Build a Better Dallas

This is why I'm proud to work at Central Dallas Ministries:

Engaged parents

My to-do list never seems to end. Sometimes I have to realize my workload will never go away no matter how hard I try and recognize visiting the programs are sometimes the best thing I can do.

At lunchtime, I decided to check out our LOL (Ladies Oxygen Luncheon) led by Dr. Rhonda, a pediatrician in our clinic. LOL is an opportunity for current, future, and seasoned parents to come together and talk about different parenting and relationship issues. The number and variety of women at the luncheon were impressive--a young mother, pregnant with her 3rd...a couple of mother/daughter pairs...grandparents. Some parents came on their lunch breaks. I was encouraged by the attendance. Our CEO once told me, "people vote with their feet." It seems to me the parents in our community are voting.

Play Connection, an interactive support group on play for parents and children, met this evening. Though a smaller number of parents came, their engagement was energizing! When I arrived, Joshua was saying his "cloud" was when he didn't get to play with his daddy. His "sun" was when he did. At Play Connection, the kids get to play and interact with their parents. Parents and kids work together to create activities together out of very easily accessible materials. The energy in the room was contagious!


When one person said, "Great job!" to a child, other parents followed. Clapping, compliments, and celebrations were in abundance. I heard more "excuse me's" and "I'm sorry" from the kids when talking to each other. The smiles tell the story. 


The homework assignment given to the parents when they left? "Play with your kids for 30 minutes this week." After this evening, I don't think that will be a problem.

After school programs matter

A lot has been happening in Roseland Townhomes this year. At the beginning of the summer, we began working to make the Community Center, Education programs, kids and adult programs, Central Dallas services, and church seamless. Our efforts are working!

We now have a great Parent Academy that meets the third Thursday of every month and focuses on Empowerment, Enrichment, Education, and Employment. We had 11 parents at our first meeting with a powerful presentation from a community organizer on the Rights and Responsibilities of Parents and their interactions with the schools.

Though there is much more that goes on through the Community Center that I can talk about later, my passion is the Education department.

On August 18, the Education department at Roseland was asked to put together programming for a vacant building at Roseland. I had to scramble to get it all in place by September, but as I have figured out through the years, things that are meant to work out always do!

Last Monday we kicked off our programs in Roseland. (yes, that’s with an “s”).



As we have had for 14 years, our After-School Academy (ASA) continues. This year Danielle Evans is leading up the effort and doing a wonderful job. We have three amazing Americorps members--Anna Hart, Phillip Hawkins, and Tameshia Ridge who are helping her manage our 30 kids and numerous classes. The ASA has partnered with Susie Marshall with the Gleaning Network of Texas. She is helping our kids create a fantastic community garden that we are hoping will become a mini-farmer’s market (run by the kids) to the Roseland community. We are also partnering with Shawn Williams of Dallas South News who will be helping our kids become junior reporters, with the hopes/plans of them reporting out on the Dallas South News site in a month or so.

We now have the Roseland Library/Bookstore. It’s run by Katrina Hobbs, Americorps. Katrina is at UTA majoring in Education and has been a part of our programs for 14 years. She’s so excited about beginning to work with kids on their reading. We sell books there for 25 cents for paperbacks and 50 cents for hardbacks. Kids are buying them right and left!

We also have a Teen University run by Terrence Brooks, Americorps. Terrence wants to run his own non-profit one of these days, but I think I might be able to sell him on sticking around for ours once he gets out of school and we can hire a full time person. He’s amazing with the teens. He’s told me some stories of really helping them with their reading and school work and how their resistance is beginning to dwindle. We just received a grant in partnership with UTD that will provide 2-4 college students to work with the teens on homework, college preparation, and career research. We’ve got some great plans!

Finally, we received a grant from One Economy in conjunction with CTIA and Comcast (you may hear about it…they are making a national announcement during the week of Oct. 5). It’s a Digital Connectors program. Tameshia, who also works in our ASA, will be running the program. Tameshia is our “Queen of Technology” and is extremely excited about teaching the teens. The program is for 14-21 year olds and focuses on several skills. Technology is the big focus, but they also has a leadership, financial literacy, and service component. Through the program, the teens will become certified by Cisco Systems to be able to rebuild computers. They will also be creating a mobile app and be creating videos throughout the program. I am so excited we were chosen to be a part of that and can’t wait to see what happens once the group mobilizes and becomes technology point people for the Roseland community.

