Established by Randle D. Howard, President of R D Howard Construction, the mission of the R D Howard Foundation, Inc., Texas non-profit corporation, is developing and supporting programs and activities to broaden the horizons of students in the less affluent southeast quadrant of Fort Worth, Texas, where he grew up.

 

The goal is to expose deserving youths to the world beyond their immediate surroundings to inspire them to excel in school and later in life while equipping them to inspire and uplift others. Growing up, his dad owned a small construction business and mother was a public-school administrator, which allowed Howard to attend summer camps, youth conferences and go on yearly summer vacations, unlike most of his peers. Howard graduated from Texas State University in San Marcos in 1981 and worked for Motorola Electronics for two years. His dad turned over the family business to him in 1983 and in 1992 the company organized and sponsored the Texas Teen Tour. For five years, Howard took a bus load of 36 at-risk kids on 4 day-3-night tours around Texas to colleges and places like Blue Bell Ice Cream in Brenham, Texas, NASA’s Johnson Space Center, and Galveston Beach.

 

In 1946, Howard’s dad started the business by building a set of concrete steps for an elderly woman for $40. Howard has grown the business with annual sales as high as $11 million and as many as 40 workers. The cities of Fort Worth, Dallas, Killeen, Arlington, Austin, and Irving are among over 40 cities the company has as clients along with businesses like Wal-Mart Stores, Lockheed Martin, Bell Helicopter, Miller Brewing, Frito-Lay, Home Depot, and entities like the DFW Airport, Amtrak, U S Army, Navy, and Air Force to name just a few. They have completed contracts in six states. Giving back has always been important to the Howards, be it youth programs, second chance jobs for ex-offenders or targeted employment outreach to special needs members of the community. In fact, the company has employed at least 12 individuals who were completely or legally blind, wheelchair bound or required mobility assistance, or had some other obvious condition that sometimes caused them to be overlooked and underutilized. In 2022, Howard’s company teamed with Linbeck Construction and was selected, as the Linbeck-Howard team, by the City of Fort Worth to oversee the construction of their new 20-story city hall facility.

 

In an effort to align with Fort Worth Mayor Mattie Parker’s - Mayor’s Commission for Persons with Disabilities, where the city leads by example the city’s commitment to diversity and inclusion, Howard recommended and Linbeck eagerly embraced hiring Ms. Rebecca Hill, who has been wheelchair bound since birth, as the very first hourly worker on the city’s milestone project. Fort Worth Teens Go 2 Ghana – 2024 Tour - is a continuation of the Howard family’s commitment to giving back to the community. As a salute to one of Randle Howard’s classmates and dear friends who was wheelchair bound her entire life, the late Cookie Russell, and his freshman year college roommate, Jamie Ferrara, who was born totally blind and deaf in one ear, Howard plans to make an extra effort to have at least one special needs student travel with the group in honor of “Cookie Russell-Jamie Ferrara”. By serving as the lead sponsor for Fort Worth Teens Go 2 Ghana, the R D Howard Foundation hopes to positively change the lives of the participants, and, thus, the entire southeast Fort Worth community. The Howard family and staff thank you for your continued patronage and support over the years, but most of all for your prayers for the success of this endeavor and safety of the participants. Others are welcome to assist in these endeavors continued success.