Fort Worth Magazine - September 2020 by fwtx

Dr. Robert Schmidt

Dr. Ajai Cadambi

Dr. Steven Weeden

Dr. Theodore Crofford

Dr. Steven Ogden

Dr. Daniel Wagner

Dr. Jeffrey McGowen

Your joints are our thing.

And hips too.

We are the board-certified, fellowship-trained joint specialists of Texas Health Physicians Group. As members of Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital Southwest’s medical staff, we collectively perform more than 3,000 hip and knee replacements annually at Texas Health Clearfork, a premier destination for joint care. Armed with decades of experience in breakthrough techniques, we can assess your pain and develop a care plan that’s right for you. Whether you require full joint replacement or treatment that doesn’t require surgery, like oral medication, injections or physical therapy, we have one goal—getting you back to doing what you love, pain-free. And, as always, we have protocols in place designed around your safety. To learn more, go to TexasHealth.org/THPG-Safe.

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Step into the new home for innovative food, beverage, artisans and merchants. Mule Alley now features Biscuit Bar , MB Mercantile & Supply, Lucchese Bootmaker, Cowtown Winery, Provender Hall by Marcus Paslay, King Ranch, Shake Shack, and PH Barn Door . Come celebrate and explore all that Mule Alley has to offer.

VOLUME 23

62 On the Run — Still

Between a global pandemic, racial tensions, and revamping the local economy, Fort Worth

Mayor Betsy Price has much to say about the city’s most pressing issues — but keeps mum on our biggest question.

BY SCOTT NISHIMURA

20 Ways to Make Fort Worth Better

You don’t need to hold public office to make tangible change in the city. From investing in mental health to improving public transportation, here’s a starter guide to what’s happening in Fort Worth and how you can help now.

BY BRIAN KENDALL AND SAMANTHA CALIMBAHIN

The Kids Are All Right

A former drug abuser’s journey to get his family back together lends an inside look at the work of Child Protective Services.

BY RICK MAUCH AND JESSICA STRANGE

: know

14 Buzz

Updates on a COVID-19 test more comfortable (and accurate) than the swab, hope for Fort Worth’s struggling music venues, and more.

18 Fort Worthian

Get to know your neighborhood services director.

: live

22 Playing On

How one musician is making it in the middle of a pandemic.

24 That Fall Feeling

Searching the state for photo-worthy fall foliage.

28 Start ’Em Young

A local English teacher shares tips for getting teens to fall in love with reading.

30 The Myth of Multitasking

Doing too many things at once may be more unproductive than you think.

32 Dream Street 2020: Our Charity, a Wish with Wings

With a pandemic still in play, the beneficiary of our Dream Street project needs even more help fulfilling children’s wishes.

36 Play Dress Up

Get familiar with fall trends while you style these paper dolls for grown-ups.

50 Sticking with Sports

Fort Worth’s national lacrosse team is gearing up for its first season at Dickies Arena.

56 Restaurant News

Where to get barbecue for breakfast, all-vegan pastries, and some new eats along Crockett Row.

CLOSE

120 An overhead view, down by the river.

Fast. Friendly. Fair.

Here's the deal.

AUTO GROUP

On Complacency

There are many things that separate our city from the herd. Austin might win the title of Texas’ outcast, but Fort Worth manages to distinguish itself by being the state’s most overtly Texas city while remaining slightly out of step with conventions.

I would easily argue most of our city’s traits are positive, but there is one characteristic that has bothered me since arriving here two years ago. I have never lived in, visited, or heard tall tales about a city as averse to self-criticism as Fort Worth. Where Austinites continually complain about their traffic; Dallasites, their lack of a hopping city center; Houstonians, their muggy weather; and San Antonians, their lack of a professional football team, Fort Worthians largely remain mum. Whether we should chalk this up to a severe lack of introspection or an inherent fear, I don’t know.

Fort Worthians love their city and take great pride in where they’re from, which is a wonderful thing. It’s the greatest place I’ve lived. But resting on the laurels of a safe and walkable downtown, phenomenal culinary scene, and world-renowned museums can blind one’s eye to the problems that afflict our city. In our feature story on ways to improve Fort Worth (page 70), Samantha Calimbahin and I list 20 ways our city can become even better. However, there’s one way not listed that might very well be the lynchpin to seeing any progress: recognizing that the city can, in fact, improve. I hope you read this magazine, as you do most things, with an open mind and a critical eye.

Best,

Brian Kendall EXECUTIVE EDITOR

With a mere 30 minutes to spare, Fort Worth’s busy Mayor Betsy Price — who is now in her fourth term at the helm of our city government — came by the Fort Worth Magazine studio on a Wednesday afternoon for this cover shot by Olaf Growald.

Corrections? Comments? Concerns?

Send to executive editor Brian Kendall at bkendall@fwtexas.com.

NEXT ISSUE

The 2020 Dream Street

A COVID-19 Wedding

The Mighty Orphan Who Became a Manhattan Project Scientist

owner/publisher hal a. brown

president mike waldum

EDITORIAL

executive editor brian kendall

managing editor samantha calimbahin

contributing editor scott nishimura

contributing writers sean chaffin, jenny b. davis, david fletcher, tina howard, rick mauch, malcolm mayhew, lauren wessinger

copy editor sharon casseday

editorial interns malena bell, jessica strange, renee umsted

ART

creative director craig sylva

senior art director spray gleaves

advertising art director ed woolf

contributing photographers olaf growald, crystal wise

ADVERTISING

advertising account supervisors gina burns-wigginton x150, marion c. knight x135

account executive tammy denapoli x141

brand manager scott mobley x140

customer support susan peterson x131 sales interns jessie conn, alison parks

MARKETING

director of events & marketing robyn lacasse

digital marketing & development director robby kyser

direct marketing manager katelyn needham

CORPORATE

chief financial officer charles newton

founding publisher mark hulme

subscriptions 800.856.2032

Fort Worth Magazine (ISSN 1536-8939) is published monthly by Panther City Media Group, LP, 6777 Camp Bowie Blvd., Suite 130, Fort Worth, TX 76116. Periodicals Postage Paid at Fort Worth, Texas. POSTMASTER: Send change of address notices and undeliverable copies to Fort Worth Magazine, P.O. Box 433329, Palm Coast, FL 32143-3329. Volume 23, Number 9, September 2020. Basic Subscription price: $23.95 per year. Single copy price: $4.99

ON THE COVER:

Let’s Chat

A few words from our readers

-Gavin Cooper

-Amanda Hall

I absolutely love this woman and her entire family. They are truly blessed beyond words. Francelia Williams works hard, and it shows. I can’t wait to come get my scalp massaged.

-LaTasha JacksonMcDougle

Best Of Party

The Best of Fort Worth party is still on for Oct. 10. We’re transforming Mule Alley into Mag-aritaville with a Jimmy Buffett-themed bash celebrating the city’s favorite restaurants, shops, services, and people. And, yes, we’ll be social distancing and wearing masks, too. Visit our website for tickets. fwtx.com/best-of-2020

Let’s Play Dress Up

Feeling inspired by our style story on page 36? Download a paper doll from fwtx.com and dress it up with some of the pieces featured in the article. Email pictures of your masterpiece to bkendall@ fwtexas.com for the chance to win a $100 gift card.

TRENDING ONLINE

Visit fwtx.com for the full story.

No ‘Nutcracker’ This Year: Texas Ballet Theater Cancels Its Biggest Production

The annual holiday tradition is the next event to bow out due to COVID-19.

Craftwork Expands

Again, Enters the World of Hospitality

Rebranding as The Craftwork Group, the company has plans to expand to at least two more cities.

Grapevine Hotel Gears Up for September Opening

Grapevine’s anticipated boutique hotel will sport an expansive wine list and rooftop patio to enjoy it on.

Right by work and a lazy river … I know where I’m buying once this is done.

Jeannie Anderson and Jon Atwood like to refer to themselves as “the A team!” This award winning duo is currently representing their second Dream Home together and individually, it is Jeannie’s third Dream Home to not only represent but sell. Their collaboration has been described as awesome, authentic, approachable, accomplished and overall amazing! Jeannie’s 20+ years of home sales and Jon’s 15+ years of luxury home building, coalesces into an unstoppable force that prides itself in scope of knowledge, experience and God given talent. It is an honor and privilege to work side by side with such an inspirational charity, “a Wish with Wings.” Please stop by and help us make wishes come true at the Fort Worth Magazine 2020 Street of Dreams.

The Pistana Group is proud to partner with WillowTree Custom Homes on this one of a kind project in the heart of Southlake. Comprised of highly skilled proven professionals, the WillowTree tree is top-notch and has brought a unique vision to the market, “with so few development opportunities left in Southlake, these homes are our solution to the market’s need for a luxury development within the city limits of Southlake,” Travis Franks, Principal of WillowTree Custom Homes. As longtime friends and colleagues, The Pistana Group is excited to see these exclusive custom homes brought to the market as one of Fort Worth Magazine’s 2020 Dream Home.

TXDOT LAUNCHES MOBILE GAME TO RAISE AWARENESS ABOUT DISTRACTED DRIVING

BY SAMANTHA CALIMBAHIN

COVID-19 MAY BE REDUCING TRAFFIC AS PEOPLE SPEND MORE TIME AT HOME, but according to TxDOT, it hasn’t done much to lessen the number of fatalities that occur on Texas roadways.

A big factor that contributes to these fatalities is distracted driving — and not just from a cell phone. To raise awareness, TxDOT launched a web-based augmented reality game, “Dart Those Distractions,” that has its player point their phone camera at any location to prompt a virtual car to appear in the space. The player then taps their phone to release a dart popping balloons that represent common distractions like pets, eating while driving, and music.

“Every driver and every passenger can be impacted by distracted driving, and one death is one too many,” TxDOT executive director James Bass said in a statement. “We are doing all we can to make sure every Texan knows the dangers of driving distracted.”

Visit dartthosedistractions.com to play — just not when you’re driving. ’Kay?

DISTRACTED DRIVING — NOT COOL.

3,056

Number of motor vehicle traffic crashes that involved distracted driving in Fort Worth in 2019 (distraction, driver inattention, or cell phone use)

5 Deaths in Fort Worth 85 Serious injuries in Fort Worth

8,102

Number of crashes that involved distracted driving in the Fort Worth TxDOT district (Tarrant and surrounding counties)

Around

1 in 5 crashes on Texas roads are caused by distracted driving

Source: TxDOT Crash Data and Analysis, 2019

SALIVA TESTING MAY BE MORE EFFECTIVE THAN THE NASAL SWAB, CITY SAYS

BY SAMANTHA CALIMBAHIN

ANYONE WHO’S BEEN TESTED FOR COVID-19 VIA THE NASAL SWAB KNOWS IT’S NOT A FUN PROCESS.

But aside from the discomfort, the City of Fort Worth has found other complications with swab testing — one, in the area of capacity, and two, the fact that a negative test doesn’t necessarily mean anything for symptomatic patients who may not have been shedding enough virus on the swab to test positive at the time.

In its search for alternative testing methods, Fort Worth found that Rutgers University was finding success using saliva. The city also learned that, according to a study led by the Yale School of Public Health, saliva tests are more sensitive to detecting the virus than the swab.

So, with the help of Rutgers and health care group Vault Health, Fort Worth introduced a saliva testing pilot program in July, administering up to 300 tests per day at J.P. Elder Middle School. The city has since expanded its testing sites to include both the school and Dickies Arena’s Chevrolet Parking Garage. City staff from Police, Fire and Code Compliance departments, along with certified city volunteers for emergency response, have been staffing the sites.

According to fire chief Jim Davis, saliva tests have a 1% – 2% false negative rate: “We feel that it is even more accurate than some of the other testing that’s available, including the swab testing.”

Other benefits of saliva tests are that they allow for mass testing, can be self-administered without the help of medical staff, and, of course, are more comfortable.

Whether it be via swab or saliva, Davis says those being tested shouldn’t be concerned over the accuracy of either. At the same time, anyone experiencing symptoms should take precautions even if they test negative, he says. “If they’re not feeling well, they need to do the things they’ve been asked to do since March — stay away from others and isolate themselves until they’re feeling better.”

THE BEST THINGS IN LIFE ARE WORTH WAITING FOR...

Silver Star Spirits is proud to announce the launch of our first Straight Bourbon Whiskey.

Appropriately named “1849,” this 2020 release is in honor of our Fort Worth home and was released on June 6th 2020, the day of our beloved City’s birthday. Fort Worth, Texas, was originally formed on June 6th, 1849, as an army outpost on a bluff overlooking the Trinity River, where millions of cattle were herded on the Chisholm Trail. Thus, this city we call home is known as “Cowtown.”

Silver Star 1849 Straight Bourbon Whiskey is our first release from a select number of mature bourbon barrels. Silver Star 1849 Straight Bourbon Whiskey has been patiently resting in our barrel room here in Fort Worth, Texas, the “place where the West begins.”

The newest member to our lineup, Silver Star 1849 Bourbon will be available at our distillery only, until August 1st when at that time it will become available for our Texas retail partners to purchase and feature. We welcome you and your friends to come by and pick up a bottle of Silver Star 1849.

Visit our website: www.silverstarspirits.com for distillery hours and updates

I welcome you to try my most recent Whiskey Expression – 1849 Straight Bourbon Whiskey – Kirk Richards Whiskey Maker

Senate’s Save Our Stages Act Offers Some Hope for Music Halls

BY SAMANTHA CALIMBAHIN

The stage at Bass Performance Hall has been quiet for months since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. With the rescheduling of Broadway blockbuster “Hamilton,” the cancelation of “The Nutcracker,” and a slew of other programming postponed or given the boot, very little income has come through for the theater.

“No ticket sales, no ancillary revenue, no rentals — absolutely every revenue, other than endowment funds, has completely dried up,” says Dione Kennedy, president and CEO of Performing Arts Fort Worth, the nonprofit that owns and operates Bass Performance Hall, McDavid Studio, and the Van Cliburn Recital Hall. “That’s a pretty dramatic impact for us.”

But a relief bill co-sponsored by Texas Sen. John Cornyn may offer some hope. The $10 billion Save Our Stages Act promises Small Business Administration (SBA) grants for independent live music venue operators affected by COVID-19. The act would direct the SBA to make grants to eligible venues equal to the lesser of either 45% of operation costs from calendar year 2019 or $12 million, providing six months of financial support.

The U.S. Senate has yet to pass the bill, but Kennedy remains hopeful for the survival of the city’s music venues.

“Our arts and entertainment are what make our communities fun and vibrant places to live. Any loss of that hurts,” Kennedy says. “Anything from the tiny little bar that plays a single musician on stage to a venue like Bass Hall and all of those in between add something to the community that could be lost during a crisis like this.”

CHIP AND

JOANNA

GAINES

TAP A FAMILIAR LOCAL TO STAR IN UPCOMING TV

SERIES

BY SAMANTHA CALIMBAHIN

HOME RENOVATION SUPERSTARS CHIP AND JOANNA GAINES ARE LAUNCHING A NEW TV NETWORK, and among its slate of content is a series starring one of Fort Worth’s most recognizable faces.

That’s Jonathan Morris, owner of Fort Worth Barber Shop, who will host the upcoming series, “Self Employed,” on Magnolia Network. According to a news release, the show will follow Morris as he travels the U.S. and meets “some of the country’s most inspiring small business owners.”

“All I want to do is champion the people, places, and ideas that push culture forward,” Morris wrote in an Instagram post announcing the show. “I want to inspire and encourage people to pursue their dreams, lean into community, and bring their ideas to life.”

Of course, Morris draws from his own personal experience as an entrepreneur in Fort Worth — he launched Fort Worth Barber Shop in 2014 and went on to open The Lathery, a retailer of grooming products, in 2017. He’s also co-founder of Memo Hospitality Group, which is currently developing a 21room boutique hotel in Fort Worth’s Cultural District.

Along with “Self Employed,” Magnolia Network — a media joint venture between the Gaines and Discovery, Inc. — will also reboot the Gaines’ popular HGTV show, “Fixer Upper.”

Jonathan Morris

Victor Turner

Neighborhood Services director, City of Fort Worth

BY SAMANTHA CALIMBAHIN

PHOTO

OLAF GROWALD

For someone who spent most of his life in sports, ultimately playing quarterback for the University of Central Arkansas, Victor Turner was anything but the stereotypical jock who only dreamt of throwing touchdown passes on Sundays.

Instead, it was an internship with a metropolitan planning organization that had Turner “bitten by the public sector bug.” The experience led him to major in public administration, setting course for a career in state and local government.

The Arkansas native would spend most of his life serving his home state and City of Little Rock until 2019 when Fort Worth came calling after the untimely death of previous Neighborhood Services director Aubrey Thagard. Turner would assume the role in November. Then, four months later, the city found itself rocked by COVID-19.

“I came at a really difficult time,” Turner says. “We had to shift gears and create a program to help those individuals who’ve been impacted.”

So, Neighborhood Services launched the Emergency Household Assistance Program, which helps

pay rent, utilities, and other needs of households impacted by the pandemic. Between that program and the Community Services Block Grant CARES Act, the city has granted nearly $1.3 million so far.

Beyond COVID-19, Turner’s other priority is affordable housing.

According to the Real Estate Center at Texas A&M University, homes under $150,000 went from 67% to 9.8% of the market from 2011 – 2019. Turner wants a strategic plan put in place that outlines how Fort Worth can expand its supply of affordable housing units and increase home ownership among low- to moderateincome individuals.

Outside work, the newly christened Fort Worthian is enjoying getting to know his new neighborhood. He likens working in the public sector to being a play caller on the football field.

“Just like a quarterback is getting his team in the right play and moving people around, or a coach assembling a staff and allowing them to do their job, that’s the way I look at [leadership],” he says. “I look at it as a team, just in a different environment.”

1. Victor and wife, Monitia. 2. At a golf event in Florida, where Golf Channel’s “The Big Break” happened to be filming. 3. Monitia and Victor at a Jackson State University football game. 4. Celebrating the holidays at Sundance Square. 5. Rooting for the Arkansas Razorbacks. 6. Family tailgate at Arkansas-Pine Bluff.

Playing On

Spencer Douglas Wharton talks about living as a musician during a pandemic.

BY DAVID FLETCHER

The life of a local musician is already difficult, and finding a way to make it through this pandemic is only making it harder.

Spencer Douglas Wharton is a guitar player for The Infamists and leads his own band, The Static Creatures, in addition to working on solo projects. However, Wharton has always relied on his IT job to support his creative endeavors. In March that came to an end.

“I lost my job a week before shelter-inplace happened in Dallas County where I was working,” Wharton says, sitting on a bench outside the Denton courthouse on the square. “Called me in the middle of the day while I was working from home and said, you’re basically fired. There’s nothing we can do. We’re downsizing because this is going to kill our company. And then it did.”

After spending four months on unemployment, Wharton thankfully landed a new and better job, but the

struggle to keep the creative juices flowing remains in the wake of canceled shows.

“I had a CD release show on April 4 that got canceled, which we had been planning six months,” Wharton says. “We were going to do like a two-hour show, too, with a bunch of the back catalog of my songs and, like, new shit. Both bands, The Static Creatures and The Infamists, had our schedules booked till August. We had to cancel everything — like 40 shows.”

In spite of all the show cancellations and unsupported album releases, Wharton found a way to make the most out of his time at home, adjusting to the demands of these unprecedented times.

“When I hit my creative moments, they tended to last longer because I had more time to, like, really think,” Wharton says. “But that also comes with the valleys and the droughts. Some of the droughts were longer than I’ve ever

gone in between writing anything.”

For Wharton, the only way out of those droughts was going straight through them.

“You just commit to writing,” he says. “I wrote, like, two albums worth of material over this. I’m having to learn how to use Google Drive for, like, ideas with the groups. The Infamists just started practicing again, doing, like, once a month. We’re social distancing in the room. Everybody has tons of ideas, and the energy is flowing, and there’s just nowhere to put it.”

The Infamists had been planning to record their new album in late-September, but not being able to rehearse together for so long means that the material is not as tight as it could be.

“You don’t want to go and waste anybody’s time — yours or your engineer’s,” Wharton says. “Also, not playing shows, you don’t have money in your band account. If you’re going to record, it’s going to be out of pocket.”

To record and promote a single song can cost a band about $600, and without a live show to support an album and take in additional revenue from merchandise sales, there is very little money to spend on recording new material.

Thankfully, music fans are still out there supporting local musicians the best way they can.

