Our big chance. . . .today!

Any way you cut it, as a nation, we now face a huge opportunity to strengthen our country, to include more neighbors, to prepare our grandchildren for what lies ahead.  President Biden's plan presents a very practical response to national issues.  His vision seeks to make America better and more prepared for competition in our shrinking world.  

The first half of the current opportunity has to do with physical infrastructure improvement and literal rebuilding--bridges, highways, lead-lined water pipes, climate change curtailment, railways, internet accessibility, etc. 

To build our national, social infrastructure by really investing in our people, consider these real, tangible, very doable strategies to share the opportunity of America to a wider segment of our people:

• Lower child care costs to no more than 7% of a household's income
• Expand parental leave benefits
• Two years of post high school community college costs
• Fully fund early childhood education
• Increase maximum allowed for Pell Grants
• Lower prescription costs by allowing Medicare to negotiate costs with big pharma
• Add vouchers for Medicare participants that cover vision, hearing and dental costs
• Expand Medicaid for the extremly impoverished
• Use tax credits and government financing to bolster affordable and resilient housing, supporting the construction or rehabilitation of more than two million homes
• Extend the Child Tax Credit expansion in the American Rescue Plan, providing 39 million households and nearly 90 percent of American children a major tax cut and cutting child poverty nearly in half
• Increase the Earned-Income Tax Credit from $543 to $1,502. This will benefit roughly 17 million low-wage workers, including cashiers, cooks, delivery drivers, food preparation workers, and child care providers
• Aggressive jobs training program, including green jobs and education careers
• Invest in nutrition improvement by expanding SNAP benefits 
• Pay for it all with equitable tax reform that asks the very rich and U. S. corporations pay their fair share.  

An often overlooked fact of public investment in our people is that every dollar spent on our people moves quickly and completely back into the economy.  Nothing is lost, nor wasted as relates to economic stimulation and continuing growth.  

If adopted, this plan will assure the promise of America for generations.  It will cut poverty significantly. This plan will unite us as the benefits become obvious.  We can do better.  We can change for the better.  

Since 1970, I've been working on a daily basis with men, women and children caught up in the cruel reality of poverty and economic disadvantage.  Poor folks have been my very best teachers.  

One conclusion seems undeniable:  progress in our work to overcome the cruel,  negative impact of poverty on our neighbors will depend on a comprehensive, public, community strategy that bundles numerous assets and transfers them to the people closest to the problem, "the poor."

It is time to act and act boldly.  

Time for Revival!

Rev. Dr. William J. Barber, II will be speaking in Dallas Monday evening at 7:00 p.m. at Moody Performance Hall, thanks to the Dallas Institute of Humanities and Culture.


 

Great IT training options open to South Dallas-Fair Park!

Dear supporters, partners, and friends of Per Scholas:   Our first ever IT-Ready class at Per Scholas Dallas is kicking off February 23 at our new location in the CitySquare Opportunity Center.     We are seeking applicants for this exciting opportunity. Per Scholas training is offered at 100% scholarship to unemployed, under-employed, and low income adults interested in pursuing a career in IT.   What is a Per Scholas IT-Ready course? IT-Ready is an 8-week, full time, tuition-free IT training opportunity comprised of rigorous tech skills and soft-skills training essential to IT workplace success. CompTIA A+ certification prepares graduates for entry-level employment in IT in positions such as Data Center Technicians, Desktop Support Specialists, IT Support Analysts, and Network Field Technicians.. 3 out of 4 Per Scholas grads land jobs upon graduation, with an average starting salary of $30K.   Who is a good fit for Per Scholas IT-Ready? ·         someone who has a genuine interest in pursuing a career in the IT industry ·         someone who needs A+ certification to find employment ·         someone who is not afraid to work hard to accomplish a life-changing goal   To see the detailed list of requirements, see below or click here to download our flyer.      Refer today! Now is the time to apply. Interested individuals should complete our online application here. More information can be found at perscholas.org/dallas   Please forward this to anyone in your network who might be right for this program. You can also download & print the flyer below. Thank you.    Sincerely,   Billy Lane   Managing Director, Per Scholas Dallas

 

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD FLYER

Opportunity Center Update!

Opportunity Center coming together!

Progress continues for good of the city!

Here are the latest photos of the Opportunity Center!

 Progress is fun to watch!

More vertical progress. . .

CitySquare's new Opportunity Center is exploding out of the ground, literally! It's fun watching the progress while visiting with neighbors who stay in the area. The new center will focus on employment. At the same time, the project has provided jobs for scores of workers.

Drop by the project at Malcolm X Blvd. and I-30 to see the progress.

Fair Park, a future?

Fair Park may be the most under-utilized asset in the city of Dallas. 

The 277 acre community resource combines museums, seasonal attractions (including the best known, State Fair of Texas), history, art and performances.  It is a national historic landmark. Personally, I have very fond memories of walking to the State Fair with my best buddy when we were grade school kids.  His dad allowed us to tag along to his workplace not far from the park and we'd walk the short distance to a destination of great fun and wonder. 

For many reasons, those days are long gone. 

