and now includes large studios for the production of stone casting, ceramics, and engraved products.
• Food packaging includes Brookwood’s famous Mesibov salad dressing and private-labeled products.
• A shipping and packaging operation for mail order and online sales.
• The Café at Brookwood is open six days a week for lunch. The Café provides additional jobs for our Citizens and serves hundreds of customers each week with a unique “gourmet” dining experience.
• Weddings, receptions and catering are other revenue producing activities. Brookwood’s Chapel is a beautiful country venue for a wedding.
The Gift and Garden Center and Café are located at 1502 FM 1489, Brookshire, TX 77423. Café reservations are recommended: 281-375-2400
• Our online store features a variety of products available at www.brookwoodstore.org.