“The Infamists released The Torment of Heroes a few weeks ago, and that got a really decent response,” Wharton says. “We actually, like, made a lot of money on Bandcamp!”

Wharton and The Static Creatures will be releasing a new single on Sept. 4, but he is looking forward to the day when he can play live music in front of live fans again.

“It’s been surreal,” he says. “The last time I went this long without playing a live show was before I even started playing music for fans.”

Until that day when we can return to our favorite venues and see our favorite bands live, the only way to keep local music alive is by buying music and merchandise online.

“You’ve constantly just got to fight it,” Wharton says, “and find new ways to fight it living as a musician in the pandemic.”

That Fall Feeling

Five spots to check out fall foliage in the Lone Star State.

BY BRIAN KENDALL

Acommon gripe about our massive state is its lack of four distinguishable seasons. Sure, the weather might get mild for a spell, but summer and winter seem to exchange their unpleasantries in what feels like a flash. We Texans miss out on the array of reds, oranges, and yellows that bring to mind pumpkin spice lattes, college football, and turtlenecks. When it comes to fall, Texas is no Vermont.

But, thankfully, our diverse state isn’t made up solely of dusty prairies and conifers; there are places where Texans can witness fall foliage, and one doesn’t even have to exit the state’s borders. All it takes is a tank of gas — or even less.

Lost Maples State Natural Area

An hour northwest of San Antonio on the banks of the Sabinal River rests this natural area in the heart of the Texas Hill

Country. The spot is known as an amalgamation of everything welcoming about the Hill Country — majestic limestone bluffs, canyons, grasslands, and a wide range of flora. In early October, the park’s walnuts and sycamores turn a brilliant yellow and orange respectively, creating a surreal landscape when combined with the park’s exposed limestone — a mainstay of the Hill Country. But it’s the somewhat-outof-place maples that make this one of the Lone Star State’s most unique spots. The park’s maples and oaks turn color in November, which grants this area a sense of fall for a full two months. There’s no better spot in Texas to take in the fall colors.

37221 RM 187, Vanderpool

830.966.3413

Distance: 314 miles

Best time to go: Middle of November

Guadalupe Mountains

The state’s other national park, located between Carlsbad and El Paso, is nothing to turn your nose up at. Home to the highest point in Texas, as well as more than 1,000 species of plants, the park also provides fall visitors with an array of changing leaves that produce blasts of bright red, yellow, and orange. If you choose to walk to the park’s highest peak, you’ll witness a diverse collection of walnut, oaks, and desert sumac shrubs. If you’re up for an easier saun-

Lost Maples State Natural Area

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ter, we highly recommend taking the 2.5-mile stroll down canyon trail — an intermediate hike — which will grant visitors some of the best views of fall foliage.

Salt Flat

915.828.3251

Distance: 485 miles

Best time to go: Late October

Caddo Lake State Park

A bayou fall experience, Caddo Lake State Park — located northeast of Marshall near the Texas, Louisiana border — provides visitors a palette of brilliant copper leaves from its hoard of cypress trees (some over 400 years old) hanging over Mill Pond. The sight in mid-November is an unmistakably East Texas encounter. Nearby Daingerfield State Park, located just north of Lake O’ the Pines and just a hop and a skip from Caddo Lake, offers an even more diverse lineup of sweet gum, oak, and more cypress. While there, we also recommend renting a kayak and paddling along the brilliant lake, where you’ll encounter magnificent views of the area’s distinct flora.

245 Park Road, Karnack 903.679.3351

Distance: 200 miles

Best time to go: Middle of November

Tyler State Park

There are parts of Tyler State Park where you’ll undoubtedly do a doubletake to make sure you’re still in Texas. There are snapshots of this park will make one swear they’re among the Catskills in New York. The park’s centerpiece — a 65-acre pristine spring-fed lake — offers beautiful reflections of the dense fall foliage, which includes a sampling of sweet gum, maple, dogwood, sassafras, hickory, sumac, and oak. This diversity will make one dizzy with bright yellows, reds, and oranges.

789 Park Road, Tyler 903.597.5338

Distance: 129 miles

Best time to go: Late November

Fort Worth Japanese Garden

No, you don’t have to leave the city limits to witness the brilliance of fall foliage. But you will have to pay the new $12 admission fee to enter the Fort Worth Botanic Garden. Starting in early November, the crop of otherworldly flora begins to turn, and it lasts to the beginning of December. The varied trees turning magnificent reds, oranges, and yellows mingling with the well-manicured hedges and stalks of bamboo make for one of Texas’ most picturesque fall scenes. And all it takes is a trip down University Drive.

3400 Japanese Garden Blvd. 817.392.5464

Distance: Backyard

Best time to go: Late November

Caddo Lake State Park

Guadalupe Mountains

Start ’Em Young

English teacher Dev’n Goodman shares books that not only foster a love of reading but also challenge the minds of teen readers.

BY TINA HOWARD

Dev’n Goodman is a local teacher, advocate, and community organizer who is always trying to find ways to engage and grow the community culturally and equitably. No matter the initiative, the goal is always to provide access and opportunity to those whose voices and talents have too often not been amplified.

FW: What inspired you to be a high school English teacher, and what do you enjoy most about your job?

DG: I actually went to school to study educational law. Realized I need to understand the classroom before I could truly advocate for changes and resources, and as a lifelong reader, English was the subject for me without a doubt. Recently, I’ve moved to teaching humanities, and this history enthusiast in me has found what I’ve been missing when it comes to bringing everything together when it comes to helping students understand the human condition.

FW: How do you think literature shapes your students and their perspectives?

DG: Literature allows students to know worlds and engage with people far outside their own identity and community, and because of the discussions surrounding the literature we read in class, students are able to process critically the world around them and say, “Where do I fit, and how can I leave it better?”

FW: What do you think are important considerations when choosing writings

to be learned and studied?

DG: It’s important to provide literature that gives students a deeper knowledge of themselves, how the world around them came to be, and acknowledges that in many humans there lives a spirit to not just survive but thrive.

FW: How do you approach literature with students who don’t enjoy reading?

DG: In all my years of teaching, I’ve not had one student who didn’t like to read. But I’ve had plenty who, after years of being told what’s appropriate and not appropriate to read, just avoid reading all together. Or ones that have difficulty reading for reasons beyond their control. And I’m willing and ready to give those students time, advice, recommendations, connection to resources, and even challenges to help them find their reading style and genres of interest.

FW: What have you read recently that you would recommend and why?

DG: First, if you’ve not interacted with Octavia E. Butler, please do so sooner rather than later. Also, I read a lot of Young Adult because I teach those who fall in that category, so I’d recommend either Seraphina (and its sequel) by Rachel Hartman and Scythe (and its sequels) by Neal Shusterman because both show youth in revolt of the systems around them that need to be changed for the better. But it’s none of the tropes that have taken over dystopian novels, and they’re very honest with the reality of who their characters are and are growing to be as they also work to change the world.

Kindred

Octavia E. Butler

Dana, a newly married young African-American woman, is suddenly transported to a pre-Civil War plantation to save a young white boy named Rufus from drowning. When she completes that task, she returns to her present-day life and believes everything to have returned to normal — until she is pulled back again, and again, to get Rufus out of trouble. Dana must grapple with what she experiences, as well as figure out why she continues to be pulled to the past.

Little Family by Ishmael Beah Five children, brought together by the ravages of war, create a home in an abandoned airplane. Together they have formed a new family, working together to make money, bring in food, and take care of each other. However, as they consider their individual futures, their aspirations reveal that the family can’t stay together forever. An incredible coming-of-age story about survival, family, and dreams.

The Hilarious World of Depression by John Moe

An excellent book exploring depression — the discovery of having it and the effect of living with it — mixed with both funny commentary and thought-provoking insight. Moe brings a perspective as both someone who suffers from depression himself and as a family member of one who was depressed, plus stories of those he has interviewed on his podcast. Mental illness is an important topic to discuss, and the more courageous folks like John Moe are willing to speak up about their experience, the better we can support and love those who are dealing with it.

Multitasking

Researchers say multitasking may be less productive than we think.

BY LAUREN WESSINGER

Research isn’t often unanimous in social science; one exception, however, is the topic of multitasking.

People who multitask show an enormous range of deficits in cognitive tasks. A study funded by Hewlett-Packard and conducted by the Institute of Psychiatry at the University of London, found that “workers distracted by email and phone calls suffer a fall in IQ more than twice that found in marijuana smokers.”

According to the book One Second Ahead, by Rasmus Hougaard, research overwhelmingly shows that at work, multitaskers are masters of everything that is irrelevant. They let themselves inadvertently be distracted by anything and everything.

High multitaskers are notorious for assuming they’re high functioning, when in fact high multitaskers can’t filter out irrelevance, can’t use working

memory well, have a hard time managing emotions, are more stressed out, and have stifled creativity — meaning less innovative thinking.

There is a misnomer that one can easily shift — that when concentration is really needed, then multitasking can be shut off and become laser focused. But this isn’t true. The brain has lost the ability to focus, like an atrophied muscle. So why do we do it?

The short answer is, it’s addictive for the brain. Even though it’s draining and stressful, it’s also very exciting. In a study conducted at Harvard University, researchers discovered that multitasking provides a dopamine injection, so it feels good, and it brings a sense of enjoyment and satisfaction. But if the brain can be trained to work inefficiently, it can also be trained instead to be more efficient.

Ultimately, everyone wants to be the best version of themselves. It’s

just a matter of remembering and actively wanting to streamline the day toward more mental clarity and better productivity.

The first tip, the biggest tip, is simply awareness around the fact that the brain doesn’t do its best work while multitasking. Without awareness, there is no change.

Get a timer, set it, and work on one thing. Follow the 20-minute rule — commit to email and commit to 20 straight minutes. Efficiency is higher and, more importantly, one 20-minute session is better for brain health.

Turn off all phone and computer notifications. Who is running the show if the day is dictated by the outer world pinging and ringing every minute? Every time a notification is received, attention is diverted to a new task, and it can take up to 25 minutes for attention to fully focus back on the original task at hand. That is a lot of lost productivity and brain power.

Avoid checking email and social media all day. The habit is real, and often apps are checked for the sake of filling time. The desire to be the best, brightest, and most energetic self has to be greater than the desire to see what someone else is eating for lunch on Instagram.

Practice mindfulness. The practice builds the muscle of self-awareness, and it cultivates the strength needed in the brain to break a habit and create new ones.

Tom Davenport, the former director of the Accenture Institute of Strategic Change, says, “Understanding and managing attention is now the single most important determinant of business success.”

So, for anyone of you who still thinks you are really good at multitasking, remember the science. But also consider this for a moment: What might be possible without it?

Lauren Wessinger is a yoga and meditation instructor and the owner of The Mindful Project. You can follow her on Instagram @laurenwessinger.

Dream Street 2020: Our Charity, a Wish with Wings

Fort Worth Magazine’s first Dream Street project — three homes built in Southlake’s new Oxford Place and open for touring in October — benefits a charity that grants wishes to children with life-threatening conditions.

BY SCOTT NISHIMURA

COVID-19 hasn’t been kind to a Wish with Wings, Fort Worth Magazine’s official charity, in its 38th year of fulfilling the wishes of kids who have life-threatening conditions.

Requests for wishes have surged — Judy Youngs, the executive director of the Fort Worth nonprofit, isn’t sure why. But most wishes are for trips to Disney World in Florida, and a nonprofit resort a Wish with Wings partners with there has been

shut down since March. A Wish with Wings has been able to fulfill other wishes, such as shopping sprees. And in May, it put together a giant “Christmas Day” parade for a 5-yearold North Richland Hills girl, replete with blown-in snow and the help of 12 municipalities.

“It snowed in her front yard,” courtesy of the Emergency Ice Co., Youngs says. “We put a Christmas tree up. We estimated we had 350 to 400 vehicles, including police, firefighters, EMS, police helicopters,

police motorcycles, and bikes. And, of course, Santa Claus was on the last float.” Elves were also on hand to receive gifts and deliver them to the girl’s home.

A Wish with Wings has been busy fundraising to help make up for having to cancel its annual Butterfly Wishes Gala this spring, which typically brings in one-third of the organization’s annual $800,000 budget. A Wish with Wings benefits annually from tickets sold for tours to the magazine’s Dream Home. This year, we’re collaborating with luxury builders and subcontractors on three homes under construction on a culde-sac in Southlake’s Oxford Place subdivision. The Dream Street homes will be open for three weeks of tours in October. Tickets will be available for sale at fwtx.com this fall.

Youngs expects 2021 to be a robust year for wish fulfillment. Through late July, a Wish with Wings had received 77 applications for wishes, up from 53 the same time the previous year.

“We’re seeing a tremendous surge of new wishes come through,” Youngs says. “We don’t honestly know [why], but our hope, of course, is when the light shines at the end of the tunnel, we’re able to grant wishes for every one of those 77 kids.”

Of the 44 wishes the organization fulfilled last year, 29 were for trips to Disney World. There, a Wish with Wings teams with the Give Kids the World Village nonprofit to put up Wish kids and their families and guide them during their stays.

In-kind gifts defray a big part of what would normally be the $8,500$10,000 cash cost of a Disney trip, Youngs says. “Some wishes are entirely underwritten,” she says.

“Our cost for Give Kids the World is what enables us to continue running so many Disney wishes.”

Disney World is now open after having closed temporarily because of COVID-19. But the major wishgranting organization Make-A-Wish has suspended wish-granting to Dis-

Dream Street Builders and Subcontractors

Fort Worth Magazine has teamed up annually for two decades with luxury homebuilders, designers, Realtors, and subcontractors to build Dream Homes and show off the latest in building, design, and fashion trends. Here are the Dream Street partners who’ve come on board so far for this year’s Dream Street in Southlake’s Oxford Place development.

1104 High Court, Lot 7 (Listed for sale, $3.825 million)

Builder: Heritage Homes

Home plans: Paragon Design Group

Interior: Traci Darden, Elements of Design

Realtor: John Zimmerman, Compass

Appliances: The Jarrell Co.

Cabinets, kitchen: The Kitchen Source

Cabinets, master closet and all other: Mike Conkle’s Custom Cabinets

Concrete flatwork: Metroplex Concrete Construction

Countertops, fabrication: Absolute Stone & Tile

Countertops, material: KLZ Stone Supply

Doors, exterior: Quarles Lumber

Drywall and texture: Alliance Drywall

Electrician: C&B Electric

Fencing, iron and Automated Gates: Lambert’s Ornamental Iron

Fencing, wood: Lambert’s Ornamental Iron

Fireplace inserts, interior: Overhead Door

Company of Fort Worth

Fire protection systems: Safe Life Fire Protection

Flooring, carpet and wood, materials and labor: Vintage Floors

Flooring, tile materials: Florida Tile

Flooring, tile-setting labor and supplies: Galvan Floors

Framing: Lone Star Framing & Construction

Garage doors/openers: Overhead Door

Company of Fort Worth

Garage epoxy coatings: Premier Custom Floors

Gutters: Loveless Gutters

Hardware/cabinet hardware: Pierce Fine

Decorative Hardware and Plumbing

HVAC: ICE HVAC/Builder Direct Sales

Insulation: New Leaf Foam Insulation

Landscape/irrigation/grade/lighting: Metro

Landscaping & Irrigation

Light fixtures and outdoor lighting: Passion Lighting

Low voltage/AV/security: Multimedia Solutions

Lumber and trusses: DeFord Lumber Co.

Paint: Sherwin-Williams

Paint labor: J&V Painting

Plumbing labor and supplies: Pro Serve

Plumbing

Pool: Leschber Designs

Roofing: Ramon Roofing

Shower glass and mirrors: Galactic Glass LLC

Site surveillance: SiteViewPRO

Stairs and railings: Lambert’s Ornamental Iron

Stucco material and labor: Centurion Stone of DFW

Windows and interior doors: Quarles Windows

Wine room cabinets: Vineyard Wine Cellars

3D virtual tour: Metroplex360

1100 High Court, Lot 6 (Under contract to be sold)

Builder: Atwood Custom Homes

Home plans: J Bolton & Associates

Interior: Stacy Furniture & Design

Realtor: Jeannie Anderson, Compass

Appliances: Expressions Home Gallery

Cabinets, kitchen: The Kitchen Source

Concrete flatwork: Blythe Concrete

Countertops, fabrication: Absolute Stone & Tile

Countertops, material: Levantina

Doors, exterior: Quarles Lumber

Drywall and texture: Alliance Drywall

Fencing, iron and automated gates: Magnolia Fence & Patio

Fencing, wood: Magnolia Fence & Patio

Fireplace, inserts, interior: Overhead Door Company of Fort Worth

Fireplace, isokern and insert: Overhead Door Company of Fort Worth

Fire protection systems: Safe Life Fire Protection

Flooring, tile materials: Interceramic USA

Flooring, wood, labor: North Texas Surfaces

Flooring, wood, materials: DuChateau

Garage doors/openers: Overhead Door Company of Fort Worth

Gutters: Loveless Gutters

Hardware, cabinets: Rick’s Hardware & Decorative Plumbing

HVAC: Hawk Air Company

Insulation: New Leaf Foam Insulation

Landscape/irrigation/grade/lighting: Guardado Landscaping

Light fixtures and outdoor lighting: Passion Lighting

Low voltage/AV/security: H Customs Audio/ Video

Lumber and trusses: Builders FirstSource

Paint: Benjamin Moore

Patio Furniture: Yard Art Patio and Fireplace

Plumbing, fixtures: Ferguson

Plumbing, labor and supplies: Posey Plumbing

Pool: Claffey Pools

Pool table: Fort Worth Billiards

Roofing: Texas Tile Roofing

Shower glass and mirrors: Galactic Glass LLC

Site surveillance: SiteViewPRO

Stucco material and labor: Centurion Stone of DFW

Windows and interior doors: Quarles Windows

3D virtual tour: Metroplex360

1105 High Court, Lot 5 (Listed for sale, $3.795 million)

Builder: WillowTree Custom Homes

Architect: Flynn+Watson Architects

Interior: Susan Semmelmann Interiors

Realtor: Tommy Pistana, Compass

Appliances: Expressions Home Gallery

Cabinets, kitchen: The Kitchen Source

Cabinets, other: JIL Custom Cabinets

Concrete flatwork: Blythe Concrete

Countertops, fabrication: Absolute Stone & Tile

Countertops, material: Levantina

Doors, exterior front: M2 Metals Iron Doors

Drywall and texture: Alliance Drywall

Electrician: MPT Electric

Fencing, iron, and automated gates: Lambert’s Ornamental Iron

Fencing, wood: Lambert’s Ornamental Iron Fire protection systems: Safe Life Fire Protection

Flooring, tile materials: Daltile

Flooring, wood, labor: North Texas Surfaces

Flooring, wood, materials: DuChateau

Garage doors/openers: Open Up Garage Doors

Gutters: Loveless Gutters

Hardware, cabinets: Pierce Fine Decorative Hardware and Plumbing

HVAC: Hawk Air Company

Insulation: New Leaf Foam Insulation

Landscape/irrigation/grade/lighting: Joey Design Irrigation and Landscapes

Light fixtures and outdoor lighting: Passion Lighitng

Low voltage/AV/security: ComwareAV

Lumber and trusses: DeFord Lumber Co.

Paint: Benjamin Moore

Paint labor: J&V Painting

Patio Furniture: Yard Art Patio and Fireplace

Plumbing fixtures: Expressions Home Gallery

Plumbing labor and supplies: Posey Plumbing

Pool: Claffey Pools

Pool table: Fort Worth Billiards

Shower glass and mirrors: Fashion Glass & Mirror

Site surveillance: SiteViewPRO

Stone materials: Texas Stone Creations

Stucco material and labor: MCD Stucco

Wine room, cabinets: Vineyard Wine Cellars

Wine room, ceiling: Cosentino

3D virtual tour: Metroplex360

ney World, and Give Kids the World Village — a Make-A-Wish partner — temporarily closed.

“When Make-A-Wish is not sending kids, it’s hard for [Give Kids the World Village] to justify keeping their doors open,” Youngs says. “The experience [the kids] have is just out of this world. We’re anxiously awaiting their reopening.”

A Wish with Wings is working with its wish families who are requesting trips to determine whether it’s possible to wait. “These kids have a compromised immune system, so travel is not encouraged right now,” she says. “But with that said, we also understand that many of these 77 kids simply don’t have time to wait for travel restrictions to be lifted.”

For the Christmas-in-May wish, the girl’s hospice referred her to a Wish with Wings. Clarissa Hernandez, the organization’s program director, put the wish together for Eli, the 5-year-old.