I've been thinking about Fair Park and its possibilities for quite awhile now.  When Jerry Jones decided not to build Cowboys Stadium in the park, I wondered why the city of Dallas wouldn't redevelop it in a manner that would actually produce more economic return to more of its citizens than a football stadium. 

More recently, I read Patrick Kennedy's opinion piece in the June issue of DMagizine ("Big Tex Is a Murderer," page 14) reporting that two zip codes just south of the park are two of the 25 most violent neighborhoods in the U. S. (75210 and 75215 rank 9 and 12 respectively).  Kennedy blames the violence in large part on the fact that the park includes 47 acres of surface parking, noting that "Crime follows disinvestment."

Kennedy wonders what would happen if the parking lots gave way to redevelopment and new investment.  I like the way he is thinking.  However, I don't think he goes far enough. 

The entire park needs comprehensive redevelopment.  One  possibility would be a public-private partnership, possibly backed by an aggressive bond issue and including private investors, land planners and community development organizations.  I know the Dallas 2020 Olympic Committee focused its attention on Fair Park as a potential, wonderful site for an Olympic Village had Dallas landed a bid for the games.  Plans included thousands of apartments that could be leased/sold after the competition concluded. 

Selling off some or all of the park should be considered with built in obligations to develop a truly diverse community in and around the park.  The value of adjacent homeowners' properties  would have to be protected as an upfront part of any deal. 

Can you imagine the vitality of a mixed use, mixed income development at such a scale?  The redevelopment, reinvestment coupled with DART's Green Line at the doorway of the park would draw Fair Park back into the entire community.  Businesses, performing venues, an entertainment corridor, apartments for lease, condos for sale, a healthy connection to the nearby schools--the deal, done properly and adequately capitalized, would set off real transformation of South Dallas.  The return on investment to the city and to the entire region would be phenomenal. 

Wonder what would happen if a group of accomplished folks got together and worked on this?  It's way past time to take some creative action on this largely untapped jewel of our city.

Aerial photos capture Opportunity Center Progress!

Scenes of progress from CitySquare's new Opportunity Center. . .

CitySquare's new Opportunity Center development continues to progress! 

Located at the southeast corner of Malcolm X and I-30, the new 53,000 sq. ft. multi-purpose campus intends to bring many new opportunities to men and women seeking improved lives. 

Here are scenes of our current progress!  To learn how you can become an investor, contact me at ljames@CitySquare.org.

The path to ending poverty. . .

Pictured below is the new sign identifying our new Opportunity Center site at the south east corner of I-30 and Malcolm X Boulevard in South Dallas/Fair Park! The two-sided sign announces our arrival!

[By the way:  check out the great, new company that Janet Morrison is creating at Believography.  Thanks to Janet for the photo!]

The City Square "Opportunity Center"--a dream coming soon. . .



In the shadow of Downtown. . .

Dan Hopkins, the project manager on the Central Dallas Ministries' side for our new "Oppor-tunity Center," captured this image last Friday morning early.  The proximity of our new site to Downtown is striking. Located at the corner of Malcolm X and I-30, the new property sits on one of the strategic gateways into South Dallas.  The new facility will offer health, healing, nutrition, employment, training, community connections and hope to thousands.  Design is underway.  Demolition is about complete.  I love thinking about how this new development will help in the renewal of such an important part of our city.  We're looking for investors!  Join us!

Prayers for Labor Day

We are workers, God, just like you. But we confess that our work is not always done in a manner that affirms and honors each other. Our work is not always done in a spirit that is pleasing to you. We confess that, on some occasions, we have blindly bought goods made by people who are paid too little or work in unsafe conditions. We admit that we have failed to end an unjust system in which some workers have jobs that provide good wages, health insurance, sick leave, a pension, paid vacations, and other benefits, while others have jobs that do not.

Creator God, help us to build a new world out of the ashes of the old, a world where all workers are valued. One where those who clean houses are also able to buy houses to live in. A world where those who grow food can also afford to eat their fill. And one where those who serve us in stores, schools, nursing homes, and many other places are also served by us. It will be a world where all workers everywhere share in the abundance that you have given us.
Words of Assurance:

Our God is a God of grace and transformation. When we ask, God will give us the courage and strength to live out our faith in the workplace and the marketplace, as well as in the sanctuary.

UFW Prayer

Show me the suffering of the most miserable, so I may know my people’s plight.  Free me to pray for others, for you are present in every person.  Help me to take responsibility for my own life, so that I can be free at last.  Grant me courage to serve others, for in service there is true life.  Give me honesty and patience, so that I can work with other workers.  Bring forth song and celebration, so that the Spirit will be alive among us.
Let the Spirit flourish and grow, so that we will never tire of the struggle.  Let us remember those who have died for justice, for they have given us life.  Help us love even those who hate us, so we can change the world.

Amen.

Futuristic Housing New Orleans Style

Back in the November 2009 issue of The Atlantic, Wayne Curtis offered a great report on housing renewal in New Orleans since Katrina.  Worth taking a look.  Could be lessons for the entire country. 

Reactions invited!

