Dallas used pandemic relief funds to fix houses and upgrade infrastructure in neighborhoods within Oak Cliff and elsewhere. Years later, some residents ask what went wrong.
Category: Housing
Posted inCriminal Justice
They Spent Weeks Housing the Homeless, Then Police Showed Up
The officers arrived by 6 a.m. last Thursday, parking their squad cars and white vans on each side of Clarence Street, off Cesar Chavez Boulevard. The Dallas Police Department’s Homeless Outreach Team walked into a clearing under Interstate 45 with zip ties looped around their duty belts and radios. They woke about two dozen people who […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
How Dallas Police Ramped Up Homeless Enforcement
The January storm was on its way, but the cops came first. Police approached a clearing filled with tents less than a mile south of Deep Ellum that winter morning, confronting nearly four dozen people who had settled onto the cracked pavement beneath Interstate 45. Those in the encampment awoke to a fleet of police […]
Posted inPublic Services
In Dallas County, Stalled Paperwork Keeps Teens Homeless
Many young people aging out of foster care can’t access housing assistance because of the failures of government officials.
Posted inHousing
How a Humble Tax Tool Protects Neighborhoods
Inside the grassroots push to educate homeowners about a simple tool—the homestead exemption—that can help them afford to stay in their homes amid rising taxes.
Posted inCriminal Justice
The Present Danger of Foster Care in North Texas
After observing foster-kid caseworkers—often inadequately trained, overwhelmed, and tardy to proceedings—during about 40 court hearings in Dallas County this month, it was no surprise the state acknowledged in a court filing Monday that children are in peril. Since the nonprofit Empower won the contract in February 2023 to provide case management services for nine local […]
Posted inPublic Services
What’s Really at Stake in November
Good morning and congratulations. You made it through the primary elections. Your phone should stop vibrating through your pocket any day now—except for, maybe, the voters who will return to the polls in the May runoff to determine candidates like attorney general. The Dallas results came late: The county GOP’s decision to hem voters into […]
Posted inHousing
The Data Screams: The Housing Crisis Is Here
It’s more costly than ever to live in Dallas, a new report shows. Can faith-based solutions help make housing more affordable?
Posted inHousing
Surviving and Serving Through Housing
How two very different churches approached projects in Charlotte shows what is possible for the faith-based housing movement in Dallas.
Posted inHousing
This Church Could Be Your Home
In Dallas, long known as “the buckle of the Bible belt,” churches are considering turning land and buildings into affordable housing. Charlotte, North Carolina, shows us how to pull it off.