Whew! So…please! Come visit us!! Great things are happening and I would love to show you what they really look like!

More to come.... :)

In memory of Wyshina Harris

My friend and former co-worker, Wyshina Harris, was killed yesterday morning.

Just two weeks ago Wyshina was calling me, so excited that she had been able to cast a vote for an African-American president. It was her I posted about here. As I was standing in shock and awe as 6000 people around me cheered, it was Wyshina who called as soon as the announcement that Barack Obama had been named our president. Since I couldn't hear a word she was saying, I called her on my way home that evening and we talked about our feelings about that moment, what was happening around us, and how we were moving things forward.

A short time before that she came to visit Sylvia and I at our new office in Roseland. As she sat at the table, she laughed and asked us to start a new enrichment class on her day off so that she could teach art, a class she had taught in Turner Courts and something she had discovered she really enjoyed when teaching it to the children.

Wyshina had a great smile, a great laugh, a great joy. She loved pictures and was very photogenic. I hate the picture the Dallas Morning News chose to put in the online edition of the paper. I have no idea where they found it, but I wish they had asked for something representative of her. Below are some pictures that remind me of Wyshina.

Click here or go to the blog search above and type in "Wyshina" to read about the number of ways she impacted the community and to read about her own motivation to make things different for her and her children.

Please pray for her two children and her family.

CDM's Pumpkin Festival

Saturday, October 27

12 to 8 p.m.

West Village in Dallas

Click here for directions.


Please forward this email to your friends!

All events are FREE!
Pumpkin Catapult
Gourd Bowling
Hoppity Ball Races
Treasure Hunt
Football Fling
Family Pumpkin Carving
Scarecrow Stuffing
...and more!

Plenty of Great Food
Rockin J's Bar-B-que
Crustacean Cafe
Ben & Jerry's
Starbucks
eatZi's
GAMES - MUSIC - FOOD - PUMPKINS!

Live Music
noon: Superstar Express
1:00 pm: Texas Gypsies
2:00 pm: Shanghai 5
3:45 pm: Kelci Paige
4:45 pm: porterdavis
6:15 pm: Fingerprints

Other Activities
12:45 pm: Bob Baird and his amazing harmonica
2:15 pm: Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dream Coat
3:00 pm: Costume Parade

It's going to be lots of fun!! Come join us!

Site #2...up and running!

It's happening...we're expanding!!

As of yesterday, Sept. 24, we officially opened our second After-School Academy! After a lot of brain stress over the last few months of wondering how we would pull it off, what people we needed to talk to, how to not duplicate what is already happening in Roseland, not being sure about how to recruit kids, etc., we finally just stepped in the waters and are waiting for them to part.

It's been almost 13 years since I started doing after-school programs. Back then, there were no expectations. Kids weren't part of my job (I ran the food pantry); I simply invited kids into my home. Larry, my boss, helped me acquire two Compaq computers from a friend of his who worked for the company. I purchased educational software, anonymous "friends" gave book and supply donations, and a friend from Discovery Toys donated educational toys. The kids played, created, wrote poetry, and cleaned up before they went home each evening.

We decided to make it a Central Dallas effort after that and built on our partnership with O.M. Roberts elementary to have the after-school program in their computer lab, then, eventually moved it to the Central Dallas building on Haskell. The after-school program remained small and somewhat hap-hazard. We had no big funders to be accountable to. Kids were just little people we believed in and, therefore, we took action to do what we could. Looking back, despite the fact that we had no annual reading assessments, no monthly outcomes reports, and not even a real "program," it provided kids with an alternative. It was community. And we had fun. Every blue moon, I still get calls or visits from some of the kids who used to come to my apartment.

