Hello District 12,
For many years, Homelessness has been a top concern for residents of Dallas in the annual survey of resident's opinions. For the last 15 years, Dallas has underfunded services to address the growing number of people experiencing homelessness, and the number of homeless encampments continues to grow all over the city.
Throughout the last 6 months, District 12 has been talking about the City of Dallas' Be The Difference campaign which seeks to put a homeless facility in each council district. Updates about the D12 project have been included in the D12 enews and a frequent question in D12 virtual town hall meetings. Here's the highlights on the development of this project and community engagement:
- This plan was briefed to city council in June 2020.
- In June, the D12 Citizen Homelessness Commissioner, Kevin Cooper, was the special guest at a D12 virtual town hall.
- In July, a D12 community imagination session was held, asking what kind of shelter would be best for Far North Dallas. The strong consensus was a family shelter.
- Later in July, a D12 community learning session with a national expert on family homelessness, Diane Nilan was held.
- D12 residents have been invited to listen in on two panel discussions where I spoke about this project, one hosted by Guudwear with the Stewpot and Austin Street Shelter, and one by the Dallas Area Young Lawyers with Family Gateway and City Square.
- Additional D12 town hall meetings have featured James Thomas, Plano ISD Homeless Liaison, and Ellen Magnis, CEO of Family Gateway, the largest family homeless program in Dallas.
- Last Monday, another town hall was held that was focused on this project.
Last month, the City Council voted to utilize $2 million dollars in COVID-19 funding to participate in the purchase of a hotel at Coit and LBJ in D11/Lee Kleinman's district, and additional funding to renovate it will be voted on Wednesday. That D11 facility will provide permanent supportive housing to individuals through St. Jude's and Dallas County.
Of the 14 council districts, there are homeless facilities in 5 council districts, now 6 with the additional of the facility at Coit and LBJ. On Wednesday, two additional facilities will be voted on, including the one in D12.
In District 12, I believe every question about the project has been answered, except one. Where will it be located? At our last town hall, it was shared that the location would be near George Bush and Preston. It is now public that the location is Candlewood Suites, located at 19373 Preston Road, along the southwest sound wall of George Bush Turnpike behind the abandoned used car lot. This location is not adjacent to any homes, has access to DART, and the hotel is ideal for families to make the transition from homelessness to self-sufficiency. I suspect many will not even realize a hotel has been operating at that location.
There was hope to have a tour of the facility for the folks in the district, but with COVID and time running out to spend the federal dollars (deadline 12/30/20), that will not be possible at this time.
The city has put out a call for proposals from professional non-profits to run the shelter. Some of the details of the shelter will be determined by the non-profit's program. For instance, some have asked how long a family will be able to stay at the shelter. That answer will be dependent on the program of the non-profit selected. The selection will be determined by staff using specific criteria about past performance in serving homeless family populations, ability to sustain operations without additional city funds, and more.
I have been touched by the kindness and welcoming spirit of our residents who have shared with me their hopes and plans for volunteering with the shelter operator, hoping to mentor parents, serve on an advisory board, read to children, direct their children to service projects to benefit less fortunate peers, hopes for engaging their faith community with the new shelter, and other ways to make the new shelter a place for people to restart their lives on a positive path. There is no question about the good that the shelter will provide to people experiencing homelessness. The recognition of the good it will do for the whole community in providing a way to share our time and blessings has been exactly what makes Far North Dallas a wonderful place to live.
If you have additional questions about the project, please send an email. An information sheet with all the questions and answers will be put together and shared in the next enews.
Regards, Cara
