After five years of self-funded work, Stephan Hester is putting the finishing touches on a community safe haven in Houston's Fifth Ward - and he's celebrating with a free art and book swap this weekend.

Hester, who grew up just one street away from the project site, transformed two abandoned Third Ward homes into what is now a connected community space housing SweetMinds Books and Baked Goods and FrenchTown Fine Art Gallery.

The journey began when Hester acquired two vacant Third Ward homes, physically relocated them to a Fifth Ward lot and spent years connecting the two structures into a single building.