Ten years ago, Central Dallas began working in Turner Courts and my "job" became focused on South Dallas. I started with what we had...two or three kids each evening who may or may not stop by, who didn't care for my attempt at structure, and some of whom, quite frankly, were bullies to the other kids. But each year we set the expectations a little higher until we now have a program in Turner Courts with 30 kids (you should see it! It's packed this year!) and 5 on the waiting list...some of whom are accepting our abbreviated option of participating in just the extracurriculars until they can get moved up on the waiting list so that they can also receive homework help and participate in the educational centers and such.

Yesterday, Keilani (our Children's Educational Coordinator at Roseland) opened our second site. We had 3 kids. Very sweet. Very polite. They have now been enlisted as the leaders who will help us teach any new kids that arrive the structure--greet new faces, eat snack, do homework, participate in centers, attend class. Today we are supposed to have two more new faces in the program. We are collaborating with Turner Courts so that both groups will have a variety of opportunities--chess, science, art, Kids Comedy College, music, technology, etc.

I must admit, at first three kids in a program where we were hoping for 15 to start and 30 to max it out, was a little disappointing. However, looking back on the history of our After-School Academy, I realize that we simply began. We didn't wait for the Big Bang to take place where everything--supplies, kids, equipment, and kids--showed up at our doorstep. We simply began with what we had...and we have grown!

At the Roseland After-School Academy (located in the Central Dallas Church), our walls are pretty bare, our supply closets are still empty, our numbers are small. But what I like about our After-School Academy is that it's not the numbers that matter, it's the people. I like to call it the "ripple effect." People make a difference with people who make a difference with other people who make a difference with other people, and so on.

How do we make that difference? We work with the families and offer something that is valuable to them...we listen to what they are telling us about what they want for their children...we expect excellence because we know the kids are excellent...we believe in the parents as important to their children and our community...we partner with the families...and we offer our best because we know our kids (and their families) are worth it.

In my ideal world...

I think if I would've known more about the Peace Corps when I was in college, I probably would have joined up.

After college, while living in Boston, I was exposed to City Year, a city-wide version of Americorps. I could barely afford to live in Boston...and I wasn't there for long...so City Year never became a possibility for me. But I loved getting on the train and seeing all of the khaki pants and red jackets that branded City Year members at every turn. I loved participating in City Year's Serve-a-thon right before I moved.

Throughout my years at Central Dallas, we have had Americorps members here and there. This year, Central Dallas wrote its own grant to obtain hundreds of CDM Americorps members and partner with many other non-profit organizations to place members throughout the city in service positions.

This week, I have had the opportunity to help train not only our CDM Americorps members, but also Project Transformation's Americorps members. I was so impressed and amazed at the diversity of both groups!

I had been assigned to facilitate a portion of our Urban Experience. My goal was to challenge the group to think about their words, actions, and attitudes and how those things impact others...before they begin their summer of working in urban communities all across the city.

The most exciting part of the training was the opportunity to engage a group of diverse people in conversation. How often is it that Black, White, Asian, Hispanic, rich, poor, private school, public school, gay, and straight people really talk to each other? How often do we really seek out the opinions of people who may be different than us?

Not often enough, in my opinion. It can get uncomfortable.

By the end of each day I was exhausted, but energized. Several continued their conversation with me, as well as with each other, after my session was over.

I was impressed with their critical thinking and challenging questions and statements (to me and to each other). Their willingness to listen to and learn from each other gave me hope.

In my ideal world these conversations and seeking understanding without judgment...with people unlike ourselves...will continue.

Mayorial candidates--words versus actions

On May 12, we will make a choice. Who do we want for our next mayor?

Central Dallas had decided to invite the top 7 mayorial candidates to Turner Courts and Roseland Homes so that they would have the opportunity to dialogue with people who usually get left out of the conversation.

I was excited about the opportunity. Central Dallas has a lot of clout these days and even though this same opportunity probably wouldn't have taken place had it been left up to the candidates to organize it, I was grateful that we at Central Dallas were using our "power" to facilitate an event like this.

However, by 2:00 yesterday, I was very disappointed.

We had found out the day before that only 2 candidates had planned to come to Turner Courts. The rest had all opted to go to Roseland Homes (a public housing development, but one that is in a very "safe" area for the candidates...economic development and nicely constructed town homes exist all over the Roseland/City Place area. The Hope VI grant has refurbished the entire Dallas Housing Authority area). The candidates had chosen to go to an area, though still in need of some work, that is very plush compared to Turner Courts.

