Directory

Nonprofit organizations serving the communities of South Dallas, Fair Park, Oak Cliff, and Pleasant Grove

Aberg Center for Literacy

Aberg Center for Literacy is building richer lives, stronger families, and better communities through programs in English fluency, preparation for high school equivalency in English and Spanish, early childhood education, and family literacy. Due to COVID-19, we had to stop delivering services in person and were forced to cancel our spring fundraiser that we anticipated would yield over $60,000 net in critical operating funds for the agency. Following spring break our staff called all students to ask a series of questions, provide information and link them to resources to help them navigate the frightening landscape. As of March 26, 50% of our students’ households experienced loss of income, 59% did not understand the “shelter in-place order’, and 32% did not know what to do if someone gets sick. We also assessed their needs and capability for distance learning, and 92% expressed interest in online learning. This affirms that our services are needed now more than ever to increase understanding of the current crisis and help our students continue to strengthen their skills to provide economic sustainability. Staff assessed options for platforms and content and devised a plan to shift classes for both adult and children to an online platform. While we will not be offering as many class hours as we do with in-person operations, we are trying to provide an offering that is impactful and acknowledges the high levels of stress that our students are currently experiencing. Our goal is to provide a space for students to continue learning and stay connected. We will continue to provide resources for emergency needs and a safe space for emotional support. In addition to devoting class time to assist with resources, we will continue to use our social media channels and WhatsApp groups to educate our students and the public and to keep students informed about community resources. We need funding to pay for the online platform and for staff to continue serving our students as we journey together through this crisis.

Association of Persons Affected by Addiction

APAA – Association of Persons Affected by Addiction is a Recovery Community Organization that provides addiction and mental health recovery support services for individuals, family and community. APAA have a staff of 25 recovery coaches that work throughout the community and initiated the Dr. Louis E. Deere Behavioral Health Complex with the “Living Room” (jail and hospital crisis diversion) on Al Lipscomb Way. APAA has a Recovery Community Center at 3116 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd in South Dallas. APAA has been in existence for 22 years.

Bishop Arts Theatre Center

Bishop Arts Theatre Center (BATC) is an integral part of the arts and cultural landscape in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area.

CitySquare

CitySquare’s mission is to fight the causes and effects of poverty through service, advocacy, and friendship. With a comprehensive continuum of programs working together, CitySquare provides meaningful opportunities for those looking to change the trajectory of their lives. Working hand in hand with our neighbors, we provide services around our four pillars: Hunger, Health, Housing, and Hope.

Hunger
The CitySquare Food Pantry, food recovery program and youth mobile meal programs for after school and summer remove barriers to accessing healthy food.

Health
CitySquare health and wellness programs work in both a clinic setting and in our community and continuum of programs. We help our neighbors access primary care providers or additional resources to improve their health.

Housing
CitySquare is the largest nonprofit provider of affordable housing in the City of Dallas with permanent supportive housing, transitional housing and rapid rehousing units.

Hope
From workforce development, legal representation and services for youth aging out of foster care, we are focused on building hope in our community.

Last year over 58,000 neighbors and community members were impacted by CitySquare’s work. The key to our success is to continue to strategically integrate a range of financial, educational, employment, and income support services, in one place and deliver them through personalized, one-on-one coaching.

CitySquare is committed to equality, inclusiveness, and recognition that fighting poverty involves bringing together the entire community in the heart of our city.

Cornerstone Baptist Church

Cornerstone Baptist Church is located in the South Dallas Fair Park community. However our services are not ZIP Code restricted. You may feel free to call 214-426-5468 to find out the days and times of the various services.

EDCO Communities

Our Mission is to provide sustainable, affordable and high quality homes that provide a conduit to revitalizing Dallas communities. We do this by building homes and neighborhoods that are safe, vibrant and productive and where opportunity and community is accessible to everyone in Dallas.

FEED Oak Cliff

FEED Oak Cliff is a 501c3 organization comprised of dedicated volunteers working collaboratively to significantly impact or end the food deserts plaguing southern Dallas. Our goal is to ensure that all communities have access to quality, fresh and affordable food choices in their neighborhoods by recruiting, developing or building healthy community-based grocery markets or access points. Toward this end, we engage in on-going advocacy and community education.We provide education and awareness via our annual events, the Men’s Health Conference and the Dallas VegFest. The Men’s Health Conference provides educational offerings presented by experts on physical, mental and financial health to address issues often identified as stressors for men, and especially for men of color.The Dallas VegFest is our annual FREE festival celebrating nutrition, health and environment. This large community-based event features noted experts speaking on ways to improve health and lifestyle; enjoyable cooking demonstrations; a variety of fun fitness classes; children’s activities and a vast selection of vendors presenting an array of helpful wares. This event has grown to attract vendors and visitors from all over Texas and other states, in addition to serving the vast southern Dallas populous.