Emergency Ice donated its time and ice, which crews converted to snow using a shredder, creating a front-yard snowscape at the girl’s home. Zenith Roofing of Fort Worth, which decorates a Wish with Wings headquarters “wish house” each year and also designs and decorates a Wish with Wings float in Fort Worth’s holiday Parade of Lights, donated the Christmas décor and lighting.

The City of North Richland Hills waived permits and organized the parade route. The Fort Worth Police pitched in.

“We had tremendous support from the Fort Worth Police Department,” Youngs says. “They reached out to the surrounding community and got them involved.” The department sent its Air One helicopter to fly over the parade, and Chief Ed Kraus attended.

“It takes a village; it was 12 villages,” Youngs says. “It was truly one of the most special and magical wishes we have ever had the blessing to fulfill. We will not soon forget. It was just overwhelming.”

Play Dress Up

Create your best self with fall’s most fantastical fashion looks

TEXT AND STYLING BY JENNY B. DAVIS ART DIRECTION AND ILLUSTRATION BY JOHANNA ARMSTRONG

Remember when you believed anything was possible? You could wear what you wanted to wear, be who you wanted to be, and live your life on your own terms? If you’re like most people, those halcyon days ended around the time preschool began.

But what if …

What if you could revive that childhood optimism? Regain the self-confidence you had before we started hearing all those “nos”? What if you could fling open your arms and run straight into joy, embracing something you’ve always loved — something that’s no risk and all reward?

That’s fashion.

We know. Fashion has been the last thing on your mind this year. We get it. But there’s no better time than right now to rediscover the clothes waiting for you in your closet. And there’s never been a better time to explore all the beautiful pieces designers have created for you this season — just reach out to your favorite retailer.

We invite you to dress up. Play. Pretend. Dream. Indulge in the beauty of fall’s most fantastical trends like luxe leather, refined prints, embellished necklines, sustainably sourced denim, and all that shimmers, from golden skirts and sequin gowns to countless carats of responsibly mined diamonds.

Not because you have to go anywhere. No, this dressup party is just for you. All you have to do is dream.

Download the PDFs of each look at our website, fwtx.com. Cut, color, and paste each look to the doll and send pictures of your fashion masterpieces to our editor, bkendall@ fwtexas.com, for a chance to win a $100 gift card.

Johanna Armstrong London-based illustrator Johanna Armstrong says she was thrilled to undertake this month’s innovative paper doll fashion feature. “It’s been quite an intense year for everyone, so this is a fun project to feel a bit nostalgic about playing with dolls from your childhood while imagining a fashion fantasy for brighter days ahead,” she says. While this is the first time Armstrong has designed paper dolls, she’s been blending art and fashion for years as an art director for major brand campaigns in New York City and London and as an artist specializing in charming digital fashion illustrations. Check out her work at lafemmejojo.com

Timeless Tartan

Burberry F/W 2020 Collection | Find pieces inspired by this look at Burberry The Shops at Clearfork, 5187 Monahans Ave., 682.707.3427, burberry.com

Jean Dream

4th Quarter recycled/repurposed denim topper: Crescente Patricio, $250, cpatricio.com | Ruffle Scarf Neck Blouse Givenchy, $1,295, nordstrom. com | Cropped leather cargo culottes, Givenchy, $3,900, Hammock Tartan Bucket Bag, Loewe, $2,450, Neiman Marcus, The Shops at Clearfork, 5200 Monahans Ave., 817.738.3581, neimanmarcus.com | Shearling-Lined Clarita Sneaker, Alexandre Birman, $445, Stanley Eisenman’s Fine Shoes, 6333 Camp Bowie Blvd., 817.731.2555, The Shops at Clearfork, 5144 Monahans Ave., 817.377.9399, stanleyeisenmanshoes.com

Tory Burch F/W 2020 Collection | Find pieces inspired by this look at Tory Burch, The Shops at Clearfork, 5162 Monahans Ave., 682.707.3616, toryburch.com

Atwood Custom Homes

GET A FREE ESTIMATE

Our Work Speaks For Itself. Our pricing is competitive with home centers, and our estimates are absolutely free with no strings attached.

Our design software allows you to take a virtual tour and view the entire room before renovation begins. Once you see our preliminary design, we can make changes quickly. We measure every job, then work with you to design your dream kitchen, office, entertainment room or bathroom. Once you’ve approved the plans, we take over seamlessly to ensure your peace of mind from inception to completion, keeping to both time and budget.

Matrix Moment

| All available at Net-a-Porter, net-a-porter.com

Tom Ford, Chunky knit silk, mohair and cashmere turtleneck, $1,950 | Leather biker jacket, $4,750 | Leather culottes, $2,750 | “001” T-clasp leather tote, $3,550 | Point-toe padlockaccented pumps, $1,190

Elegance for the Ages

Gown: Balenciaga F/W 2020 Collection. Find pieces inspired by this look at Balenciaga, 11 Highland Park Village, Dallas, 214.273.7650, balenciaga.com | Tiffany & Co. Schlumberger Stars and Moons Necklace in platinum with over 130 carats of round brilliant diamonds. Price on request, Tiffany & Co., 5219 Monahans Ave., 817.806.0330, tiffany.com | Brother Vellies Stell Mule, $655, brothervellies.com | Lanvin leather opera gloves, $750, lanvin.com

Sticking with Sports

National Lacrosse League adds a new Fort Worth franchise for 202122 season.

BY SEAN CHAFFIN

It’s been a rough year for sports leagues in 2020. Games have been canceled or postponed, and fans are locked out of stadiums. Despite that environment, in July the National Lacrosse League announced a new North Texas franchise calling Fort Worth home. There’s no team name yet, but plans call for a team to compete in the league’s next season.

While North Texans may not be as familiar with a stick and ball as goal posts and pigskins, team majority owner Bill Cameron and managing partner Greg Bibb believe fans will enjoy the game’s fast pace, high scoring, and physicality. Cameron is a partial owner of the NBA’s Oklahoma City Thunder and lead owner and chairman of the WNBA’s Dallas Wings. Bibb serves as CEO of the Wings after a long career in executive roles with professional sports franchises. Friends and business partners for several years, they see Fort Worth as a nice opportunity for a franchise.

“We wanted to build a sports entertainment company that extended well beyond one sports property,” Bibb says.

“About two years [ago], I started to look at potential opportunities and quickly came to realize the National Lacrosse League was the league that provided the best opportunities for us and checked the most boxes for us in terms of the next team in our portfolio.”

Team officials are banking on much of the coronavirus pandemic to have subsided by the start of the next NLL season in November 2021. Bibb and Cameron were further along in organizing a franchise earlier this year but paused to see how the pandemic played out. With the announcement, they’re now ready to move forward and hope Fort Worth sports fans embrace the franchise.

“We’re excited to bring this to North Texas and want to represent North Texas,” Bibb says, “but we really want Fort Worth sports fans to feel like this is their team.”

AN ACTION-PACKED, GROWING GAME

In a football-crazed area, Bibb and Cameron believe professional lacrosse can find a fanbase. Lacrosse features plenty of fast-paced action similar to hockey. Traditionally an outdoor game, the NLL plays a version called “box lacrosse.” The game is played inside on an artificial turf surface complete with glass and boards as in hockey. There are also power players, free substitutions, and plenty of hitting.

Each team plays with five runners (field players) and a goaltender. As the league’s media guide notes, “The combination of the confined playing area and the physical play leads many fans to describe indoor lacrosse as like hockey, on foot, with more scoring.” Games are played in four quarters of 15 minutes each with a 30-second shot clock. Fans can expect a high-energy game with a league average of 23 combined goals per game.

“What we really like about the NLL, while it’s certainly lacrosse, the sport is played indoors on a hockey rink and has many of the same elements that hockey has,” Bibb says. “It’s high scoring and action packed.”

Each team plays an 18-game regular season with a similar structure to the NFL with all games played on weekends. NLL matchups are streamed on Turner Broadcasting’s B/R Live digital platform, and teams also negotiate local television deals.

In operation for 33 years, the NLL is the top level of indoor lacrosse. Fort Worth becomes the league’s 14th team, which also includes several franchises in the Northeast as well as Georgia, Colorado, and California and four teams in Canada. Some teams in the league average more than 10,000 fans per game.

The sport dates to the 17th century and was invented by Native Americans in the St. Lawrence Valley by the Algonquian tribe. Other tribes in the eastern half of North America and the western Great Lakes also began playing what was then referred to as “stick ball.” European settlers also took up the game, and lacrosse’s popularity in Canada grew by the 1800s. Fort Worth sports fans will soon have the chance to see plenty of high-level stick work firsthand.

“It is a Native American and native Canadian sport with a tremendous history,” says Bibb, who lives in Fort Worth. “We hope to rally the community around the fact that we are a Fort Worth professional sports team, and we’re playing in a worldclass, brand-new venue.”

CHALLENGES AHEAD BUT READY TO TAKE THE FIELD

The new team will certainly have some positive momentum when it comes to that venue. Dickies Arena is a cutting-edge facility that opened in 2019 and seats 14,000 fans. The facility hosts numerous concerts, sporting events, and the Fort Worth Stock Show rodeo. But can Fort Worth’s team find space in

a packed metroplex sports landscape that includes the NFL, NBA, NHL, NCAA, and several minor league teams? Bibb notes that the Dallas-Fort Worth area has become a lacrosse hotbed.

“North Texas is one of the fastest-growing youth lacrosse markets in the country,” Bibb says. “For years it was more of a regional sport primarily played in the Northeast, but over the last decade or so, it has really begun to spread across the country.”

A launch event is in the works for November to get the word out even more and announce the team name, logo, colors, and general manager. The team also plans on working with local lacrosse groups to build a grassroots group of fans. Local leaders in the sport have already embraced the team.

“We view this as a real milestone for lacrosse in this area, and it really provides an opportunity to help grow the sport,” Fort Worth Youth Lacrosse Association vice president Meredith Dorris says. “Our young players will have an elite team from which to watch and learn right here in our own backyard. Having indoor lacrosse in Fort Worth will really showcase this amazing sport.”

Beyond traditional lacrosse players and fans, Bibb says the game also appeals to those who aren’t well-versed in the game, and 70% of the NLL supporters don’t identify as traditional lacrosse fans. He hopes fans will appreciate the competitiveness and professionalism on the field — as well as an occasional big hit.

“This is not a minor league,” Bibb says. “These guys aren’t trying to get to a better higher level of play. This is the best indoor lacrosse in the world, and there’s nothing else close to it. And it will now be happening at Dickies Arena in Fort Worth.”

For more information on the team including upcoming ticket sales, visit fortworthnll.com.

Bacon, Eggs, and BBQ

Barbecue for breakfast is the latest fad to hit the Cowtown culinary scene. Here’s where you can get saucy for your a.m. meal.

BY MALCOLM MAYHEW

Savvy barbecue joint aficionados already know the secret to scoring a good plate of ’cue: Get there early.

The earlier you arrive, the better your chances are of not crossing paths with the “sold out” sign.

There’s now another incentive for

barbecue lovers to rise early: barbecue for breakfast. Many local ’cue joints are opening at the crack of dawn for the most important meal of the day.

To entice customers, and also stretch their legs creatively, most are offering unique items unavailable during lunch or dinner. Here’s a look at this new barbecue breakfast club:

Derek Allan’s Texas Barbecue

Over the past year, this ’cue newcomer in the medical district — run by pitmaster Derek Allan and his wife, Brittany — has moved to the forefront of Fort Worth’s barbecue scene, offering Wagyu brisket, housemade beef sausage, and mouthwatering ribs that usually sell out within a matter of hours. To sate the appetites of early morning ’cue lovers and nearby hospital workers, Allan recently added a breakfast menu made up of tacos, platters, and other items.

What to get: Allan’s signature breakfast dish is the brisket biscuit, a large housemade buttermilk biscuit sliced in two, then piled high with Wagyu brisket, eggs, and a slice of cheddar cheese. Add hash browns to the mix and thank us later.

Second choice: The “Dirty Texan” taco, loaded with egg, Wagyu brisket, cheese, and sliced sausage. Like all

Derek Allan’s Texas Barbecue

BBQ on the Brazos of the breakfast tacos here, the DT comes wrapped in a warm, freshly made flour tortilla.

Breakfast hours: 7 – 10:30 a.m. Tuesday – Saturday.

Details: 1116 Eighth Ave., derekallansbbq.com

BBQ on the Brazos

Long before barbecue breakfasts became a thing, North Texas pitmaster John Sanford was serving barbecue breakfast plates out of his gas station barbecue joint in Cresson. After a brief stint in Fort Worth, Sanford recently moved BBQ on the Brazos back to its Cresson home, where he and his son, John Jr., serve a wide variety of breakfast dishes.

What to get: Any of their tacos are great, but the smoked brisket tacos are superb, thanks to the richness of his expertly smoked brisket. Excellent flour tortillas, too, made in-house.

Second choice: Sanford and son also serve a handful of Mexican food staples for breakfast, all mixed with barbecue meats, including huevos rancheros and chilaquiles.

Breakfast hours: 7 – 10 a.m. Tuesday – Saturday.

Details: 9001 Highway 377, Cresson; bbqonthebrazoscressontx.com

407 BBQ

After running a successful trailer with the same name, former competitive barbecuer Bryan McLarty opened this joint last year on Farm Road 407 in Argyle, where he serves ’cue classics and brisket burgers. McLarty soon realized no one in his neck of the woods offered much in the way of early morning eats. Thus, his take on breakfast was born.

What to get: 407 offers an extensive breakfast menu, from tacos to biscuits and gravy to huge platters served with your choice of smoked meats. His best item: pork migas, scrambled eggs mixed with crisp tortilla strips, onions, cilantro, bell peppers, and on top, a hefty serving of tender pulled pork, all of which is smothered in a blanket of housemade salsa verde. It’s enough for two

people, and an absolute steal at $10.

Second choice: Pastrami hash bowl, a mishmash of housemade pastrami, scrambled eggs, diced potatoes, onions, and bell peppers. It’s drizzled with a house Carolina barbecue sauce and comes with two flour tortillas.

Breakfast hours: 7 – 10:30 a.m.

Wednesday – Saturday.

Details: 831 FM 407 West, Argyle. 407bbq.com

Meat U Anywhere BBQ

Andy Sedino was another barbecuer ahead of the curve. His twin Meat U Anywhere BBQ restaurants — the original in Grapevine and the spinoff in Trophy Club — have been offering breakfast since they opened in ’14 and ’16, respectively. Right now, he only offers breakfast tacos, but there are several varieties, made with smoked meats you don’t normally see on breakfast menus, and they’re served all day.

What to get: Breakfast tacos come stuffed with eggs, cheese, and your choice of the usual smoked meats: brisket, sausage, pulled pork, good choices all. Beyond the norm is the excellent chorizo and egg taco, filled to the brim with a housemade chorizo mix, nice and smoky and not the least bit greasy.

Second choice: Smoked turkey taco, filled with eggs with lusciously tender turkey.

Breakfast hours: 6 a.m. – 8:30 p.m. Monday – Saturday; 6 a.m. – 3 p.m. Sunday.

Details: 919 West Northwest Highway, Grapevine; 91 Trophy Club Drive, Trophy Club; meatuanywhere.com

Panther City BBQ

This Near Southside barbecue joint, one of the best in the city, has spent the past several months experimenting with late-night and early-morning menus. While the late-night hours

are currently on hold, owners Chris Magallanes and Ernest Morales have beefed up their breakfast options, offering killer tacos, bowls, and super cheap plates.

What to get: The breakfast platter is worth every dime. You get a huge slab of smoked brisket, two eggs, sliced and fried potatoes, a scoop of refried beans, a link of jalapeño cheddar sausage, fresh salsa, and a freshly made flour tortilla. It’s enough food for two people for less than $10.

Second choice: Forget second choice. Their guisado tacos are an absolute must. Brisket trimmings are made into a rich, spicy, and addicting gravy, then poured onto a flour tortilla. Could be the best guisado in town.

Breakfast hours: 7 – 10 a.m. Wednesday – Saturday.

Details: 208 E. Hattie St., panthercitybbq.com

Panther City BBQ

Bits and Bites

There are now one, two, three new fajita/ margarita delivery services in the Fort Worth area. Not long after Lanny Lancarte launched his Eat Fajitas delivery service and not long after we reported on it back in July, local celeb chef Tim Love introduced his own version, called Burritos, Fajitas and ‘Ritas. Similar to Lancarte’s service, Love’s minions hustle Tex-Mex classics to your door, provided your door is within a five-mile radius of his corporate kitchen at 917 N. Main St. His menu includes beef, chicken or veggie fajitas, burritos, and margaritas in flavors such as jalapeño-cucumber. Pickup is also available. Info at cheftimlove.com. Finally, a third ‘rita-delivery service launched this summer. The appropriately named Ritas & Queso is at your beck and call when the hankering for watermelon margaritas and chips and queso strikes. ritasandqueso.com

Toro Toro, the swanky Latin steakhouse inside downtown’s Worthington Hotel, recently launched a happy hour that includes both suds and snacks. Get the terrific chicken skewers on a bed of heavenly sweet potato puree for just $8 and ahi tuna ceviche for $10. There are $5 cocktails and $4 beers. 3 – 6:30 p.m. daily. 200 Main St., torotorofortworth.com

A popular vegan restaurant in Granbury now has a spinoff location in Fort Worth. Belenty’s Love Vegan Mexican opened in August in the Bluebonnet Circle space last occupied by Rusty Taco. Owner Belen Hernandez is open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, serving nachos, tacos, enchiladas, empanadas, and burritos, all made with vegan ingredients. Belenty’s is also open for breakfast.

3516 Bluebonnet Circle, belentyslove.com

Hold the Dairy

A new vegan pastry

shop hits Wedgwood.

Browse the pastry case and get a whiff of the freshly made bread at Stephanie and Mark Garza’s new bakery, and you’ll swear nothing’s amiss. But the Garzas have done something quite different for Fort Worth: They’ve opened a 100% vegan bakery.

In April, the couple opened Planted Bakery in the southwest Fort Worth neighborhood of Wedgwood. Their menu includes sandwiches, salads, cookies, doughnuts, cakes, pepperoni rolls, and other sweet and savory treats, all made with vegan ingredients.

But the star attraction is the “cruffin.” Stephanie chats with us about this unusual pastry and her and her husband’s unique bakery.

FW: What exactly is a cruffin and how did you come up with the idea?

SG: A cruffin is a cross between a croissant and a muffin — it’s croissant dough baked in a popover or muffin tin. A New York bakery invented the cruffin, but our version is wider and fluffier. We make flavors for every palate: butter, bacon, maple sausage and cheddar, cheddar and green onion, chocolate, and more.

FW: You make pastries and bread in-house. How did you learn how to bake?

SG: I have been baking since middle school. My mom taught me to use her old Betty Crocker Cookbook, and I learned how to follow recipes and figure out baking terms and vegan substitutions. Mark has been experimenting with bread for about a year, and he learned from Ken Forkish’s book, Flour Water Salt Yeast. The pastries and bread are made here, but the soy and seitan-based meats for some of the pastries and sandwiches are sourced from The BE-Hive Deli & Market in Nashville.

FW: What led you and your husband to become vegan?

SG: We tried several dieting paths to get healthy for our kids, and three years ago we read Dr. Michael Greger’s How Not to Die. By the end of the book, we couldn’t un-learn all we had read about what meat and dairy were doing to our bodies. We were about to take the kids to the Grand Canyon on vacation, and we decided if we could stay vegan on vacation, we would stick with it forever. So, we did it, and here we are.

5400 Woodway Drive, Ste. 120, plantedbakery.com

The Resurrection of Crockett Hall

A new name, new vendors, and new design elements give West Seventh’s Food Hall a lifeline.

When the Food Hall at Crockett Row opened two years ago, hopes were high it would help bring food lovers back to the West Seventh area.

As most local foodies know, West Seventh’s rep as a restaurant destination has been all but snuffed out by the proliferation of neighborhood bars and accompanying idiocy.

For a while, it looked as though the Food Hall may have accomplished its mission, as patrons packed in for superb burgers at John Tesar’s Knife, cheffy sandwiches at Butler’s Cabinet, and housemade pizzas at Abe Froman’s.

But the newness faded, and vendors fled. COVID-19 stunted its growth even more, fueling speculation the Food Hall’s days were numbered.