Houses of the Future


Four years after the levee failures, New Orleans is seeing an unexpected boom in architectural experimentation. Small, independent developers are succeeding in getting houses built where the government has failed. And the city's unique challenges—among them environmental impediments, an entrenched culture of leisure, and a casual acquaintance with regulation—are spurring design innovations that may redefine American architecture for a generation.

To read the entire essay click here.

"Opportunity Center" progress

Seems like time to provide a brief update on the development of our new "Opportunity Center" located on a 4-acre tract at the corner of Malcolm X Boulevard and I-30.

The new center will include a new, expanded health clinic; a large wellness center; a versatile commercial production kitchen designed to instruct neighbors in healthy food preparation and training in culinary arts; robust employment training programs delivered in partnership with Workforce Solutions of Greater Dallas; an expanded food distribution center; a retail grocery store; a community garden and other training and life-improvement options.

Our initial partners in the endeavor include the Embrey Family Foundation, whose gift allowed us to assemble the property and PepsiCo whose commitment to improving the lives of urban residents has been extremely motivational for us. Numerous other philanthropists have joined the endeavor to move us to about the halfway mark in our funding efforts, including the Sowell Family Foundation, the Rees-Jones Foundation, the Halbert Family Foundation, Bank of America with others in process. Much more on this in coming days.

For today here are some images from the site.

Big deal to us!

It's a huge deal to us!

7-Eleven has engaged us in a 7-year lease for space on the first floor of CityWalk @Akard! 

The store is set to open around Labor Day 2010. 

Jobs.

Retail options.

Service.

All right inside our building.

We're also working on a bakery, a credit union, and a large non-profit consortium creative center. 

The mixed use, mixed income nature of CityWalk makes music in Dallas!

New definition of stupid

One Wednesday I met with the leaders of the Texas Department of Agriculture charged with delivery of all the food and nutrition programs designed to assist and lift low-income Texas families. 

Here' just one fact they dropped on me: 

In 2008, Dallas County left well over $479,000,000 (that's MILLION) on the table a a result of not enrolling everyone eligible for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, the food stamp program).  But, get this:  the entire state left $3,637,063,215 unused--yes, that's BILLION!

Think with me people.

Forget the poor. 

That's right. 

Don't give them a second thought here.

Over four-hundred and seventy-nine MILLION dollars that could have been spent in local retail grocery stores.  You know, Kroger, Target, Tom Thumb, Safeway, Walmart and others.  Over $3.6 BILLION statewide lost to retail grocery sales!

The estimated local impact lost to our sluggish economy when you factor in the standard multiplier effect rises to over $750 million dollars!  Estimates are that the total lost economic impact statewide is $6.7 BILLION!

Given our current need for economic stimulation, why would the State of Texas or the City of Dallas settle for this lost revenue that could create many jobs?  Where in the world are the retail and wholesale grocers' trade groups? 

What you're looking at here is a new definition of stupid.   

Seeking the peace and prosperity of the city. . .

Jeremiah 29:7

. . .seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the LORD for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper."

[Photos by Jenny Fogel, CDM Staff]

Survival rate better snapshot on poverty

Last week a front page story published by The Philadelphia Inquirer reported that to survive in Philadelphia without public assistance a family of four would need to earn $59,501.  That earnings number is up from $53,611 that was reported to be the "survival" pay scale in 2008. 

The report and the study behind it substantiate what we see here at Central Dallas Ministries.  Simply because a family is earning wages that places them above the artificially low federal poverty line (about $22,000 a year for a family of 4) does not mean that they can survive and certainly not thrive.  People without skills to earn a living wage need guidance and partners who will help them craft a plan for life that includes enhanced skills development, counsel about public benefits and encouragement from a community that regards them as neighbors and real friends. 

Here's how the Philadelphia report begins: 

Study: To survive, family of four needs nearly $60,000
By Alfred Lubrano
Inquirer Staff Writer

To survive in Philadelphia without food stamps or other government assistance, a family of four needs to make nearly $60,000 a year - a hard-to-fathom "sticker-shock" number that shows how expensive life has become.

According to a study being released Thursday, two adults with one preschooler and one school-age child have to take in $59,501 a year to live on a bare-bones budget in the city. In 2008, the same family of four needed $53,611 to make it in Philadelphia.

That's the word from the Self-Sufficiency Standard for Pennsylvania, a highly respected University of Washington analysis that comes out every two years.

The problem is that nearly 62 percent of Philadelphia households take in less than $50,000 a year, according to census data analyzed by Dave Elesh, a sociologist at Temple University.

Life is pricier in the suburban counties, where the same-size family needs to take in even more money to survive without assistance. Salaries must range from $62,543 in Delaware County to $71,846 in Bucks County for a family to achieve self-sufficiency. A similar study for New Jersey in 2008 put the self-sufficiency incomes at $60,912 in Burlington County, $49,739 in Camden County, and $56,752 in Gloucester County.

A family of four is considered poor if it makes $22,050 a year - the federal poverty level.

That measure, which has been used for nearly 50 years, has long been criticized as failing to take a full measure of what it costs to live in America.

To read the full story click here.