First Choice Social Services

First Choice Social Services’ mission is To be the First Choice in social services to provide treatment for families affected by domestic violence, substance abuse, and teen homelessness. First Choice Social Services provides the following services: – Counseling – Psychosocial educational groups – Battering Intervention and Prevention Program – Information and Referral – Victim referral services – Case Management – Anger Management – Liaison between client & referral source – Life Skills – Parenting Skills – First Responder Support Services – Drug and Alcohol Assessments – Drug Education Offender Program – Marijuana Intervention and Prevention Program – Theft Intervention and Prevention Program

Golden S.E.E.D.S. Foundation CDC

The Mission of The Golden S.E.E.D.S. Foundation, Inc. is to transform The Bottom neighborhood into a vibrant community, through Spirit-led acts of justice and mercy. We seek to accomplish this through the promotion of biblical values, social justice, and economic empowerment creating hope for the most vulnerable in our community. We seek to build and advance our neighborhood with the creation of educational opportunities, affordable single-family and senior housing, and other commercial amenities. We want to plant seeds of hope and create environments of unconditional love for those who lives have been overcome by the negative effects of homelessness, chemical dependency, and inadequate health and educational services. We envision a spiritual community of volunteers and workers who desire to serve with their hearts as well as their hands. We envision a community whose impact reaches far beyond our geographic boundaries and into the hearts and minds of people desiring a new life, with new opportunities.We serve children, youth, and families from the Oak Cliff Community known as the Bottom as well as other surrounding Southern Dallas communities through weekly food distribution, volunteer opportunities, bi-monthly fellowship services for Seniors, Homebuyers education, rental/utilities payment assistance, Angel Tree (Christmas gifts to children of incarcerated parents), NA/AA classes.

Green Careers Dallas

Green Careers Dallas’ mission is to disrupt poverty through green career training and community education. During the pandemic, we will provide outdoor learning and online safety training for the rapidly growing solar industry. Many employers we work with are background friendly.

Our employer partners are looking for reliable & dependable employees who show up everyday on time, who work well on a team, who are able take instruction and feedback in a positive manner. This growing industry provides living wage work often with access to benefits like health insurance and 401(K) retirement plans.

Are you ready to train for an industry that provides a solution to climate change AND quality wages? Apply for training today! https://www.greencareersdallas.org/solar-installation-training/

Homeless Coalition of Dallas

We are supplying food and clothing and other basic needs. We have a senior program also that helps seniors with food.

Jewish Family Service of Greater Dallas

With all the closures in Dallas and across the US, those who live paycheck-to-paycheck have even greater anxiety about what the next few months look like as a result of COVID-19. Many who work in the hardest hit industries will no longer have the funds to pay for their rent, utilities, food, medication, mental health care and other basic needs items. That’s where we come in. With your help, Jewish Family Service (JFS) can “keep the lights on’ for those who need it most. For 70 years, JFS’s role, during and after a crisis, is to assist those who are impacted now and as they recover from their losses, whatever they may be. JFS is here to help our community and those most vulnerable to navigate the journey to stabilization and recovery. Through our Hunger Relief and Emergency Services:Connecting food pantry clients to available drive up resources in the community; providing gift cards to Tom Thumb, Wal-Mart and Aldi to buy groceries and essentials For our Jewish community, working with Shuls and leaders to provide Passover food for the holidaysProviding immediate short-term financial aid for all in needProviding Kosher Home Delivered Meals and shelf stable emergency food for home bound seniors and the disabled. Through our Career and Financial Services program:Financial Coaching to clients and assistance in creating budgets based on changes in jobs, accessing financial resources, applying for unemployment and setting financial goals for what they will need in their new job. Employment Coaching for workers who are struggling with remote work, fear for their jobs, and assistance in writing resumes in order to obtain new jobs, etc.Planning for how we will respond to the projected 20% unemployment rate as we all return to work this summerThrough our Counseling support with tele-health services:For our older adults to keep them feeling connected, calming their fears and getting them needed resources, For our children and adults so they are able to establish and maintain emotional and mental health during these stressful timesFor couples and families so they can navigate new stressors and address other relationship issues exacerbated by being sheltered in place