This past summer, the Food Hall was given something most eateries are not, especially in the middle of a pandemic: a second chance. It now has a new name, Crockett Hall, new management team and 15 food and

beverage options, nearly a dozen of which are new.

Crockett Hall’s rebirth is thanks to Bruce Russo of B. Russo Designs in Dallas. He and his firm designed the original Food Hall but came back aboard this summer in a new capacity: to give the place a complete facelift.

Russo removed most of the space’s partitions and added luxury seating elements, such as high-end couches and pub stools and tables. He also installed new lighting, custom millwork, marble finishes, a redesigned bar and lounge area, an expanded patio space, and new garage doors that’ll lift up when the weather’s nice.

“It’s more like a restaurant now, less like a food court,” he said recently as he led a media tour. “From the lighting to the seating, we basically started over from scratch. If you’d been here before, you probably won’t even recognize it now.”

There are 11 new food and beverage vendors: Crockett Row Coffee; Salurrito, where you can build your own salads and burritos; a savory and sweet potpie spot, Polly’s Pot Pies; a pizza and

Neopolitan-style pizza shop, Piccolo Italia; Cheeseapalooza, which serves gourmet mac and cheese and grilled cheese sandwiches; Clayton’s Grill, a burger and wings spot; Joey’s Sandwich Shop, a New York-style deli; and Cantina Paseo, the hall’s rebranded bar.

Two more vendors will soon open: Fort Worth Popcorn Company and Taco Paseo. The latter will occupy its own space, next door.

Still standing are original vendors Val’s Cheesecakes, Aina Poke, Not Just Q, and Shawarma Bar.

Russo says Crockett Hall is very much a here-and-now, 2020-type of endeavor. “One reason why we took out the partitions was to give people more space to social distance,” he says. “You have more room to move around, a bigger patio, more places to sit. We put a lot of thought into the food but also the atmosphere and what a restaurant needs to look and feel like in this new world.”

3000 Crockett Row, crocketthall.com

“I

On the Run Still

What’ll it take to put Fort Worth on the comeback trail? Mayor Betsy Price has some ideas.

BY SCOTT NISHIMURA

PHOTOGRAPHY BY OLAF GROWALD

Fort Worth Mayor Betsy Price’s plate is proverbially full. Still. COVID-19 has racked the city and jeopardized its way of life. Tensions over the police flared again this spring, this time triggered by the death of George Floyd in Minnesota police custody nearly 1,000 miles away. Price sat down in mid-August for a virtual chat with the magazine. We saved the best question for last: Are you running for mayor again? Her response: “Right now, I’m running to improve this economy. And get us coming back.”

PUTTING FORT WORTH ON THE COMEBACK TRAIL

COVID-19 has shut down businesses and forced readjustments, even among ones such as logistics that are doing well amid the pandemic. City and business leaders are at work, trying to get the economy reopened, support struggling businesses, and find new opportunity.

Opportunity’s Calling

FW: Mayor Price and the chairs of the strike force have said they believe there’s opportunity to build on Fort Worth’s strengths in several industries, such as logistics and distribution. Hillwood’s Alliance Airport is a major global distribution hub, and the company is experimenting with next-generation transportation technologies such as autonomous trucking. It’s teamed with Bell, which is developing future flight technologies — manned and unmanned — for passenger and freight. DFW Airport is one of the world’s busiest airports. Fort Worth sits at Tower 55, one of the nation’s busiest railroad intersections, and is home to the BNSF headquarters and operations hub and a major Union Pacific Railroad hub. Fort Worth is developing a medical innovation district, anchored on the Near Southside, that will explore expansion of the city’s medical and biotech segments. Fort Worth has already been enjoying relocations of businesses drawn by the state’s low-cost, low-regulatory environment, and the city sees opportunity beneath COVID-19’s cloud to draw more relos, including companies that want to bring operations into the U.S. from other countries, to make themselves more nimble in any future supply chain disruptions.

Mayor Betsy Price: “I do think there’s

golden opportunity for us to recruit some new businesses.There are just a lot of businesses calling and saying we need to get out of NewYork,out of California, we need to get out of these dense areas and into high-growth areas that are less regulatory.

“Aviation is big for us.We have a really nice start inAlliance.We’re getting some more traction down [in the Interstate 35 corridor] towardAlcon and Coors.I think mobility is a big deal for us.Hillwood has the mobility innovation zone.We sit at the crossroads ofTower 55,and we have the BNSF hub.We’re on what used to be the NAFTA Highway [The NorthAmerican Free TradeAgreement was updated and signed by PresidentTrump and is now the U.S.–Mexico–CanadaAgreement].

“We have pockets of technology all over the city.Internet-based technology,chip,I think there’s ample room for that.Clearly, we have a very nice start with our medical innovation zone.

“All of those are areas we really can build on.There’s going to be a lot of reshoring [of business from other countries].

“FortWorth has a very strong tourism and convention business.And our arts — our music and film … Our film industry was really beginning to take off.”

Preserving the Fort

FW: Fort Worth received $158 million from the federal CARES Act and partnered with United Way of Tarrant County to distribute $10 million of the money to Fort Worth businesses through grants in the Preserve the Fort program. Fort Worth’s Business Assistance Center helped businesses apply for federal Payroll Protection Program loans. The city, using part of its CARES money, has purchased and distributed masks. Of the $10 million in Preserve the Fort grants,

$2.5 million were dedicated to minorityowned businesses, and $2.5 million for businesses in Fort Worth’s Neighborhood Empowerment Zones and Designated Investment Zones. These are areas that are predominantly low-to-moderate income, which the city had already identified for revitalization efforts. Grant applications were processed with the help of the Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce, Fort Worth Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, and Fort Worth Metropolitan Black Chamber of Commerce.

BP: “We started with our CARES dollars, with getting out the package [for] grants, helping small businesses with their loans, getting PPE out to them.We’re still doing that; we got the masks out at a PPE event yesterday.”

Reopening

FW: The strike force co-chaired by Mayor Price, Chase Bank executive Elaine Agather, and Crescent Real Estate CEO John Goff has been meeting virtually, under the direction of Jarratt Watkins, a former Kelly Hart & Hallman lawyer hired to be the full-time director. The strike force has a one-year, two-fold mission: to help Fort Worth business reopen and recover amid COVID-19 and identify opportunities for new business, including onshoring. Fort Worth Now helped distribute masks to businesses under the city’s CARES Act PPE program. Two Fort Worth City Council members assembled a handbook on reopening. Price also is coordinating with Visit Fort Worth executives Bob Jameson and Mitch Whitten to try and boost the city’s tourism industry, socked this summer by COVID-19. Occupancy at Fort Worth’s hotels has sagged, and traffic at major attractions such as the F ort Worth Stockyards and Sundance Square is substantially off.

BP: “We’ve been meeting virtually. It’s a public-private partnership. But all the money we’ve raised for advertising, supplies, have all been privately funded. Phase 1 has been PPE, grants, getting them out in front of financers, mentors, help with profit and loss. We’re running that through the Business Assistance Center. Jarratt is coordinating with [Fort Worth economic development director] Robert Sturns and his

staff and [Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce president] Brandom Gengelbach and his staff. Hayden Blackburn from Tech Fort Worth is helping us. We’re using all of our available resources and trying to get them as coordinated as we can. We’re helping the Black and Hispanic chambers with small businesses and [helping] get them resources. We need them to stay on their feet. The chambers are helping us identify those folks.

“Phase 2 is recruiting businesses. We’ve already got two or three things [relocation prospects] we’ve been working on. In normal [economic development] work, you’d get to do a site visit. But this isn’t normal, and this is being done virtually. We’ve got a couple, potentially, maybe three, we’re hoping to do successful relocations on. If we find something we need done, [we ask] who knows who. I would say two-thirds of it we’re doing ourselves, with a third being supplemented [by help from] Austin and Washington. Mitch Whitten and Bob Jameson have come with Y’all Stay Safe, Y’all Stay Home. I’m going to do a Facebook Live with them on music tonight. I’m very impressed with the fact that so many people stepped up to do so much.”

Success Stories

FW: Business at Fort Worth’s major logistics and distribution concerns, such as Amazon, has surged, as COVID-19 drove more sales online. But it’s hard to find similar stories among small businesses, Price says. She cites the popular restaurateur Jon Bonnell, who switched to $40 prix fixe, familystyle meals at his flagship southwest Fort Worth fine dining restaurant, and in late spring, reopened his Bonnell’s Fine Texas Cuisine and Waters Restaurant downtown to dine-in business. Bonnell moved his catering business largely to his Buffalo Bros wings, pizza, and sandwich restaurants. He’s continued the curbside business at Bonnell’s, alongside the fine dining. Bonnell dropped from 265 employees to 31 overnight when COVID-19 shut business down and, by mid-August, was back up to 180. Fort Worth Now is at work, with the help of Brandom Gengelbach at the Fort Worth Chamber and Robert Sturns in economic development, trying to help bars pivot to a greater food mix so they can reopen as restaurants that serve alcohol under Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s orders.

BP: “I think first and foremost,they’re all struggling.No doubt,nearly every business is struggling.They’re innovating and adapting.They’ve looked at the business and seen how do I reshape the business. Jon pivoted almost immediately when they closed and went to family-style takeout meals.He would have cars waiting two hours.He did a limited number,knew what his breakeven was.He just got very creative with it.MichaelThomson [of Michael’s Cuisine],Mary Perez of Enchiladas Ole, Mike [Micallef] at Reata [have reconfigured their models].Even the big steakhouses.It took them longer to pivot, but they’ve come on with it. Hot Box Biscuit Club,people place their orders,and they go into the neighborhoods with their food truck. There’s been some really interesting partnership. Kari [Crowe of Melt Ice Creams] is partnering with a bunch of the restaurants.Those are great examples of how they’ve pivoted.I think you’re going to see that in the bar industry.Brandom and Robert are talking to bars,[asking] let’s see how we can get you open.How do you expand your food to 50% of your businesses.Clearly,our big businesses have more resources.[But] we’re beginning to see some layoffs in some of those big businesses that’s a bit concerning. I think that’s going to be the case for a while,until the economy stabilizes.Change is hard,I know that,particularly if you’re a small business,to sit back and be really creative.”

Economic Outlook

“One good thing that’s come out of [the pandemic] is you see so many more families all over the city who are out and about and in the community. They’re spending more time in the park and with their families.”

– Mayor Betsy Price

Liquor — our package sales are great. Delivery services of all kinds.Outdoor recreation — bicycles,motorcycles — all of those are strong.A lot of service industries, not necessarily restaurants and bars,are doing well.Construction and real estate are doing really well.Residential is really hot right now.And when we get a vaccine, I think you’ll begin to see a bigger recovery. What can we do to support the ones that are hurting? Part of what we need to do is get our economy reopened.Part of that is we all need to keep wearing our masks. We were such a robust economy,and I know we’re going to get out of this.We’re going to find a way to [not only] pivot and survive but thrive. The economy really does have to readjust.”

“How does COVID-19 change the need for office space? How does that change child care; how does that change education? The Strike Force is working with that,working with [the community’s] Best Place for Kids [initiative] and Read FortWorth.I’ve been talking to a lot of medical professionals,saying this community has to do a better job working with community health.We’ll work with our medical partners to really look at the health of the community.One good thing that’s come out of this is you see so many more families all over the city who are out and about and in the community.They’re spending more time in the park and with their families.”

FORT WORTH MOVES TOWARD COMMUNITY OVERSIGHT OF POLICE

FW: The City of Fort Worth is expecting significant declines in tax revenues in coming years as the economy recovers, but some industries are surging.

BP: “Every business is going to see some setback and a refocus,and I think it’ll take us two to five years to recover.I think certain industries — the online retailers, the landscaping,the home repairs — sales tax in those areas are coming on strong.

Fort Worth Police have been under the microscope. The city is implementing recommendations from a Race and Culture Task Force that was formed to look into inequity in areas ranging from criminal justice to economic development, education, governance, health, housing, and transportation. In criminal justice, the city has established a new police oversight monitor, hiring a monitor and assistant monitor. Since then, the city has conducted initial

meetings with community organizations, city leaders and police; created a complaint form and begun receiving and reviewing complaints, inquiries, recommendations for commendations, reports on use of force incidents, and Fort Worth Police policies and procedures. The city is working to expand and diversify its pool of prospective candidates for police officers, working, for one, with school districts and Tarrant County College.

In the fall, tensions flared again when a police officer shot and killed a woman, Atatiana Jefferson, inside her home, mistaking her for an intruder. The officer was later indicted for murder. This spring, after the death of George Floyd in police custody in Minnesota triggered nationwide protests, including ones in Fort Worth, recently named Police Chief Ed Kraus and other officers defused confrontation by kneeling with protestors.

This summer, Kraus, a Fort Worth Police veteran who earned high marks during his career before he was named chief, announced he would retire, putting the city back in job search for a new chief. Fort Worth voters also overwhelmingly renewed the city’s sales tax-funded Crime Control Prevention District, whose monies primarily fund police capital expenditures such as vehicles and related equipment, facility expenses, safety equipment for officers, and technology infrastructure. The renewal was for 10 years. The vote came over some calls in the community to vote down the CCPD and force the city into considering a shorter term and reallocate some resources to social needs, a push known as “defunding the police.”

from the Office of the Police Monitor is expected by the end of October.”

FW: What can the Fort Worth PD do to improve its relationship with the community?

BP: “As a whole,the FortWorth Police Department has a great relationship with our community and has built strong rapport through programs such as the Cadet Program,MinistersAgainst Crime, Code Blue,and more.Another top priority for the newly created Office of the Police Monitor is to identify opportunities to foster stronger relationships and increase positive community-police interactions. The independent panel of experts that reviewed FWPD policies also provided some recommendations on ways to better improve relationships.”

“Overall, I was pleased by the response from both the community and the police department … The demonstrations were largely peaceful and respectful.”

– Mayor Betsy Price on the protests following the death of George Floyd

FW: What answers in the city’s ongoing questionnaire about police are you most interested in reading the responses to?

BP: “I look forward to reviewing the responses of both the community and officer questionnaires,as I see it as an opportunity to improve.The results are anticipated to be released publicly byAug.31.”

FW: Regarding the recent protests in Fort Worth that were triggered by George Floyd’s death, how would you assess our police department’s response? Our community’s response?

and need time to heal following the tragic death of Ms.Jefferson.And,thankfully,we live in a free country where the right to express your opinion is protected.”

FW: Regarding the renewal of the CCPD, what was your perspective on why we should have renewed that over 10 years, as opposed to a shorter period?

BP: “Prior elections were overwhelmingly supportive of continuing the Crime Control and Prevention District,and it was a more responsible use of taxpayer dollars as there is a significant cost associated with holding the election.”

FW: What aspects of “defund the police” — reallocating resources — are we interested in looking at in Fort Worth? Is any of this study underway currently?

BP: “I am not interested in any aspect of defunding the FortWorth Police Department.There are resources that can be reallocated to better serve our community,and we are currently evaluating opportunities to bolster those programs. However,we will not defund,nor will we dramatically reduce the budget of the Fort Worth Police Department.”

FW: How would you grade/assess Chief Kraus’ short time as police chief?

FW: What shape will police oversight take in Fort Worth?

BP: “The City Council is awaiting a proposal from the Office of the Police Monitor, which will take into account the recommendations from the Race and Culture Task Force. A recommendation

BP: “Overall, I was pleased by the response from both the community and the police department. I am grateful that the demonstrations were largely peaceful and respectful.”

FW: Do you believe the Fort Worth protestors had a reason to be upset specifically with the Fort Worth Police?

BP: “I recognize there are members of our community that are still experiencing pain

BP: “Chief Kraus is an incredible leader with a servant heart,and FortWorth has been incredibly blessed to have him at the helm of our Police Department.He has done a yeoman’s job during an exceedingly difficult and unprecedented time.Chief Kraus has laid the groundwork for a more accountable and transparent department through various initiatives,from working with the Police Monitor to establishing the third-party panel review,and I am confident these efforts will continue for the remainder of his tenure and beyond.”

FW: Is there anything you can say about why he’s leaving?

BP: “That is Chief Kraus’ story to tell,but I support his decision to retire,and I wish him all the best.We are grateful for his service and leadership.”

ofall media, which do US internet users say the:y 84% OF WHAT AUDIENCE The average time spent on a website is 2 minutes. TRUST THE MOST? says the:y are more engaged when reading a print magazine than with any other form ofcontent?

PRINT.

1111111 ■ WOMEN

PRINT IS MEMORABLE.

Print creates an emotional connection. Print builds relationships.

Physical material is more “real” to the brain, involves more emotional processing, is better connected to memory, with greater internalization of ads — all important for brand associations. (FORBES)

what i,s the average TIME SPENT READING A MAGAZINE?

Physical material is more "real" to the brain, involves more emotional processing, is better connected to memory, with greater internalization of ads all important for brand associations. (FORBES) ,

PRINT IS MEMORABLE.

Print creates an emotional connection. Print builds relationships.

(Marketing Sherpa, 2017)

(Bauer Media)

(Digital First Content Marketing: the Return of Print -CMO by Adobe, 2016)

Pinstripes is an Italian American Bistro with a made from scratch kitchen located in Clearfork at 5001 Trailhead Bend Way, Fort Worth, TX 76109.

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20 Ways to Make Fort Worth (Even)

Fort Worth deserves applause for countless reasons — its barbecue, its museums, its friendliness, its open-mindedness (we could go on) — but we’re going to pause our adoration for a brief spell to give you a mere 20 ways our city can become even better. From voter turnout to childhood literacy, there’s always room for improvement.

BY BRIAN KENDALL AND SAMANTHA CALIMBAHIN ILLUSTRATIONS BY ASHLEY MORAN

REVERSE Fort Worth’s abysmal voter turnout. We can talk all we want about ways to improve our city, but without casting a ballot, the talk is all for naught.

In 2017, a study aptly called Who Votes for Mayor? found that Fort Worth, with only 6.5% of eligible voters showing up at the polls, had the second worst turnout for its mayoral election among 50 cities that took part in the study — besting only its neighbor, Dallas. Worst yet, the study found the median age of those who voted was 66 years, while the median age of registered voters is 41 — a 25-year age gap. Only 1.1% of registered voters aged 18 to 34 bothered to cast a ballot.

With local elections seeing the least interest among voters, this means a vast majority of residents’ voices and opinions are not being heard, and the city council makeup and policies reflect that.

“People feel disconnected with our government,” Fernando Florez, a local advocate and grassroots community leader, says. “And the reason is simple, the city council today does not represent, and nor does it reflect the population.”

However, with current events that have catapulted issues to the forefront of locals’ minds — such as the recent extension of the Crime Control and Prevention District tax — there’s been a resurgence in voter turnout. The recent referendum and primary elections had Fort Worthians going to the polls in record numbers (yet still not percentages many advocates hope), according to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. The county, which is in

charge of the elections, has done its part to make voting easier. Voters are no longer in their precinct, and you can now vote at any polling station in Tarrant County regardless of your address. However, the county can improve in spreading this word — advertising this change on social media, radio, television, and providing updates on which polling stations have lines and which do not. Anecdotally, Phyllis Allen, another grassroots advocate who tries to increase voter turnout, saw some challenges in the last election.

“[The county] had made a major change that said that you don’t have to vote at your precinct; you can vote anywhere,” she says. “So, there should be information, there should be signs when you come up that says, ‘If this poll has a line, there are five other polls in this area.’ And there should be addresses for those polls to tell people you can vote there.”

WHAT YOU CAN DO:

Vote. No matter your political persuasion or opinions on public transportation or public education, go to the polls and make your voice heard. While speaking and picketing in front of the courthouse doesn’t hurt a cause, the only real way to create progress within the city is to elect individuals who will fight for the causes you believe in.

“People always want a silver bullet for improving voter turnout,” Allen says. “The thing about voter turnout is it’s an individual choice. We have no problem turning out people for protest, we have no problem turning out people if there is a tragedy, but people have got to do the boring thing — and to a lot of people, voting is boring.

People need to understand that if they don’t vote, nothing is going to change.”

Another way to help is to volunteer as a poll worker. Allen says that polling stations are in dire need of young people who understand the technology and can help shorten lines on election day.

EMBRACE

— don’t be scared of or merely tolerate — our city’s growing diversity. In 2017, the City of Fort Worth appointed a 23-member panel to examine and recommend ways the city can improve issues related to race and culture. Dubbed the Race and Culture Task Force, it showed a willingness on the part of the city to improve equity. Ultimately, the city approved and is in the process of implementing 22 initiatives that range from criminal justice to economic development to education and much more.