Figuring if they wouldn't come to us, we'd go to them, we (Turner Courts) decided to visit them on their "turf" at Roseland. At 1:30, we all packed up and made the trek over to Roseland for the meeting at 2:00.

Only Sam Coats showed up on time.

And not only was Mr. Coats at Roseland, Mr. Coats evidently hadn't gotten the message and had gone to Turner Courts first.

THANK YOU, Mr. Coats! Thank you for valuing us enough to come out...to both places...on time!

Gary Griffith did show up about 15-20 minutes after we had started and stayed the remainder of the time.

No other candidates showed up.

Both men seemed like fine men. I'm sure the other 5 are fine men as well. But it says something to me when they do not acknowledge our worth and value enough to show up...or even call for that matter. If the meeting had been scheduled in a wealthy part of Dallas with potential campaign contributors where there is a higher percentage of voter turnout, would they have shrugged off that meeting as well...no matter what their schedule looked like? I tend to think not.

At one point in the discussion, Mr. Coats asked the audience (of maybe 30 people) who was registered to vote. I wonder if he was surprised when nearly every hand went up.

Perhaps if people had a reason to think they were valued, if they had a reason to think that the city works for them, too, perhaps they would vote. Perhaps if the candidates did make more of an effort to go into low-income communities and ask the people what city services are lacking (explaining what the mayor does and doesn't have authority over so that we target our requests and statements), maybe then people would see that their voice is a part of the conversation as well.

Before our meeting I had looked over the candidates and each of their platforms. I had made some tentative decisions of who I thought might be working in our best interests. After yesterday, my tentative decisions changed. It's one thing to put a good platform in the paper. It's a completely different thing to actually show up.

Actions speak much louder than words.

Note: The same 7 who were invited to speak with us have also been invited to be at our Prayer Breakfast on April 26. Check out the link and come join us!

Central Dallas Ministries

As I have often mentioned, I have been at Central Dallas Ministries for a while now. Throughout the years funding has always been tight. Each year it seems we get a stronger plea to buckle down in our spending. Perhaps we wouldn't have to do that if we didn't keep growing. But growth is what is allowing us to become a holistic ministry that is filling the gaps in services that aren't readily available to the poor in Dallas. So, we keep growing and we keep stretching our resources.

Our newest attempt at expansion is to purchase a downtown high rise so that we can move our administrative offices from our much smaller building at Haskell as well as offer affordable housing (economy apartments) to low-income working people, many of whom work in that downtown sector. To gain more context and information about our Akard building process, click here: Akard building. Larry James (our CEO) has blogged several times about our attempt to acquire the run down facility in downtown Dallas.

His most recent post about the building (Larry's Blog: Help Me) explains our current need for funds to purchase the building. We would love to have your involvement in this project if you can.

Net worth and Disparity

Former Senator John Edwards spoke at our Central Dallas prayer breakfast this morning. He didn't impress me too much as a presidential candidate, but I was actually very impressed with him today. His seemed very knowledgeable and involved as he talked about poverty and the things that need to be done to begin fixing things in our country.

One of the things that struck me was his comment of the Average Net Worth of different groups of people:

African-Americans--$6000
Hispanics--$8000
Whites--$80,000

To make sure he hadn't pulled such amazingly disparate figures out of the sky, I looked it up. Sure enough, the Pew Hispanic Center had the same numbers....except for the fact that they found Whites were worth closer to $89,000. That's over $70,000 difference!!

Why is that?

Though the research I read doesn't address why, here is my assessment:

When we don't put money into a system to educate poor children (who are mostly children of color), they grow up to be under-educated adults. When the adults go look for a job, they have to look for jobs without college degrees and, therefore, make less money. Because they are making less money, they live in neighborhoods that they can afford, which usually have lower-quality schools with less resources. They have children who attend the local public school, which receives few tax dollars because people in the neighborhood are working at low-wage jobs. The children grow up...The cycle starts all over again.

Meanwhile, the opposite is happening in wealthy, predominantly White communities. Higher tax dollars leads to better-resourced schools, which leads to more formally educated kids, etc. You get the picture.