Metrocare

Metrocare is the largest provider of mental health services in North Texas, serving nearly 60,000 adults and children annually. For over 50 years, Metrocare has provided a broad array of services to people with mental health challenges and developmental disabilities. In addition to behavioral health care, Metrocare provides primary care centers for adults and children, services for veterans and their families, accessible pharmacies, housing and supportive social services. Alongside the clinical care, researchers and teachers from Metrocare’s Altshuler Center for Education & Research are advancing mental health beyond Dallas County while providing critical workforce to the state.

Positive Reflection Ministries

Positive Reflection Ministries assist struggling, disabled, elderly and low-income families with mandatory living needs by providing food, rent, utilities assistance, medication to meet emergency needs and support economic and social development by being a point of contact within the community.

Refugee Services of Texas, Dallas

Refugee Services of Texas, Dallas: RST Dallas is in need of volunteers who purchase most needed items for families and drop off at families apartment doors or the office building in the Vickery Meadow area – no interaction with families required. More than 75% of all families are children under the age of 15 who are facing food insecurity. Please email RST Volunteer Coordinator Jacky at jbuzas@rsx.org or call 682-246-7738. RST Dallas offers resettlement services to incoming refugees, helping them integrate into the American workplace and society, with the ultimate goal of achieving self-sufficiency. Resettlement Services, Job readiness training and placement, English as a Second Language, Legal Services, Social Adjustment Services, Refugee Cash Assistance, Refugee Youth Program, Central American Minor Refugee Program Application (CAM-AOR), Medical Case Management

Southern Dallas Progress

The SOUTHERN DALLAS PROGRESS CDC’s mission is to empower, enable and support community members in their efforts to revitalize Southern Dallas communities and neighborhoods. SOUTHERN DALLAS PROGRESS COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION serves as a vehicle through which residents and businesses can work together to solve problems and improve life in their community.

Springs Fellowship Church / Touch Ministry Faith Health

Touch Ministry Faith Health is a ministry within Springs Fellowship Church.
This ministry promotes Health & Wellness within a community with very high health disparities and food deserts, as faith community caregivers we assess the need of a client and provide community resource information and support when needed, this team has received training from Texas Health Resources, Baylor Scott & White, and Parkland Hospital as Faith Community Caregivers.
Texas Health Resources, Baylor Scott & White, and Parkland Hospital provide free community health screenings and education events on our campus with the help of our ministry, this ministry also provides free blood pressure and diabetes checks.
THR has two Well Together Programs, one provides free mental health counseling with The Center for Integrative Counseling & Psychology, and the other is a Mental Health First Aid Training under The University of North Texas at Dallas. As the resource navigator and connector I assess the client’s needs and make referrals, and assist with setting up training classes.
We are also in partnership with Catholic Charities Dallas Mobile Food Pantry who we host on campus every 3rd Saturday, our information regarding this program is listed on the Baylor Collaborative on Hunger and Poverty website under community food resources.

Our impact in our community has been raising awareness of high blood pressure & diabetes, lowering the stigma regarding mantel health, and providing healthy food.

St. Philip’s

St. Philip’s School and Community Center, founded as a ministry of the Episcopal Diocese of Dallas, acknowledges that next to God, an excellent education is the most effective means of developing human capital. As a school we provide an unparalleled exemplary college preparatory education fueled by a confluence of spirituality, self determination and service to others. As a Community Center we provide services and resources that assist families in enhancing their quality of life. We embrace the potential schools have to impact their neighborhoods through the provision and accessibility of compatible social services.

WE BELIEVE children and families have the right to a neighborhood that provides safety, opportunity and hope. Healthy neighborhoods create opportunity pathways for people of all backgrounds, improving well-being and providing access to quality housing, good schools, jobs and amenities.
– A person’s zip code is the most powerful single predictor of health and opportunity.
– Socio-economic and racial diversity provides cognitive, social and economic benefits for ALL children and families.
– Intergenerational neighborhoods—where people of different ages reside together—create safe, stable communities that support overall well-being.

Our Vision
A healthy, economically vibrant & diverse community that celebrates its rich history and provides opportunities for residents of all backgrounds to live, work, play and thrive.