Yet, when asked how the city is dealing with its growing diversity, Estrus Tucker, an independent consultant on civic engagement and native Fort Worthian — a homeboy, as he describes it — doesn’t mince words.

“Increasingly, not very well,” he says. “I was more hopeful during the race and culture dialogs and the 22

recommendations that were brought forth. But now, two years later, in particular in the aftermath of the George Floyd incident and the protests, I don’t see that cadre of leadership listening to our diverse population and what they are recommending and what they are giving voice to.

“Fort Worth is not newly diverse. Fort Worth has had a significant diversity for some time. It just hasn’t been engaged. One of the challenges is a shaky foundation because of failure to embrace the old diversity.”

Tucker suggests that one of the biggest issues is the fact that Fort Worth is very passive and nonconfrontational when dealing with diversity. The city and its residents who don’t experience the consequences of noninclusivity firsthand don’t engage the issue like they should. This is in stark contrast to other cities that have seen progress on the matter.

“We’ve been able to do, for the most part, business as usual without much change,” Tucker says. “Part of it is a Catch-22. Dallas, historically, has been in your face and confrontational. Fort Worth has prided itself on not being so vocal or so overtly confrontational, which is not a bad thing. But, unfortunately, Fort Worth has not been progressing. We have not demonstrated that the Fort Worth way works for all of us, and so, increasingly, people have become disillusioned with the Fort Worth way.”

According to Tucker, racism goes beyond personal bias, and people need to recognize racism inherent within policy and the system itself.

“We can’t treat our problems, the racial inequities and disparities, only in terms of people’s personal conduct,” he explains. “I love Fort Worth. I want to see Fort Worth prosper, but we’re never going to get at the cause [of racial inequity] if we don’t have the courage to name it.”

WHAT YOU CAN DO:

While Tucker says inequities and racism go beyond our personal biases, he doesn’t suggest that we can’t each look inward and become more accepting of the city’s changing landscape. Yes, the city has some work to do enacting the 22 recommendations from the Race and Culture Task Force, but you can do your part by embracing diversity. Speak up, get involved, and make sure your everyday choices reflect your desire for an inclusive and equitable Fort Worth.

“If you value diversity and equity and inclusion, for example, your church ought to reflect that or be working to reflect that,” Tucker says. “Your entertainment, your socializing, where are you go, and what you do should begin to reflect that. You ought to ask a different set of questions if your neighborhood is all one race. You ought to ask a different set of questions if the city budget is focusing on some areas and neglectful of others.”

CONSIDER

redrawing our districts to reflect the changing population. Let’s get this straight: Austin, Fort Worth is not. And nor does the city desire to be just like our hip neighbor to the south. But when the city sees Austin’s growth and cultural impact, it sees similar potential within its own city borders

— albeit, in a uniquely Fort Worthian way.

One way the city can emulate Austin is by redrawing its districts in an attempt to elect city councilpersons who reflect the population of the city.

Every 10 years, cities are required to redraw their districts based on information gathered from the U.S. census. In 2013, Austin established an independent redistricting committee to redraw its district boundaries, which resulted in a more diverse crop of elected officials. Fort Worth’s recent Race and Culture Task Force recommended a similar independent committee rather than the districts being redrawn by current councilpersons, who undoubtedly have conflicts of interest in such decisions.

According to Fernando Florez, the new census data will likely arrive in March of 2021, and the city council will have to decide on the method in which they should redraw the districts — leave it to an independent, nonpartisan committee, or redraw the districts themselves.

WHAT YOU CAN DO:

Educate yourself on the redistricting, and contact your city councilperson, letting them know where you stand on the matter.

PRESERVE

and transform the city’s architectural wonders into mixed-use spaces. When one drives by downtown Fort Worth on the busy Interstate 30, the

most prominent building is a vacant one: the Texas and Pacific Warehouse. Constructed in 1931, this art deco masterpiece stretches three city blocks and has many urban developers licking their chops at the idea of transforming it into a mix of shops, restaurants, and condominiums.

Unfortunately, the building’s owners, a Dallas-based developer who envisions a mixed-use development, has moved the project at a glacial pace.

Other architectural wonders throughout the city — the Public Market on Henderson Street, Fort Worth Power and Light on North Main Street, and Grand Theater on Rosedale Avenue — have similarly undetermined fates. These mothballed buildings sitting on prime real estate are slowly dilapidating, thanks to neglect.

The burden is on developers to see the potential these buildings possess and invest in renovating them to retain their architectural integrity while creating an inviting space for potential patrons and residents. Ultimately, the renovation of these buildings will lead to higher population density and traffic within

development, higher use of public transportation, and a more desirable destination for tourists and conventions. This, of course, all equates to more revenue for the city.

“When we preserve buildings, we preserve reminders,” Mike Nichols, a Fort Worth historian and author of Lost Fort Worth, says. “Repurposed movie theaters such as the Ridglea and Bowie are reminders of life before Netflix.”

WHAT YOU CAN DO:

You can help preserve Fort Worth’s historical buildings by donating your time and/ or money to Historic Fort Worth. You can read more about the organization at historicfortworth.org.

CREATE more green spaces.

While the city’s beautiful architecture and concrete cityscape and infrastructure are paramount to keeping Fort Worth a desirable destination, one of Fort Worth’s greatest qualities for its local residents is its green spaces — city parks and trails.

But these spaces — Trinity Park and the Trinity Trails among them — are often overcrowded, forcing locals to ignore social distancing in the time of a pandemic.

“A few of the times that I’ve wandered out to the trails to try and take a bit of a respite, it’s crowded,” Megan Henderson, director of events and communications for Near Southside, Inc., says. “They’re really overcrowded. While Fort Worth has some great green space, it doesn’t have a whole bunch of signature space in each community. We’ve pooled all of our chips

into the Trinity Trail System and these large-scale public parks, like Trinity Park.”

Henderson contends that the city needs to take a micro, not macro, look at where to invest in green spaces to make such areas more convenient for residents of all communities. A lot of smaller spaces tucked into communities are underprogrammed and, thus, not as inviting.

“I would like to think that if every community was able to have a park that really met the needs of that community, then the demand on Trinity Park and the Trinity Trails probably wouldn’t be quite as significant,” Henderson says.

But the city, with its small parks budget, can’t take it all on themselves. This is why the onus is on private developers to deliver parks and public spaces within their projects. An example of this is a Near Southside park called the Skinny, where an apartment complex, The Bowery, signed an agreement to take on additional maintenance costs beyond the city’s traditional budget. The Bowery saw the park as an asset to draw tenants, making maintenance of the park more than worth its investment.

WHAT YOU CAN DO:

Attend community meetings and express your community’s needs.

According to Henderson, members of communities who attend public meetings and engage in conversations about their needs or expectations have been fundamentally important to shaping the green spaces we enjoy today.

“They have vastly improved the design and development of those spaces by providing

feedback,” Henderson says. “And in the end, they get a better resource, something that really meets their need.”

IMPROVE law

enforcement by implementing recommendations from panel of national experts. Last year, following the tragic killing of Atatiana Jefferson, the city selected a panel of national experts, which included Dr. Theron L. Bowman, the former Arlington police chief, to review the Fort Worth Police Department and provide recommendations for improvement.

“I was called upon to look at [the Fort Worth Police Department’s] policies and practices,” Bowman says. “To look at training, accountability systems, look at how the department documents its work, and to look at collecting and reporting procedures, as well as technology applications. We were called in to take a look in at all of those aspects and report back out to the public on what we found as well as what our recommendations were for the community.”

The work is still ongoing, but the panel has reviewed six different areas, including use of force, community engagement, crisis intervention, internal affairs, development and training, and technology and data. Ultimately, the panel found numerous areas where the department can see improvement. An executive summary of their review can be seen at the following website: fortworthtexas.gov/ news/2020/07/PD-ExpertReview-Panel.

While refinement is important, Bowman does

not think the public calls for defunding is the answer.

“Calls to defund the police largely are a frustration with the police or what people perceive as the police,” Bowman says. “What people in the U.S. expect is, in exchange for giving the police the authority to make arrests, to stop and search and arrest us, they expect the police to treat them with dignity and respect. And I think that this call to defund the police is by many a perception that the police are not holding up their end of the bargain. I think people are just really calling for the police to be public servants, better serve, to serve the interests of the members of the public.”

The recommendations will likely come in 2021, and, if implemented, Fort Worthians will see a more diverse, respectful, involved, welltrained, and technologically savvy police department.

WHAT YOU CAN DO:

Don’t be a stranger to police.

“It’s important, one, that residents and members of the community reach out and try and get to know the police officers working in their area,” Bowman says. “Try and know who’s assigned there regularly and get to know them on a first-name basis. Residents of Fort Worth also need to provide the department with feedback, with their opinion in what they notice, or if they believe that they’re not being treated right, or that police officers aren’t as present as they should be. Residents should be more inclined to engage the police and interact with them.”

MAKE the Trinity River more accessible through the Veloweb.

Saying Fort Worth doesn’t offer much in terms of outdoors recreation will easily make Stacey Pierce, the executive director of Streams & Valleys, grimace. With the Trinity Trail system, and its current convenience, few Fort Worthians are lacking in access to outdoor activities.

Yet, that’s not to say it can’t improve.

“I think we’re fortunate to have a lot of wonderful trailheads and a lot of good connections,” Pierce says. “We’ve honestly done the easiest connections there are and are now turning our attention to the ones that are enormously complicated. Some of those are adjacent to the river and are just hard because of infrastructure, like an interstate or property ownership or something like that.”

Pierce explains that this all leads to the realization of a massive undertaking called the Veloweb, which is an effort to connect Fort Worth’s network of trails with all of the other networks and, ultimately, to Dallas. Pierce

“The idea is to knit together all of the trail and park roads in North Richland Hills, Arlington, White Settlement, and River Oaks with all of the various municipalities and cities between here and Dallas,” Pierce says. “We will eventually have more than a 230-mile network of trails.”

Another project Pierce is working on is the rail-to-trail connection, which takes old abandoned rail lines and transforms them into trails.

The old Bomber Spur, which makes a 26 mile loop and connects the two forks of the river — Clear Fork and West Fork — is an old rail line that used to take supplies from the Convair Plant to Croswell Air Force Base, what is today Lockheed Martin and the Joint Reserve Naval Air Station. The goal is to make this into a trail that will accessibility to the Trinity River network of trails.

“It’s a great example of thinking about a neighborhood like Bomber Heights or Las Vegas Trail,” Pierce says. “Where you don’t have immediate access to the river or to the network that gets you to the river, but it’s starting to make those connections a reality.”

WHAT YOU CAN DO:

One way to get involved is through helping out with beautification. Because there’s only so much money to go around, taking on the role of beautification and trail maintenance could help free up funds for the local government to take on projects like the rails-to-trails connection. You can find out more information at streamsandvalleys.org.

“Beautification is not something that we can ask our governmental partners to do because they’re stretched

thin,” Pierce says. “But as an advocacy group and a group of citizens who care, we could take that part of the project and make them really something special.”

DINE out and try different foods. Your local club or favorite fast-food eatery might have that specific meal that routinely hits the spot. While this might fill your gullet and appease your taste buds, it’s not doing much to help your city’s phenomenal culinary scene.

“I always get disappointed, especially during COVID, when I see a line wrapped around Chick-fil-A or I see the parking lot of Pappasito’s is full,” Sarah Castillo, owner of local restaurants Taco Heads and Tinies, says. “Hey, I love Chickfil-A just as much as anybody else, but during these times, try to shop local, support your local restaurants.”

comfort zone and try some new local food. Make it a point to try a new spot every week, even if it’s for takeout.

kids were out of school. Still, Fort Worth has a way to go when it comes to literacy. The Texas Education Agency (TEA) reports that 34% of Fort Worth ISD third-grade students scored at meets grade level or above on the state STAAR assessment in spring 2019 (spring 2020 data is not available due to students not taking the STAAR exam this spring).

WHAT YOU CAN DO:

READ

to children. Fort Worth has a goal to get 100% of kids reading at third-grade level by 2025 — third grade, because that’s when students begin to shift from learning to read to reading to learn.

With too many locally owned restaurants to name, it’s important to understand the city is nearly filled to the brim with amazing local food.

“I definitely fall into the category of when I find something I like, I keep getting the same thing,” Ann Zadeh admits. “But in order to continue having a variety and continue having a cool crosssection of offerings, we need to break out of our comfort zones and try new things. When I hear about something new opening, I try to share it and get the word out.”

Dining out and trying new foods will not only introduce your palate to new and interesting foods, but it will also help local restaurants survive and increase your knowledge of the city you love.

WHAT YOU CAN DO:

Step out of your culinary

But, like everything else in its wake, COVID-19 threw the course off-kilter. Elizabeth Brands — head of education giving at The Morris Foundation and executive director at Read Fort Worth, the organization leading the literacy initiative — says the group anticipates a regression among students who’ve been out of school for almost six months, what they refer to as the “COVID slide.”

“That is going to be the first and primary hurdle that we’re going to need to overcome as a community to achieve this third-grade reading goal,” Brands says.

Over the summer, Read Fort Worth teamed up with Best Place For Kids to create the Road to Readiness program, which included grade-specific instructional materials, an IT help desk, and social/ emotional resources to help keep the momentum while

One practical way citizens can support Read Fort Worth is to help staff the IT help line, assisting families who need technical support as they adjust to virtual schooling. Prior to the pandemic, Read Fort Worth also hosted a program that allowed citizens to read to children. Brands says the organization is looking at a way to continue this virtually. Visit readfortworth.org or bestplace4kids.com for more information.

INVEST in mental health resources.

People who suffer with mental health problems are far more likely to experience discrimination, marginalization, and problems with employment, finances, and relationships with friends and family. Every city wants people to live productive lives and participate fully in their community. Ignoring this basic problem that afflicts tens of thousands of Fort Worthians would be turning a blind eye to the root cause of many issues.

Fort Worth’s Morris Foundation, a private foundation dedicated to education, health care, and social services, is embarking on a five-year strategic priority to make Fort Worth a

trauma-informed community.

According to Andy Miller, the head of health care and social services giving at The Morris Foundation, trauma plays a big role in mental health disorders and is something that requires treatment outside of the judicial system.

“We need to recognize that mental health issues oftentimes arise out of people having deep, traumatic experiences,” Miller says. “It doesn’t define their lives, but for many folks, it can create a situation where it leads them down the path of becoming involved in systems that aren’t going to lead to any type of healing or better outcomes.”

Miller explains that people who have experienced this trauma don’t do as well in school and are more likely to get involved in substance abuse and run-ins with law enforcement.

“We want to make sure that we have a strong mental health services aspect in Fort Worth,” Miller says. “People who have mental health issues need to have access to treatment regardless of their ability to pay. And we need to make sure our other systems are aligned to recognize when someone has experienced trauma and not exacerbate their issues by placing them in jail.”

The hope is for all service professionals to understand trauma and work to rehabilitate instead of punish. This rehabilitation will lead to less recidivism within the criminal justice system.

“Fort Worth has invested a lot over the last decade training professionals around trauma-informed care. And we think the next step is for

our systems, our education system, law enforcement, health care, justice system, you name it, to start becoming trauma informed.”

WHAT YOU CAN DO:

Recognize the significance of trauma and don’t buy into many of the stigmas surrounding mental health problems.

“There’s still a lot of misperceptions that someone’s just not a strong enough person to deal with life’s challenges,” Miller says. “So, we want people to recognize the significance of trauma. And, if it’s happened to someone you know, we want you to know where resources exist to get help.”

BUY into higher

density. Like most large cities, many Fort Worthians now have a desire to live closer to City Hall or the Kimbell Art Museum than to a convenient Walmart. This is a trend that’s sweeping the nation, and Fort Worth needs to buy into these changing city dynamics.

Of course, the city sprawl can’t be contained. With massive suburbanization and the incorporation of Alliance,

housing and resources within the city’s urban core.

“A wider city footprint really spreads the city’s resources very thin,” Megan Henderson says. “So, the more densely that we can build a city, the more opportunity that there is for maximization of the city’s financial and infrastructure resources.”

According to Dana Burghdoff, the assistant city manager, a higher population density will lead to greater efficiency, greater use of public transportation, less congestion, and a lower cost for infrastructure.

But, despite this rationale, why does it remain difficult to get people on board with the idea of increased density?

“There’s, of course, concern from folks who live in singlefamily neighborhoods that the peace and tranquility that they bought into might be disturbed,” Burghdoff says. “Because if you’re growing in density, then there might be properties near your neighborhood that are redeveloped to become more dense.”

Burghdoff calls this NIMBYism (Not In My

was when they initially moved in; they don’t want to see their neighborhood get infiltrated with multi-story urban villages.

Yet, with Fort Worth’s growth and an increased desire to live inside Loop 820, the city will inevitably grow upward as well as outward. The city, for its part, is doing what it can to encourage the former.

“You’re going to have suburban growth, and you’re going to have urban growth,” Burghdoff says. “We’re just going to try to do what we can to encourage the urban growth, whether that’s through more permits, permissive zoning, and economic incentives.”

WHAT YOU CAN DO:

Can Fort Worth be a city that embraces all of its residents?

According to Burghdoff, people need to educate themselves about how fast the city is growing and understand the best ways to accommodate this growth.

The city has identified numerous areas within Loop 820 as growth centers — areas that can accommodate increased population density. And, within these areas, the city has identified smaller subsets called urban villages where larger, multiuse buildings can accommodate growth. The increased density is already happening; it’s now up to local residents to embrace this change.

BUILD

more permanent

supportive housing.

Homelessness has long been an issue in Fort Worth, due, in part, to the city lacking in permanent supportive housing.

Fort Worth currently has

about 1,700 permanent supportive housing units, according to a 2019 housing inventory count by HUD. About 84 units exist within two single-site projects (the Palm Tree Apartments on Race Street and the Samaritan House on Hemphill). The rest are scattered-site, meaning people rent apartments wherever they can find a willing landlord.

More units are on the way, however. The Fort Worth Housing Finance Corporation has allocated $5 million for the construction of permanent supportive housing, with local foundations matching that amount, dollar for dollar. Two projects have already received the green light — a 48-unit project by New Leaf Community Service, near River Oaks, and another 50 units as part of Fort Worth Housing Solutions’ Stop Six Choice Neighborhood revitalization project.

Tara Perez — manager of Directions Home, a city-run program that seeks to make homelessness “rare, shortterm, and nonrecurring” — says a major hurdle for the construction of permanent supportive housing is often neighborhood opposition. But housing mitigates the even greater problem of unsheltered homelessness, reducing camping and the number of people on the streets.

“As a community, we have to make a choice,” she says. “You can’t have it both ways. The more permanent supportive housing projects get killed, the more homeless people there are.”

WHAT YOU CAN DO:

Perez says there’s a disconnect

After interviewing a collective 29 people for this story, there was one common thread that ran through each conversation: the need for Fort Worthians to get more involved.

This is an umbrella way to improve Fort Worth; if everyone chipped in and expressed their needs, wants, and concerns to the powers that be — because, believe it or not, they are listening — our city would improve exponentially. The city is doing its part to foster communication with its residents. City council meetings are now streamed live on Facebook, and people can chime in with questions and

Get involved.

concerns, and the city has also adopted a texting service, where Fort Worthians can text questions and get answers. According to councilperson Ann Zadeh, the Facebook Live streams get close to 100 participants. This should be closer to 1,000. However, for this to work and the city as a whole to improve, it’s important for all to be involved — regardless of the neighborhood or the property taxes one pays.

“In the past, we’ve been a very squeakywheel-gets-the-grease kind of delivery system,” Zadeh says.

“And it’s important that that doesn’t happen because that’s not necessarily equitable.” This means the

between what the homeless say they need (a better apartment, bus tickets, and help finding a job) versus what people assume they need (food and clothing). One practical way citizens can help is by putting together welcome baskets for those moving into permanent supportive housing, filling them with home goods like towels and dishes. Locals can also donate to the Tarrant County Furniture Bank, which provides basic furniture at little or no cost to those transitioning from homelessness.

SUPPORT public

schools. Last spring, Fort Worth schools found themselves in a tricky place

loudest voices get the most attention from the government, leaving areas of the city largely ignored. This is leading the city to try to find innovative ways to reach people in areas that aren’t as politically connected. Beyond being an attentive and engaged citizen, there are other ways to get involved. Look into local charities and shelters where you can donate your time and money. If you want to help create change, join your kids’ PTA, become a reading mentor, volunteer, vote, and broaden your network. This is really the foundation of the old Fort Worth way.

That is a huge need that we saw uncovered, and it’s a huge way that the community can help.”

Jackson hopes the school district will increase focus on low-income areas like 76105, the Polytechnic Heights neighborhood, where students not only have limited access to technology but also other needs like health care and social/ emotional support.

WHAT YOU CAN DO:

One of FWISD’s biggest needs right now is new — not used — computers for students. Contact Peg Murphy at Community and Strategic Partnerships (817-8142978, peg.murphy@fwisd.org) for information on how you can donate.

Pandemic aside, there are other ways to help — invite a student to your workplace and have them shadow you at your job, read with kids, or work as a substitute teacher.

when the pandemic relegated everyone to their homes, forcing many to homeschool and adjust to a virtual learning environment.

But, as the Fort Worth Independent School District came to realize, the struggle for some students wasn’t just the adjustment to technology — it was access to the technology itself.

“You see our kids standing outside of Poly High School, Eastern Hills, Dunbar, or Wyatt at 8 o’clock at night, working on a computer? It’s because they need Wi-Fi,” says FWISD trustee Tobi Jackson. “You see them standing outside the library or outside of a store? They need Wi-Fi.

Pandemic aside, there are other ways to get involved, even if you do choose private school for your children. Invite a student to your workplace and have them shadow you at your job, read with kids, or work as a substitute teacher. You can also attend board meetings, which are open to the public, and speak up on issues that matter to you.

RIDE public transportation.

There are plenty of reasons why public transit advocates are calling for more support. Less road congestion, environmental benefits, better connectivity for those unable to drive or own a car — not to mention the economic incentives like attracting large companies (*cough* Amazon), which in turn bring jobs.

But here’s the problem:

Public transit in Fort Worth, according to Tarrant Transit Alliance (TTA) chairman Andre McEwing, is “nondependable” and “nonaccessible.” Some buses take too long to arrive, stops aren’t always safe, and many public transit options don’t travel to enough destinations.

All this, transit advocates say, is largely due to the lack of financial support from the city. Fort Worth is one of the least-funded major cities when it comes to public transportation, says Trinity Metro board chair Jeff Davis. DART in Dallas, for example, spends about $254 per capita; Austin spends about $191; and Fort Worth, $71.

“We have a barebones public transit system,” he says.

This year, Trinity Metro is requesting about $10 million from the city for bus rapid transit, bus rerouting, and ZipZones connectivity (a rideshare service) among other items.

Ultimately, TTA would like to see Fort Worth become less bus-centric and more multimodal. Bus stops themselves can use improvement, like better access for those with disabilities, better coverage to protect from the elements, and electronic signage that shows the bus route schedule and arrival time clearly.

Another goal is to attract more transit-oriented development, like retail and living space that one can easily walk to and from the bus or train stop, says TTA president Rachel Albright.

“We get what we pay for,” she says.

WHAT YOU CAN DO:

Try it for yourself. Take the bus to work. Take the TEXRail to the airport or TRE to Dallas. Get a feel for the limitations of Fort Worth’s current transit system and envision what it could be. McEwing also recommends that businesses take advantage of Trinity Metro’s EasyRide program, which allows employers to offer transit discounts as part of their benefits package. And, of course, if you do support public transit, let your city councilperson know.

EASE the burden for working parents. As Fort Worth’s population creeps toward 1 million, its workforce continues to grow — and so do the needs of working parents.

According to Best Place for Working Parents (BP4WP), an arm of the Best Place for Kids initiative, 60% of nonworking parents say child care is a top reason they do not participate in the workforce, and 83% of millennials will leave one job for another with stronger family policies and support. On the employer’s end, replacing an employee costs a business six to nine months of that employee’s salary on average.

To help both businesses and the working parents they employ, BP4WP has been working with companies to integrate benefits like paid health care coverage, paternal leave, and remote work. BP4WP’s online assessment tool analyzes a company’s practices and recommends ways to improve, and businesses that are particularly family-friendly can also be recognized with a Best Place for Working Parents designation from Mayor Betsy Price.

For parents having difficulty just finding child care, Best Place for Kids launched a FIND! search tool in May. The tool matches parents with licensed child care providers from a directory of over 10,300 in Tarrant County.

WHAT YOU CAN DO:

If you’re a business owner or HR manager, take the BP4WP assessment tool (bestplace4kids.com/bp4wp) to see where your company stands when it comes to being a family-friendly workplace and what can be done better.

Another way to help working parents is to volunteer or donate to Child Care Associates, a nonprofit that assists families with paying for and accessing quality child care. But, as president and CEO Kara Waddell says, the best charity is person to person — reach out to your neighbor, speak up if there’s abuse, and find ways to help the families around you.

SHOP local. There’s a sense of fraternity that seems to permeate Fort Worth’s local business community. Take it from Morgan Mercantile, an apparel company on South Main that’s uniquely connected to other small shops like itself. Morgan Mercantile specializes in custom merchandise like clothing and accessories for local brands, so when COVID-19 forced many to go on lockdown, businessto-business sales inevitably slowed.

The struggles that ensued from COVID-19 make supporting small businesses even more imperative than before. But Morgan Mercantile owner Chance Morgan encourages shopping local,

pandemic or not. He credits Fort Worth makers not just for the quality and creativity of their products but also their willingness to get to know customers on a personal level.

“You get to talking to someone, you become friends, you have a beer, and from that point on, you’ve pretty much made a customer for life,” Morgan says. “You can’t really do that through sitting at a computer and clicking on something that you hope gets there in two days.”

WHAT YOU CAN DO:

Before heading to the usual big-box retailer, do some research on local shops that provide the same necessities. The online business directories of neighborhoods like Camp Bowie (campbowiedistrict. com/explore) or the Near Southside (southsideguide. org) are good places to start. Consider getting groceries from a smaller establishment (Neighbor’s House Grocery, The Table, farmers markets, etc.) or clothing from a local boutique. As Morgan says, “Any little bit helps.”

BACK the arts.

Historically, whenever there’s economic unrest or a recession, such as the one the nation finds itself in now, the arts are usually the first things that get the ax when the city is working out its annual budget.

“We’re in this moment where the arts may not get as much attention or support because there’s just not the bandwidth for it,” Ariel Davis, local artist and gallery manager at

Artspace111, says. “Because if you have a city that’s choosing between putting food on the table for people or putting money into an art project, what are they going to pick?”

The answer is obvious, but the city has a long and proud history of supporting the arts. And not just the city’s amazing museums in the Cultural District but through public art installations and festivals that help support local artists, as well.

“I think what is really important about this moment is that, if it’s not possible for this city to continue to invest in the arts — because they were doing a really awesome job — now it’s the responsibility of private patrons because we can’t always rely on the city to fund art projects if the money’s not there,” Davis says.

Already seeing the need, new grants for artists from private entities have already started to surface. “The New Normal: An Artists Response to COVID-19,” is a new initiative led by the Fine Line Group, the family office of Sasha and Edward P. Bass, to

during these challenging times.

According to “The New Normal” website, “[the project] will culminate in the creation of an important and profound body of work that interprets and documents the uniquely Fort Worth experience, during these uncertain, surreal, and often worrisome times.”

WHAT YOU CAN DO:

Purchase and collect work from local artists.

“I have always said that collecting work from artists that you like is the most important thing,” Davis says. “It doesn’t have to be a big piece. You can collect small things and eventually that might lead up to something else. And, if you can’t collect, go and see the amazing pieces from local artists and blast it on social media.”

You can also use services such as patreon.com, where you can give monthly donations to your favorite local artists.

LIVE sustainably.

Unlike other major Texas cities like Houston, Austin, San Antonio, and (ahem) Dallas, Fort Worth is one that does not have a sustainability office nor director nor climate action plan. As of 2019, the American Council for an EnergyEfficient Economy ranks Fort Worth at No. 44 among 75 large U.S. cities when it comes to energy conservation, scoring 26.5 out of 100.

The city does have an Environmental Quality division and Environmental Master Plan in the works. But John MacFarlane, chair of the Greater Fort Worth Sierra Club, an environmental advocacy group, says the

current draft of the master plan is lacking in the way it addresses climate change and the impact of pollution on minority and low-income populations.

The Sierra Club is working with climate action group 350. org to draft a sustainability master plan that they plan to bring to the city. They’d like to see city-owned vehicles go electric or hybrid and alternative energy production methods, like solar panels or wind energy, installed on all city buildings, among other recommendations.

WHAT YOU CAN DO:

Aside from obvious practices like recycling or bringing a reusable bag to the grocery store, MacFarlane also encourages citizens to participate in the city’s Residential Food Scrap Composting Pilot Program — residents receive a kitchen countertop pail and five-gallon bucket that they fill with foods scraps, then drop it off at one of 12 collection sites. More information can be found at fortworthtexas.gov/solidwaste/ compost.

To get involved with the local Sierra Club, visit sierraclub.org/ texas/greater-fort-worth.

INCREASE equity.

Much of what plagues our city, as it does every metropolitan area, is a lack of equity; there isn’t proportional representation based on factors such as race and socioeconomic status. For instance, despite our large Latino population (35% of the total population), Fort Worth has only one Latino city councilperson, and few of our business leaders are people of color. Much of what has already been

discussed will eventually lead to equity — redrawing the city’s districts, improvement of law enforcement, and implementing the Race and Culture Task Force’s 22 initiatives being chief among them.

However, there are additional paths to increasing equity, and it’ll take looking to other cities for inspiration. In Portland, their economic development agency launched an Inclusive Startup Fund, which provides capital, mentoring, and business advising to startups founded by underrepresented groups. Such an inclusive growth strategy in Fort Worth will not only expand equity, but it will also foster innovation, increase employment, and create healthy competition.

According to a study conducted at the University of California in 2014, the length of citywide growth spells directly correlates with higher levels of income inequality and social and spatial segregation. With a stronger, more prosperous Fort Worth the ultimate goal, our city should embrace equity and take steps to encourage inclusive growth.

Every city wants all of its residents to prosper and to have the same opportunities, not just the few, and increased equity means lower poverty, decreased homelessness, and stronger and longer-lasting growth.

WHAT YOU CAN DO:

Listen to other voices and embrace a nonhomogenous city government. After all, homogeneity would make for a pretty boring big city.

Media) (Digital First Content Marketing: the Return of Print -CMO by Adobe, 2016)

PRINT IS MEMORABLE.

The Kids Are All Right

When Gary Haas, a former abuser and pusher of drugs, lost his children via removal by Child Protective Services, it started a chain reaction that not only improved his life but also the lives of his children.

Despite its reputation to the contrary, the Department of Family Protective Services sees the family as the expert on kids.

BY RICK MAUCH AND JESSICA

STRANGE

PHOTOS BY OLAF GROWALD

PHOTO BY OLAF

The tears escaping Gary Haas’ eyes aren’t running away from sadness. They’re gently reminding him what a blessed man he is today after years of working hard to put his self-inflicted sorrow behind him. “I had always been able to ‘outsmart’ — so I thought — all of the caseworkers. Due to the lifestyle of an addict who not only used but also sold drugs, DFPS was notified multiple times. “We lived in a rundown motel in Arlington on Division Street that was well known for criminal activity. I managed the motel, so I was involved in pretty much everything that went on there.” A lot went on, most of which was not suitable for his four children, who at the time were ages 11 (Carissa), 9 (Taylor), 8 (Cadie), and 6 (Gary Jr.). But he thought that as long as they were fed, bathed, and going to school, his duties as a parent were fulfilled, and he could get on with other “adult” parts of his life.

The Department of Family Protective Services thought otherwise and did their job. After the DFPS was contacted one too many times, Gary’s children did not get off the school bus one day. They had been taken into custody by Child Protective Services (which falls under the umbrella of DFPS).

He was living the fear of many parents, having their children taken away, even as their behavior as adults demands no other choice.

But Gary learned that DFPS does not want to break up families if another option exists, and that option depends largely on parents like Gary. In fact, the DFPS does all it can to keep families together — after working

through the problems, of course — and hopefully to see families in Gary’s current situation, happy and stronger after waking up from their nightmare.

“When your kids have been removed, it’s time to look in the mirror. CPS doesn’t want your kids. They aren’t profiting from their removal,” Gary says. “If you make an honest effort, anything is possible. If this 25-plusyear addict can do it, anyone can.”

Stories like Gary’s are what the DFPS wants more of. While its No. 1 concern is protection and welfare of children, it realizes the best place for any child is in a happy home with loving parents.

“The family is the expert on their children,” says Joanna Golliday, a DFPS program administrator in Fort Worth. “Our ultimate goal is to collaborate with a family, help them during a time of need. If the child has to come out of the home, the goal is to put that child back in the home.”

That possibility is becoming more of a reality with each passing day, says Marissa Gonzales, DFPS media relations spokesperson. She noted that in Region 3 of DFPS, which covers Tarrant, Dallas, and 17 surrounding counties, there were 40,100 investigations in 2019, with 3,776 child removals. Statewide, there were around 163,000 investigations with just under 19,000 child removals.

REMOVAL IS CERTAINLY AN OPTION, THOUGH If a situation is deemed harmful, a child will be removed without hesitation, says DFPS Investigator Christina Salinas. But at the same time, parents are offered

Gary and his "soulmate," Melissa

opportunities, as was Gary, to get their own lives straight, to prove they want to do what’s best for themselves and their children, she says.

“We’ve removed children because of many reasons — drug use, family violence — but we provide resources to parents to be able to reunite with the child,” Salinas says. “It is up to the parents to take advantage of those, but we’re going to make sure that child is safe no matter what.”

The old adage that children automatically go into orphanages does not hold true. The first choice is to place them with another family member, such as a grandparent, aunt, or uncle. Foster parents are also a viable option, though Gonzales advises much consideration before entering into this field for the sake of the child and yourself.

The qualifications to become a foster parent aren’t so many, though they are stringent. There are many hours of training, one must be 21 years old, and have a clean record with the law.

“They’re going to go into your house, talk to people who know you, they’re going to look for every single little thing that might disqualify you,” Gonzales says.

“This is not something you get into lightly. You’ll have to be support for that child, and that means being strong. You can’t be support for them unless you have everything in your own life in order,” Golliday says. “They desperately need someone they know will be there for them at all times.”

COMMUNITY-BASED CARE

A common fear is that when children are removed from a home they are sent to all parts of the state, often meaning the splitting up of siblings and division of greatly needed support. Yes, this does happen, but not as often as before, thanks to organizations such as Our Community Our Kids (OCOK), which has been working with the DFPS for the past few years to implement Community-Based Care.

CBC is a major statewide effort to redesign foster care that focuses on keeping children closer to home and developing the services they need in the community. Within a geographic service area, a single contractor (officially a Single Source Continuum Contractor or SSCC), such as OCOK, is responsible for finding foster homes or other living arrangements for

children in state care and providing them a full continuum of services.

The idea for CBC came about around a dozen years ago, says Wayne Carson, CEO of OCOK, a division of ACH Child and Family Services.

“A group in Austin realized there was a foster care system across the state that wasn’t working,” Carson says. “They determined fundamentally that the problem was we’ve got 30,000 kids in the system, and all of the problem-solving was taking place in Austin. The solution in El Paso looks different than Fort Worth or Houston.”

Carson says that some other states have dealt with the same problem, and in places such as Florida and Kansas, the model that worked best for dealing with it was CBC. Now, Texas is giving it a try.

“Of course, there still needs to be someone watching to make sure it’s working and to hold us accountable, and that’s the best job for the folks in Austin,” he says.

But the job of everyone working together is to find a place where youngsters can find comfort and not live in a state of fear and uncertainty.

“We have to show them adults can be trusted, that you can get three meals in a day, and sleep without someone coming into

your room at 3 a.m. to hurt you,” Carson says.

While reunion of kids with their biological families is a goal, sometimes that is not possible and not always because of the parents. Sometimes it is the children who need more help before reuniting, if it can ever happen.

But that, too, falls back on the parents, Carson says.

“The behavior of our kids is a result of the trauma they’ve experienced. They don’t feel like the world is a safe place, and it’s our job to show them it can be,” he says.

OCOK is also tackling the challenge of finding places for older children to stay locally, which has been difficult in the past, particularly those with no foster parents to go to and who depend on orphanage-type scenarios. With the help of organizations such as Vision Quest and Camp Worth, Carson said capacity to house such youngsters is around 59 beds.

And while that may not seem like a lot, it’s an improvement from years past, he says.

“It’s the first time we’ve had that capacity locally. Houston has quite a few, San Antonio as well, but we’ve not been so fortunate around here until lately,” he says. “We have about 40 kids in that type of care.

“Once we start getting more kids in a

Gary (center), with his immediate and extended family

community, it’s easier to get them back into a family.”

DEALING WITH BURNOUT

Becoming a caseworker in the CPFS system is often a social worker’s first job straight out of college. Many people go into the profession with good intentions but can’t handle the stress from the day-to-day trauma they see. The position requires grit and thick skin.

Frequently, people applying for the job say they “just want to help children,” Spradberry says. But the job requirements go far beyond that.

“This job is just not one of those jobs where you’re just helping children,” she says. “You also have to deal with parents. You have to see some really gruesome things. You also have to deal with people not liking you for the simple fact of the job title that you hold.”

Burnout and Secondary Traumatic Stress, a condition that stems from observing trauma, are common for CPFS employees.

CPFS utilizes an employee assistance program that offers individual and family counseling should caseworkers or other staff need help. As an investigative supervisor, Adrienne Spradberry also tries to proactively prevent burnout in her caseworkers by identifying when they’re stressed and prioritizing their mental health.

10 a.m., my expectation is that you are in the audience at that school at 10:00 a.m.”

But sometimes, burnout is just inevitable. Because of this, turnover is high in the profession. Tarrant County, in particular, saw a 22% turnover rate in 2019, according to DFPS statistics. Keeping a full staff can be a challenge, and a shortage of caseworkers can add to an already heavy workload.

“When we have turnover and when we’re understaffed, that doesn’t mean that cases

suspects abuse or neglect can file a report without proof of any wrongdoing. All reports are investigated.

But the idea that parents or guardians are guilty until proven innocent is more of a societal mindset than that of DFPS. Allegations are just that — allegations.

“When we get allegations that children are hurt or in danger, your hope should always be that it’s not true,” Golliday says.

Claims made as a result of divorce proceedings are handled just like any other investigations. Sometimes DFPS is subpoenaed to present its findings to the court.

don’t come in,” Spradberry says. “We still get those cases.”

While the job can be emotionally draining, it’s the rewarding times that keep people in the industry going.

“You also have to know your staff,” she says. “I can typically tell when something is not right with one of my people.”

She also brings her employees together for roundtable talks following particularly difficult cases. It’s a bit like group therapy in that everyone in her unit has experienced similar trauma and talking about the case together can help relieve stress.

When Spradberry first started working in the field, she learned quickly that work-life balance was essential. Even though the hours on the job are long and hard, she wants to make sure her employees are able to be involved in their own families, too.

“We have a rule in my unit,” she says. “We don’t miss anything that our children are involved in. If your child has a spelling bee at

“That is what has kept me doing this for almost 13 years,” Golladay says. “You’re impacting a life. You know that you have changed the trajectory of that child’s life and the outcome that they are going to live in for the good.”

WEAPONIZING CPS While most CPS cases are legitimate, there are occasions when a complaint is filed maliciously as a form of retaliation or revenge. This may be in the midst of contemptuous divorce proceedings or due to a tiff with a family member. Golliday says this happens less than you would think, though.

“Most of the time, there’s something true and accurate in the reports that we’ve been given,” she says.

Because of state laws, anyone who

“They typically will ask what occurred with our investigation, what was told to us, what our findings were,” Spradberry says. “If there were pictures, they want to see pictures. They can subpoena recordings — anything that we’ve done within a case — it can be subpoenaed.”

Maliciously filed complaints can bog down the DFPS system. Knowingly making a false report is punishable by a fine up to $10,000 or up to two years in jail, according to state law.

“It does take away from us investigating cases where actual child abuse is occurring,” Spradberry said of false reports.

WORKING TOGETHER

Along with the necessary treatment, counseling, etc. that parents go through to be reunited with their children is understanding that the DFPS is not the enemy. Gary had to come to this realization on his journey to getting his children back.

“Of course, I was enraged. In my mind I had been a good father,” he says of his initial reaction to the loss of his children. “I ended up with an amazing caseworker who really cared. She adored my children and worked extremely hard to help me understand that my anger wasn’t going to get my kids home.”