The Oak Cliff Veggie Project

We are a collective 501(C)3 organization serving the southern Dallas sector. Our three points of service include: Education, Cultivation and Preparation. Our project goal is to cultivate a stronger, healthier and more self reliant community.Our mission to affect a positive impact on the health and agricultural landscape of historically under-served communities of Dallas, TX. Our core programs include:1. The Veggie Store Initiative – A donation based monthly produce distribution. The initiative provides fresh produce to neighborhoods classified as food desserts. Included with the produce is information detailing other food insecurity resources across Dallas and recipes for healthy plant based meals. The produce for this initiative is sources from our network of community gardens, an online food coop(Bountiful Baskets) and a cross-section of local Dallas farms.2. Cultivate The Community Initiative – A community garden/micro-farm building program. This initiative helps other community organization build and maintain community gardens/micro-farms.3. School Gardens Initiative – A joint program in partnership with GROW North Texas to bring community gardens, including curriculum, to elementary school in specific zip codes.4. Garden Warrior Initiative – A experiential exploratory program working with summer camps and other youth care facilities to introduce children to the basics of agriculture including urban farming and hydroponics. Our network of community gardens will be used to facilitate learning these lessons. 5. Beginning Urban Farmers Initiative – A joint program with GROW North Texas and El Centro Urban Agriculture promoting the participation of young people in a mentor program to train them in ways of building an urban farm business. This training will cover the business planning knowledge necessary to start and operate an urban farm. 6. Kitchen Warrior Initiative – A experiential exploratory program working with local culinary professional to educate families in the means to efficiently prepare healthy plant based meals for themselves.

The Senior Source

The Senior Source began in 1961 as the Senior Citizens Foundation of Dallas, providing assistance to older adults in Texas. Over the next 60 years, the agency added volunteer opportunities, nursing home resources, guardianship services, financial assistance and protection, fraud and scam prevention, employment services, and support for caregivers. In 2008, The Senior Source moved to its current location on Harry Hines Boulevard. In 2014, it launched a first-of-its-kind Elder Financial Safety Center to provide financial empowerment to older adults.

TR Hoover CDC

T.R. Hoover’s mission is to strengthen, empower, and provide holistic, collaborative services that impact the South Dallas community through affordable housing, economic, and community development. We advocate and address the issues of poverty, economic divestment, blight, infrastructure decline, neighborhood safety, and the rising levels of unemployment.

In the late 80s, we began as a grassroots neighborhood association that later became recognized as the Ideal Neighborhood Association, composed of low income families seeking to reverse the negative trends developing within their community. In 1997, a small group from the association went on to form T. R. Hoover Community Development Corporation (TRHCDC), and received its 501(c)(3) and began identifying and addressing the issues of economic divestment, blight, infrastructure decline, neighbourhood safety and the rising levels of unemployment within the South Dallas Community.

TRHCDC began work with its residents to help shape the life of its community. Through hard work and great support from its residents, the results led to the construction of the TRHCDC Multipurpose Center, the building of 55 new single infill homes. Currently, TR Hoover CDC serves children, adults, and seniors in the South Dallas area through programs like after school and summer care, seniors helping seniors, referral services for those in need of housing and food, licensed counseling, donation giveaway tables, ESL training, and seasonal programs.

Women Called Moses Coalition and Outreach

Women Called Moses is an underground railroad for survivors of domestic violence. We seek to prevent and end the cycles of domestic violence through education, research, resources, and advocacy programs which are provided to individuals, families, communities, corporations, and coalition non-profit agencies throughout the United States.We provide an emergency safe haven for survivors and their children fleeing abusive environments. The guiding principle of Women Called Moses is “Safety First!’ Survivors are given the assistance they need to be safe and the guidance to rebuild their lives.

Zan Wesley Holmes, Jr. Community Outreach Center

Zan Wesley Holmes Community Outreach Center is a nonprofit organization creating self-sustaining pathways out of poverty for young people and families in Dallas, Texas, through education and job placement. We create self-sustaining pathways out of poverty through training and placement of individuals within the electrical industry. Zan Wesley Holmes Community Outreach Center is a nonprofit organization creating self-sustaining pathways out of poverty for young people and families in Dallas, Texas, through education and job placement. Our classes provide individuals with on-the-job training, case management, and financial coaching. The program is background and gender friendly.