It took a few months and a lot of patience on the part of that caseworker, Gary says, but she helped him realize that the lifestyle he was living, the conditions at the motel, and his anger and combative attitude about the whole situation was not helping. Courts

Gary's family tree. Along with his five children, he also has two granddaughters.

were now involved, and Gary had been ordered to comply with a service plan or lose his children.

It was that simple.

“I had been to three drug treatment centers, had three felony convictions for possession of a controlled substance, several stints in Tarrant County Jail, and even served time in prison. And now my kids had been taken by the state. All directly linked to my addiction to meth,” he says. “It was a life-changing realization. I needed help. And more importantly, for the sake of my children, I wanted help.

“I remember laying in their beds after they were removed and crying because I could only imagine what they were going through. I love my kids and didn’t even realize what kind of life I was setting them up for. I decided I was going to do whatever it took to get them home and make a better life for all of us.”

PARENTS NEED A CHANGE ALSO While removing children from the situation is often critical, it is likewise for the parents or guardians. Gary was sent to a fourth treatment center, got clean, and immediately changed his living situation upon release.

“I stayed at my father’s house a few weeks. Then, at my caseworker’s request, I went to stay at the Union Gospel Mission (UGM). It was a short walk to most of my court-ordered services and had many more resources available to me than CPS could offer,” he says.

The judge noticed the extreme change in Gary and granted him a six-month extension on his case. Gary was able to get into a rental assistance program through Community Enrichment.

After completing all of his services and five months at the UGM, where he was also named resident of the month, he moved into a three-bedroom apartment.

“The changes I had made in my life allowed me to mend relationships with my family,” he says. “My grandmother bought me an inexpensive car so I could find work.

“And my case was finally closed after 18 months. I was granted sole custody of all four children.”

Gary followed everything the judge ordered, including attending meetings. And he has advice for anyone else who might

someday find themselves in his situation, “Stay away from people still involved in that lifestyle.”

It means finding a whole new set of friends, but it can also mean having your life saved and finding your way back to your family, Gary added.

Golliday said there are also incidents where an adult is being abused along with the child, and that clearly calls for a change in venue. For example, it’s not uncommon for a mother — or even a father — to also be abused if the children are, she says.

“We may have a situation where the mother is unsafe, too, and we are obligated to help provide protection for her. We need to make that mother safe as well,” Golliday says.

And if the mother/father won’t leave the situation?

“We’d never be able to return that child because the mom has never learned or allowed herself to be given a chance to better her situation,” Spradberry says.

STILL MORE TO DO, AND YOU CAN HELP

While progress has been made in the battle to stop child abuse and neglect and keep families together as much as possible, the fight is far from over, Golliday says.

“I think we still have a lot of generational things in our community to overcome; that’s how they were reared, etc.,” Golliday says. “We have kids becoming parents at age 14, 15, and 16, and they don’t know how to overcome those challenges, but they have to be taught so that future generations can change.

“We have some hard days ahead, but we’re ready to fight the good fight.”

Golliday added that Texas overall has produced some of the nation’s most groundbreaking work in child and family protection.

“We have 11 different regions, a variety of population in the community we’re dealing with, and we are a large state with a lot to work with,” she says.

And while not everyone can be or wants to be a foster parent, there are numerous other ways the community can help. Rainbow Rooms are always in need of clothing, diapers, etc., including volunteers. Phones need to be answered, and this is a great opportunity for volunteers.

Adults are needed for mentoring, working with youth in foster care, sort of like a Big Brother/Big Sister. Also, parents sometimes need transportation to and from appointments such as court dates or counseling.

GARY’S LIFE TODAY Gary’s children went through several foster homes. The older two ended up with what he called “some wonderful people” with whom they still have contact. The younger two, because of the emotional strain, did need the help of state behavioral hospitals in Austin and Denton, he says.

But through it all, they are a family — and now an expanded family.

“Eventually I reunited with my soulmate, Melissa, that I had been with on and off since the seventh grade. We also have a daughter together, Courtney. She’s now 26 with a good job and has our granddaughter, Vera [who turned 3 in March],” Gary says.

Gary admits it hasn’t been a storybook ending, per se, but compared to where his life was, it’s magical. And he remains thankful to the DFPS for forcing him into a literal do-ordie situation, one in which he chose to “do.”

Carissa graduated from high school in 2015, is engaged, and has Gary’s other granddaughter, Alona, who turned 2 in March. Taylor is now 20, graduated in 2018, lives with her boyfriend, and has a good job. Cadie is 19 and set to graduate high school this year, and Gary Jr. is 18 and still in school and doing well.

And Gary is with the same company that hired him 11 years ago when his quest for change started. He has risen to the position of operations manager for a nationwide logistics company.

Not only has Gary and the DFPS changed his own life, he’s now helping them help others. He spent several years on the CPS Statewide Parent Collaboration Group and has been the facilitator of the local Parents Empowering Parents support group, which meets every second Thursday of the month at the Ben Street CPS office.

“I’m a volunteer parent, and my role is to help other families successfully navigate the system. I’m 11 years drug free and counting,” he says. “My advice to parents is simple. Get over the anger. Put yourself in your kids’ shoes and imagine how they must feel.”

FOR 20 YEARS HGC Residential Development has remained steadfast: transforming dreams into uparalleled homes of grace and distinction, crafted with utmost care and attention to detail. For more information please contact: John Giordano 817-991-1862 or Rick Wegman 817-584-7033

Photo Courtesy of Fowlkes, Norman & Associates

FOCUS

WOMEN WHO FORWARD FORT WORTH

Just a glance across the business landscape of Fort Worth and the surrounding cities reveals many women who own or run companies or other organizations that greatly influence the life of the community. On the next few pages, these successful women will tell you more about their professional endeavors and share inspiring advice. The information in this section is provided by the advertisers and has not been independently verified by Fort Worth Magazine.

Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra Association (FWSOA)

FOCUS: To educate, entertain, and enhance the cultural life of Fort Worth and beyond through high-level symphonic performance, engaging music education, and ever-greater levels of artistic accomplishment. PHILOSOPHY OF MANAGEMENT: All of these incredible women share a lifelong enjoyment of music and a commitment to present engaging performances and programs for a diverse audience, including children who may not otherwise have the opportunity to experience great symphonic music. COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT: The FWSOA is deeply committed to being an essential thread in the city’s cultural fabric. The association looks forward to providing outstanding symphonic programming for the community of Fort Worth and beyond. UPCOMING HIGHLIGHTS: The FWSOA’s Annual Gala is the biggest fundraiser for the organization and has become one of the most anticipated cultural events in North Texas. This team of

accomplished Fort Worth women will work toward raising over $1 million at this year’s Annual Gala featuring internationally acclaimed cellist Yo-Yo Ma performing with the symphony at the beautiful Dickies Arena. MOTTO: Life Is Better with Music! PICTURED: Gala Co-Chairs Frasher H. Pergande, Mercedes T. Bass (Gala Chairman), Marianne Auld, Ashli Blumenfeld, and Mary Hart Lipscomb; FWSO Musicians Adriana Voirin DeCosta (Principal Violin II) and Keira Fullerton (Acting Associate Principal Cello).

CONTACT INFORMATION:

330 East Fourth St., Ste. 200 • Fort Worth, Texas 76102

817.665.6500 fwsymphony.org develop@fwsymphony.org

Lilium Floral Design

FOCUS: Floral and Event Company. EDUCATION: University of Texas at Dallas, Bachelor of Science in Sociology and Bachelor of Science in Social Studies Composite; lifetime teacher certification; certified corporate trainer in more than 25 sales and marketing programs designed to teach techniques to increase sales revenue. BUSINESS RECOGNITION: Ten-time winner of “Best of the Best” in contests by local publications, 2010-2020; 2015 National Retailer of the Year; 2015 Winner of “People’s Choice” award for design; 2016 Blue Ribbon Small Business Award Winner (U.S. Chamber of Commerce). PHILOSOPHY OF MANAGEMENT: My management philosophy is a collaborative one. I encourage feedback from my staff and work to create a safe environ-

ment where the employees feel valued and have a voice. We maintain a high level of accountability within our team, and each member is responsible for keeping up a consistent standard of excellence. OUTSIDE INTERESTS/COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT: My spare time is usually spent with family, traveling, reading, and learning new things. With my corporate training background, I enjoy mentoring young entrepreneurs and sharing experiences, ideas, encouragement and resources to help them grow their business. GREATEST PROFESSIONAL ACHIEVEMENTS: Lilium was started in our garage in 2008, in the middle of an economic recession. In the years following, we built a team that took us from our humble roots to achieving regional and national recognition.

Within Lilium, I applied the sales, marketing and negotiation techniques that I taught to corporations for over 25 years. As a result, we have developed partnerships with our vendors and clients, created a team of dedicated and talented staff who are committed to upholding our high standards, and earned a reputation as an industry leader. ADVICE FOR ASPIRING CAREER WOMEN: The best advice I have received from the remarkable women I’ve met throughout my career is to always believe in yourself no matter what anyone may say and trust your instincts. My advice: Do not overthink things, be willing to work hard, and do everything with honesty and integrity. PROFESSIONAL MISSION: Provide value-added floral designs and services to our customers by creating a

successful partnership with them. Establish long-term relationships with our customers by exceeding their expectations and gaining their trust with our artistic designs and through exceptional performance by every member of our team. PICTURED: Lisa Pritchett, owner; Taylor Pritchett, daughter and design manager.

CONTACT INFORMATION: 4800 Colleyville Blvd. • Colleyville, Texas 76034 817.481.1565 • 214.509.6630 liliumflorals.com lisa@liliumflorals.com

Argent Trust Company

FOCUS: Wealth management services for individuals, families and organizations, including trust services, investment management, oil and gas management, and other fiduciary services. EDUCATION/CERTIFICA-

TIONS: Kathy Christoffel ‒ CTFA, Morton College, Canon Trust School. Patrice Parks ‒ Dallas Baptist University. Buffie Campbell ‒ JD; CPL, University of North Texas and Texas Wesleyan School of Law (now Texas A&M School of Law). BUSINESS RECOGNITIONS: 2020 Private Asset Management (PAM) Award for Best Philanthropic Initiative; 2019 PAM Award for Best Trustee; 2019 Inc. 5000 Fastest Growing Companies. LEADERSHIP PHILOSOPHY: Lead by example. Always listen first. OUTSIDE INTERESTS/COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT: Kathy ‒ Active member Trinity Episcopal Church and Amphibian Productions board member. Patrice ‒ Active member of First Baptist of Burleson. Buffie ‒Texas Energy Council VP – Symposium. GREATEST PROFESSIONAL

ACHIEVEMENTS: With almost a century of combined experience, these three women chose to join Argent to build something new and important in Fort Worth, leveraging the resources of Argent. ADVICE FOR ASPIRING CAREER WOMEN: Be yourself. Stay genuine and display confidence that you are willing to learn from others and then be ready to contribute! Believe in your ability to do great things. Take the step. Be courageous. MOTTO: Thoughtful. Independent. Objective. PICTURED: Buffie Campbell, oil and gas property manager; Patrice Parks, trust administrative officer; Kathy Christoffel, market president.

CONTACT INFORMATION:

4200 S. Hulen St., Ste. 217 • Fort Worth, Texas 76109 817.502.2931 ArgentTrust.com

WOMEN WHO FORWARD FORT WORTH | FOCUS

B Smart Builders

FOCUS: We are the only three-generation, women-owned and -operated, residential general contractor in the area. We focus on listening to our clients’ “wants and dreams” and translating those into unique, custom designs that we build/remodel within their budget. EDUCATION: Cheryl ‒ Texas A&M, bachelor’s and master’s degrees in engineering. Heather ‒ attended TCU. Barbara – attended North Texas and TCU. BUSINESS RECOGNITIONS: Greater Fort Worth Builders Association Board, 2018, 2019, 2020 (2nd VP, 2020); Fort Worth HOME Design Awards, 2017-2019; Best of Houzz, 2018; GFWBA Best Remodel, 2011, 2012. PHILOSOPHY OF MANAGEMENT: Good remodels center around the relationship between homeowners and the B Smart team, including transparency, honesty, and creativity. We communicate expectations, costs, and timeline from the beginning. COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT: Greater Fort Worth Builders Association (Executive Board); Christ Chapel Church; Ridglea Hills Elementary School, neigh-

borhood PTA officer and sponsor; Fort Worth Junior League; Colonial Country Club. GREATEST PROFESSIONAL ACHIEVEMENTS: Balancing successful careers and strong families. ADVICE FOR ASPIRING CAREER WOMEN: Dream big, be the best you can be, do not give up, and remember that success in life is multifaceted: God, family, career. PROFESSIONAL MISSION: Treat everyone you encounter fairly, honestly, and with respect. Be kind, be safe, B Smart! PICTURED: Cheryl Bean (owner), Heather Smitherman (co-owner/business manager), and Barbara Harrington (B Smart advocate/accounting).

CONTACT INFORMATION:

5148 E. Vickery Loop • Benbrook, Texas 76116 817.368.8659 (Cheryl) • Fax 817.423.7732

bsmartbuilders.com cheryl@bsmartbuilders.com

Carson Hearing Care

FOCUS: Hearing Healthcare. We focus on creating a unique experience and unmatched care for each of our patients. EDUCATION: Master’s in Speech and Hearing Sciences. Doctorate in Audiology. AWARDS: Great Women of Fort Worth 2015 Nominee; 2019 Entrepreneur of Excellence Nominee in Health Care field. PHILOSOPHY OF MANAGEMENT: Chase excellence and be customer obsessed. Hire really passionate people that align with your company culture and share your core values. OUTSIDE INTERESTS: We’ve been involved heavily with the Saving Hope Animal Rescue and bring the dogs to the office – we’ve adopted out 31 dogs in two years! GREATEST PROFESSIONAL ACHIEVEMENTS: Managing to run and grow a hearing health care business in a very competitive market and truly feeling like we are a better part of everyone’s day because of the team I’ve built at Carson Hearing Care. It makes me proud to see how

far I have come with my business acumen; I’ve learned so much about how to run a successful business. ADVICE FOR ASPIRING CAREER WOMEN: Dream big, work hard and don’t whine – and never underestimate yourself. PROFESSIONAL MISSION: Chase excellence – create an experience that is unmatched and be passionate and consistent with how you deliver your care and attention. Make good things happen for other people. PICTURED: Robin Carson, Au.D.

CONTACT INFORMATION:

5104 Camp Bowie Blvd. • Fort Worth, Texas 76107

817.737.4327 • Fax 817.737.4328

carsonhearing.com rcarson@carsonhearing.com

WOMEN WHO FORWARD FORT

Michaela Chicotsky Chicotsky Real Estate Group at Briggs Freeman Sotheby’s International Realty

FOCUS: Real Estate. EDUCATION: GRI – Graduate Realtor Institute. BUSINESS RECOGNITIONS: Top Realtor, Top Producer. PHILOSOPHY OF MANAGEMENT: Prioritizing items that play to my strengths and delegating other actionable items to my fellow Realtor husband, David, who bought and sold the second-most amount of real estate transactions in all of Tarrant County this year. COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT/OUTSIDE INTERESTS: Volunteering via the Junior League of Fort Worth is something I am very passionate about. It is refreshing to surround yourself with women who empower other women. Outside of spending time with my family, I love supporting the art community, antiquing, enjoying a good meal with great company, seeing a live show, and traveling (when that was a thing). GREATEST PROFESSIONAL ACHIEVEMENTS: Helping each client-turned-friend find their sanctuary or realize their overall real estate goal. ADVICE FOR ASPIRING CAREER WOMEN: Believe in your vision and invest in the people who invest in you. MOTTO: Luxury is not a price point; it is an experience. PICTURED: Michaela Chicotsky.

CONTACT INFORMATION: 4828 Camp Bowie Blvd. • Fort Worth, Texas 76107 817.888.8088 chicotsky.com mchicotsky@briggsfreeman.com

Margaret McDermott Coulborn – Christie’s ULTERRE

FOCUS: Actively listen to clients regarding their real estate goals. Real luxury is having the freedom to do what we want to do. We serve every client that way. EDUCATION: B.S., in Human Development and Family Studies, Texas Tech University. BUSINESS RECOGNITIONS: Fort Worth Magazine and 360 West Magazine Top Producer, 2016-2019, Board of Realtors. PHILOSOPHY OF MANAGEMENT: Starting in real estate in 1994, it was a completely different universe. Now we engage in deep creativity to help clients obtain their specific goals. It is more than finding the perfect neighborhood or downsizing. People hire us to help them live a better life through their homes and their connections to who they are and the way they live. COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT: Junior League of Fort Worth; The Assembly of Fort Worth member; Colonial Country Club; of course, kid’s school! GREATEST PROFESSIONAL

ACHIEVEMENTS: Traversing so many real estate cycles in a dynamically growing marketplace. Maintaining a leadership position despite all the new entrants and business models feels good. ADVICE FOR ASPIRING CAREER WOMEN: Focus on your passion and find a way to make money doing it. It is easier to develop resiliency in a career that has meaning for you. MOTTO: Selling results, exceeding expectations.

PICTURED: Margaret McDermott Coulborn.

CONTACT INFORMATION: 4838 White Settlement Road • Fort Worth, Texas 76114 817.703.7491

thecoulborngroup.ulterre.com margaretc@ulterre.com

Traci Darden, Owner Elements of Design WOMEN

FOCUS: Elements of Design is a full-service interior design firm located in Southlake. While we specialize in designing residential projects for custom builders and model homes in all price points, we also enjoy our work with clients on renovation projects and residential design, utilizing our multitude of vendors for furnishings, accessories, drapery, etc. EDUCATION: B.S. in Interior Design, Texas State University. BUSINESS RECOGNITION: Awarded “Best of Living”; Fort Worth HOME 2019 design awards; “Best of Houzz,” seven consecutive years. PHILOSOPHY OF MANAGEMENT: You are only as good as your team. Having talented, energetic people around every day keeps our designs fresh and makes the processes we have built fun for our clients and a highly regarded part of the building process for our builders. GREATEST PROFESSIONAL ACHIEVEMENTS: Owning and running a successful company for the past 20-plus years. ADVICE FOR ASPIRING CAREER WOMEN: Don’t

let anything stand in your way – there really is no reason not to pursue each of your dreams. You only “can’t” do what you don’t try. MOTTO: Dubbed “Thoughtful Designer” because of absolutely best design solutions for each project. PICTURED: (front left) Stephanie McPherson (builder services); (front right) Traci Darden (owner); (back left) Klara Johnson (residential and renovation designer); (back right) Monica Finn (Model Home designer).

CONTACT INFORMATION:

405 S. Nolen Drive, Ste. 400 • Southlake, Texas 76092

817.428.0657

elementsofdesignllc.com Instagram@eodllc traci@elementsofdesignllc.com

Elite Payroll and Staffing Services

FOCUS: Payroll processing; temporary, long-term, and permanent job placement. EDUCATION: MBA, International Business/Foreign Trade, Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain. BUSINESS RECOGNITIONS: Top 100 Successful Hispanic Women in U.S., Hispanic Magazine; Largest Women Owned Business in U.S., Hispanic Business magazine; Top 500 Hispanic Businesses, Hispanic Business magazine; 40 under 40 Fort Worth, Fort Worth Business Press PHILOSOPHY OF MANAGEMENT: To provide an uplifting and positive environment that encourages growth and evolvement. OUTSIDE INTERESTS/COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT: Member of Ladies on the Lamb; board member of Ballet Folklorico de Fort Worth; member of the Fort Worth Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. I love to travel and do so any chance I get.

GREATEST PROFESSIONAL ACHIEVEMENT: Top 100 Successful Hispanic Women in the U.S. by Hispanic Magazine ADVICE FOR ASPIRING CAREER WOMEN: Find your passion and love what you do. Help other aspiring women! There is plenty of business out there for all of us. PROFESSIONAL MISSION: Provide our clients with a tailored service no one else can match. PICTURED: Elaina Perez, CEO, Founder.

INFORMATION:

WOMEN WHO FORWARD FORT

FOCUS: Mental Health. EDUCATION/CERTIFICATIONS: TCU, B.S., Psychology, and M.Ed., Counseling; Licensed Professional Counselor Supervisor; Registered Play Therapist Supervisor; National Certified Counselor. BUSINESS RECOGNITIONS: Founder, owner of Terra Therapies, PLLC, 2018; 2020 DFW Child Mom Approved Wellness Professional for Play Therapy. PHILOSOPHY OF MANAGEMENT: My philosophy in management is one of leading by example, empowerment, encouragement, and collaboration with my team. I attempt to meet others where they are to help unearth strengths and abilities in themselves. My hope is to empower my staff of therapists and clinical support staff to be their best in both work and in life.

GREATEST PROFESSIONAL ACHIEVEMENTS: My greatest professional achievement occurs each time I witness a client break through or child blossom in front of my eyes. Knowing I have helped someone heal from life’s challenges and wounds is the greatest reward

and fulfillment of my career. ADVICE FOR ASPIRING CAREER WOMEN: Find mentors and encouragers. Seek out answers to your questions, find connections with like-minded people, and believe in yourself. PROFESSIONAL MISSION: To provide compassionate, professional and ethical support and encouragement to all people who seek our services. PERSONAL MOTTO: Be kind, smile, and be gentle with yourself and others. PICTURED: (front) Brittany Stroud, Courtney Guhl, Amber Harville; (back) Sarah Gill, Allison Longoria, Emily Wallen, Grayson Pleasant.

CONTACT INFORMATION:

3200 Riverfront Drive, Ste. 108 • Fort Worth, Texas 76107 817.887.9505 • Fax 817.887.9509

TerraTherapiesTX.com CourtneyGuhl@TerraTherapiesTX.com

Melissa Nickelson Personal Life Coach

MOTTO: Happiness is a choice. FOCUS: Melissa Nickelson works with clients who are facing or considering a life-changing event. She is a CDC Certified Divorce Coach and a Certified Mindset for Success Coach who specializes in working with clients who are ready for change and need help in the process. She works with clients who want someone to listen and offer feedback and guidance — to gain confidence, figure out what’s next, and move forward in life. Coaching offers a safe, no judgment environment to talk about what you need or want, as well as the guidance to recognize you have the power to make choices and live your own life. Melissa is the author of From Mrs. to Ms.: A Guide to Living Your Life During and After Divorce and Thoughts, Quotes and More, a Journey of Life Journal COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT:

Melissa is on the advisory board of Cuisine for Healing in Fort Worth and has been named one of the Top Tarrant County Women Owned Businesses. She is a member of the International Coaching Federation, the Tarrant County Family Bar Association, and a life member of the Texas Family Law Foundation. GREATEST PERSONAL ACHIEVEMENT: Melissa’s greatest personal achievement is having a happy, healthy family. ADVICE: “Live YOUR life. Believe in yourself.”

CONTACT INFORMATION: 5201 West Freeway, Ste. 104 • Fort Worth, Texas 76107 817.732.5267 melissanickelson.com

WOMEN WHO FORWARD FORT WORTH | FOCUS

FOCUS: Our mission is to accentuate the elegance and natural beauty of womanhood. We focus in helping women “be their own kind of beautiful” through holistic preventative health management services and results-oriented, anti-aging therapies. EDUCATION/CERTIFICA-

TIONS: Bachelor of Science in Clinical Laboratory Science, University of Texas, Austin; Master of Business Administration, Rockhurst University, Kansas City; Doctorate in Osteopathic Medicine, Kansas City University of Medicine; Board-Certified, American College of Osteopathic Internists; Diplomat, American Academy of Aesthetic Medicine; Fellowship, American College of Osteopathic Internists. BUSINESS RECOGNITIONS: Fort Worth Magazine Top Doctor, 2019. PHILOSOPHY OF MANAGEMENT: I believe in empowerment through fellowship. We are only as strong as the team we are with. OUTSIDE INTERESTS: I enjoy

spending time with my family and friends. We love to travel and enjoy discovering wildlife, art, fashion, and history. GREATEST PROFESSIONAL ACHIEVEMENTS: My greatest professional achievement is being a young, female, minority business entrepreneur. ADVICE FOR ASPIRING CAREER WOMEN: Be brave and fearless. Whatever career goal you desire, focus on your strengths and not your weaknesses or disadvantages. MOTTO: “Success is a series of good decisions.”

PICTURED: Elaine Phuah, DO, MBA, FACOI.

CONTACT INFORMATION:

800 Eighth Ave., Ste. 336 • Fort Worth, Texas 76104 817.808.8938 • Fax 817.386.2679 hanamimedspa.com • contact@hanamimedspa.com

FOCUS | WOMEN WHO FORWARD FORT WORTH

SciFit Center

FOCUS: Professional Weight Loss, Personalized Nutrition & Fitness Programs, Body Composition Scanning, and Food Sensitivity, Metabolism & DNA Testing. EDUCATION: Angela Calvillo – B.S., Nutrition; B.A., Psychology. Dr. Bryce Calvillo – Doctorate of Chiropractic; B.S., Health & Wellness. BUSINESS RECOGNITIONS: One of the fastest-growing small businesses in Fort Worth 2019. LEADERSHIP PHILOSOPHY: Angela believes that women leaders become successful by having a positive self-image. She helps women feel confident in themselves by assisting them in achieving a healthy physique and desirable body composition. COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT: SciFit is very involved in local boutique gyms and fitness facilities. We also collaborate with the Fort Worth Blue Zones project in helping make healthier food options available for people. GREATEST PROFESSIONAL ACHIEVEMENTS: Becoming the first clinic in Fort Worth to implement Body Composition

Scanning, Food Sensitivity, Metabolism, and DNA Testing for Weight Loss and Wellness. ADVICE FOR ASPIRING CAREER WOMEN: Believe in yourself and go for it. If your heart is in the right place and you’re passionate about what you do, everything will come together for you!

PROFESSIONAL MISSION: To do everything within our knowledge and power to give every one of our clients the best nutrition, fitness, and wellness advice possible, so they may progress into their optimal self.

PICTURED: Angela Calvillo, Nutritionist.

CONTACT INFORMATION:

2408 Forest Park Blvd. • Fort Worth, Texas 76110 817.975.7583 scifitcenter.com healthylife@scifitcenter.com

Seltzer & Dally, PLLC

Sarah C. Seltzer and Lori E. Dally

FOCUS: All aspects of Family Law: Divorce, Custody, Child Support, and Adoption. EDUCATION/CERTIFICATIONS: Lori ‒ BS, TCU. Sarah ‒ BA, Texas Tech; Board-Certified by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization in Child Welfare Law. Sarah and Lori ‒ J.D., Texas Wesleyan University School of Law (now Texas A&M). RECOGNITIONS/ AWARDS: Texas Monthly, Top Women Attorney in Texas Rising Stars (2020); Texas Rising Star – Super Lawyers (2019-2020); Fort Worth Magazine, Top Attorney Family Law (2017-2019). PHILOSOPHY OF MANAGEMENT: We inspire our team to provide personal, professional, and passionate representation because clients trust us during the most difficult and vulnerable of circumstances. COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT: Lori is board president, Fort Worth Pregnancy Center. Sarah is committee chair, Texas Lawyers for Texas Veterans. We

volunteer yearly as a firm for National Adoption Day. PROFESSIONAL ACHIEVEMENTS: Seltzer & Dally, PLLC was given the 2019 Law Firm Partner Award by TLTV for our pro bono service to veterans. ADVICE FOR ASPIRING CAREER WOMEN: Feel the fear and do it anyway. PROFESSIONAL MISSION: To provide excellent and effective representation through compassion, communication, and commitment.

PICTURED: Lori E. Dally and Sarah C. Seltzer.

CONTACT INFORMATION:

6777 Camp Bowie Blvd., Ste. 340 • Fort Worth, Texas 76116 817.887.9206 YourTexasFamilyLawyer.com Contact@yourtexasfamilylawyer.com

Susan Semmelmann Interiors

FOCUS: Construction detailing and interior design. EDUCATION: Bachelor of Science, Texas Christian University. BUSINESS RECOGNITIONS: Best of Design in Fort Worth 2016, 2017 and 2018; Best of Houzz 2019. PHILOSOPHY OF MANAGEMENT: Zig Ziglar said it best:

“You’re getting what you’re getting because you’re giving what you’re giving.” I believe in a positive environment, including praising my team and appreciating their efforts, giving them recognition and knowing it is not about me but about a design team that gives all it has, resulting in the best for our clients. COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT: Raquel’s Wings for Life, a Wish with Wings, Susan Semmelmann Interiors Foundation, and other local charities. GREATEST PROFESSIONAL ACHIEVEMENT:

The greatest professional achievement is to look back at a 23-year career from building homes to serving hundreds of clients, with design

expertise and resources. ADVICE FOR ASPIRING WOMAN: The more you can give of yourself to anyone or any project, the more you will get back in return. Finding balance with work, family and friends is critical to any successful woman, as well as keeping your outlook positive, keeping faith in God and continually growing in your field to learn more each day and be able to offer more knowledge and experience. MOTTO: The Spirit of Living is in the Giving. PICTURED: Susan Semmelmann.

CONTACT INFORMATION:

4372 W Vickery Blvd. • Fort Worth, Texas 76107 940.577.1000 semmelmanninteriors.com susan@semmelmanninteriors.com

Christy Dunaway Smith Patron for Philanthropy and SoFortWorthIt Lifestyle Blogger

FOCUS: Covering stylish entertaining and happenings. EDUCATION: SMU, B.A. in Art History and minor in Studio Art. AWARDS: Boys & Girls Club Panther Club ‒Outstanding Member of the Year (2002), Panther Club Award (2003), Past President Award (2008); Fort Worth Magazine Best of Winner, Local Blogger/Influencer (2019). PHILOSOPHY OF MANAGEMENT: Getting to know a person first to understand their strengths and weaknesses so we can all learn from each other. COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT: I’m heavily involved in giving back to our community, be it hands-on volunteer work or a financial contribution. It’s an absolute passion of mine. Additionally, I sit on the board for the Winn Dunaway Family Foundation, which gives to many nonprofits in our wonderful city. GREATEST PROFESSIONAL ACHIEVEMENT: Launching SoFortWorthIt into my vision. ADVICE FOR ASPIRING CAREER WOMEN: When opportunity knocks, don’t just answer the door — welcome it in! Look for the best in others and be honest and forgiving. PROFESSIONAL MISSION: My mission is to share the experience of stylish entertainment and happenings in Fort Worth with all of Fort Worth and beyond. PICTURED: Christy Dunaway Smith (photo by Laura McCarthy).

CONTACT INFORMATION:

817.371.5282 • SoFortWorthIt.com christy@sofortworthit.com

Gloria Starling Managing Partner

The Capital Grille Fort Worth

FOCUS: “You are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think.” – Christopher Robin in Winnie-the-Pooh, by A. Milne. A passion for the restaurant industry coupled with that mindset has allowed me a lifelong career doing what I absolutely love. LEADERSHIP PHILOSOPHY: Providing a team-oriented, nurturing environment fostering growth, positive leadership, encouragement, and guidance while providing an exceptional distinctive guest experience. GREATEST PROFESSIONAL ACHIEVEMENT: I received The Capital Grille’s highest honor for delivering high-level guest and team member experiences. BUSINESS RECOGNITIONS: Numerous awards including Chairman’s Award, 2018, Fort Worth Hispanic Chamber of Commerce; Minority Leaders of Fort Worth, 2018, Fort Worth Business Press; and Bold Woman Honoree, 2019, Girls Inc. PROFESSIONAL MISSION: Balance; between

the joy of being a mama to my amazing son, Gabe, serving our Fort Worth community, and a quality of life and passion for my family and friends, and my career. COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT: Chair Elect, Fort Worth Hispanic Chamber of Commerce; Executive Board Downtown Fort Worth Inc.; Visit Fort Worth; and President of the Board to nonprofit, Tough Starts Give Back. My son, Gabe, is the founder, which serves charitable and educational purposes in our Fort Worth community. PICTURED: Gloria Starling and Gabriel Starling.

CONTACT INFORMATION:

800 Main St. • Fort Worth, Texas 76102 817.348.9200 gstarling@tcgdine.com

Give Back

Because COVID-19 caused a delay or cancelation of the charity events this season, as a service to all the charities in the Greater Tarrant area, we are listing the new dates or cancelations as they come in.

SEP. 17 Virtual Event

Give-A-Thon Humane Society of North Texas Facebook Event hsnt.org

SEP. 24

Signature Chefs March of Dimes signaturechefs.marchofdimes.org

OCT. 9

Day of the Girl 2020 Girls Inc. of Tarrant County girlsinctarrant.org

OCT. 14 Virtual Event

65 Roses Wine & Food Extravaganza Cystic Fibrosis Foundation events.cff.org

OCT. 22

2020 International Award of Excellence in Conservation BRIT brit.org/conservationgala

NOV. 5

Light The Night Leukemia & Lymphoma Society lightthenight.org

NOV. 10

Heart (at home) for the Homeless Union Gospel Mission of Tarrant County heartforhomeless.com

NOV. 13

An Artists’ Christmas Camp Fire campfirefw.org

DEC. 4

Home for the Holidays Gala Presbyterian Night Shelter journeyhome.org

APR. 24, 2021

Butterfly Wishes Gala a Wish with Wings awww.org

Fall of 2021

Hearts of Gold Giving Rutledge Foundation rutledgecancerfoundation.org

There’s nothing more rewarding than giving back and making a difference in the lives of people in this great community. As the city’s magazine — which has the eyes and ears of some of Fort Worth’s most affluent and philanthropic citizens — we feel a responsibility to give back to the people of the city that is our namesake, which is why Philanthropy is one of our core values.

Every year, Fort Worth Magazine sponsors more than 100 charity events, which range from luncheons to black-tie galas. The following promotional section is devoted to these charities and their fundraisers. We invite you to consciously peruse and consider lending a helping hand by either making a donation or attending these events.

Ongoing Donations Make-A-Wish ntx.wish.org

Ongoing Donations Parenting Center theparentingcenter.org

Ongoing Donations Legacy of Women/Legacy of Men SafeHaven safehaventc.org

Ongoing Virtual Event Pivot with a Purpose Wings of Hope wingsofhopeequitherapy.org

PRINT IS MEMORABLE.

Print creates an emotional connection.

Print builds relationships.

Physical material is more

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 13, 2020 FORT WORTH CONVENTION CENTER BALLROOM

Art lovers and Camp Fire supporters come together for An Artists’ Christmas gala featuring original paintings, watercolor, jewelry and 3D artwork. Bid on art contributed by local and nationally recognized artists and engage in an exciting live auction of luxury packages, followed by a lively hour of dance-worthy music. Join us for this community favorite event to usher in your holiday season, expand or start your collection of original artwork, enjoy a seated gourmet dinner while supporting programs that change young lives for the better. Inside and out.

Honor Chair: Adelaide Leavens Event Chairs: Marie and Brandon Chase

FOCUS

FAMILY LAWYERS TO KNOW

They stand by you through the hard times. They guide and support you from the beginning to the end of the divorce process. They are some of Greater Fort Worth’s brightest, most sought-after family law and collaborative law professionals, and they have purchased space to show you how working with them in your time of need will benefit you. The information in this section is provided by the advertisers and has not been independently verified by Fort Worth Magazine.

Gardner Smith & Hill, P.L.L.C.

SPECIALTY: Family Law. AWARDS/HONORS: Our lawyers are leaders in the legal profession — former presidents of the Tarrant County Bar Association, a founding member of the Tarrant County Family Law Bar Association, and members of the Family Law Council of the State Bar of Texas, and as a Director of the Texas Young Lawyers Association. Accolades our lawyers have received include the Blackstone Award (the Tarrant County Bar Association’s lifetime achievement award), Professionalism Award, Tarrant County Outstanding Young Lawyer Award (awarded to one young lawyer per year), and Outstanding Mentor Awards. Our members also have been recognized as Super Lawyers and Rising Stars in the annual Super Lawyers edition of Texas Monthly magazine. MEMBERSHIPS/AFFILIATIONS: Members of the firm

have served our country in the Army, Navy, and United States Marine Corp. Currently, our lawyers dedicate their time, resources, and talent by serving as president of CASA of Tarrant County, a mentor for Big Brothers Big Sisters, a board member for Fellowship of Christian Athletes, a board member for the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra, and supporters of Kinderfrogs. PROFESSIONAL APPROACH: Gardner Smith & Hill knows that effective representation begins with preparation. We explore every avenue, including informal settlement, mediation, and trial, in an effort to resolve our clients’ cases efficiently. We always remain sensitive to the long-term emotional impact a contested family-law case can have on our clients and their families. WHAT SETS THE FIRM APART: Gardner Smith & Hill was established in July 2020 after three family law

practices merged with the goal of providing the highest quality professional and client-focused family law services in North Texas. We have represented clients in cases involving every area of family law, including divorce, child-custody disputes, adoptions, child support modifications, and CPS investigations. While the issues and assets involved in those cases range from typical and straightforward to complex and substantial, each client enjoys the same high level of attention and service. FREE ADVICE: The view is always better from the high road. PICTURED: Tom E. Hill (TCU ’69, Texas Tech Law ’72), Susan F. Smith (Texas A&M ’06, Texas Tech Law ’09), Terry Gardner (UT ’62, UT Law ’66), Kenneth McAlister (UTA ’73, Texas Tech Law ’79), Dusty Hill (TCU ’01, South Texas College of Law ’06), Dwayne W. Smith (UT ’05, UT Law ’08).

CONTACT INFORMATION: 4615 Bryce Ave. Fort Worth, Texas 76107

817.336.3600 Fax 817.737.4004 gardnersmithhill.com dwayne@gardnersmithhill.com susan@gardnersmithhill.com dusty@gardnersmithhill.com tehill@swbell.net terry@gardnersmithhill.com ken@gardnersmithhill.com

Law Office of Gary L. Nickelson

Gary L. Nickelson

Chris Nickelson

CONCENTRATION: The firm is uniquely qualified to handle the most complicated matrimonial cases in trial or appellate courts throughout Texas.

CERTIFICATION: Gary is board certified in Family Law through the State Bar of Texas. Chris is board certified in Civil Appellate Law through the State Bar of Texas.

PROFESSIONAL MEMBERSHIPS:

Gary has been the Chair of the Family Law Section of the State Bar, President of the Texas Academy of Family Law Specialists, American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers ‒ both the Texas Chapter and national organization, and is Director of the State Bar of Texas. He is also a diplomate in The American College of Family Trial Lawyers, which is by invitation only and limited to 100 Family Law attorneys nationwide. Chris is past President of the Tarrant County Bar Association, Appellate Section, and is Immediate Past Chairman of the Family Law Council of the State Bar’s Family Law Section. Father and son are frequent authors and lecturers for the State Bar and other organizations.

HONORS: Gary holds many prestigious awards and has been named a

“Texas Super Lawyer,” a Thomson Reuters business, as published in Texas Monthly magazine since 2003. Chris has been named as “Texas Super Lawyer,” a Thomson Reuters business, in the Super Lawyer issue published in Texas Monthly since 2014. Gary and Chris have won the Family Law Section of the State Bar of Texas’ highest and most prestigious award, The Dan Price Award, in 2003 and 2013, respectively. EXPERIENCE: Gary has handled family law cases exclusively over 40 years. His experience allows him to handle all types of family law cases throughout Texas. Chris, a 20-year attorney, clerked in El Paso Court of Appeals, appeared as an attorney in many of the appellate courts in Texas and is an accomplished family and appellate law attorney.

CONTACT INFORMATION:

5201 W. Freeway, Ste. 100 • Fort Worth, Texas 76107 817.735.4000 • Fax 817.735.1480 garynickelson.com

FOCUS | FAMILY LAWYERS TO KNOW

KoonsFuller Family Law

SPECIALTY: Family law is not only what we do. It’s all we do. With our five full-service offices across Texas, we offer a level of clout and a range of resources unmatched by any other family law firm in Texas or the Southwest. AWARDS/HONORS: Heather King – Honoree, Texas Super Lawyers; The Best Lawyers in America® in family law and family law mediation as recognized by Best Lawyers, LLC; Sam Emison Recipient by Texas Academy of Family Law Specialists; Dan Price Award; Fort Worth Magazine’s Top Attorney, Family Law. Jessica Janicek – Honoree, Texas Rising Stars; The Best Lawyers in America® in family law as recognized by Best Lawyers, LLC; Fort Worth Magazine’s Top Attorney, Family Law. Dana Manry – Honoree, Texas Super Lawyers; Fort Worth Magazine’s Top Attorney, Family Law. Rob McEwan – Honoree, Texas Rising Stars. Paul Leopold – Honoree, Texas Rising Stars. Drew Williamson ‒ Honoree,

Texas Rising Stars. MISSION: To provide high-quality legal services and superior results for clients who demand the best family law representation possible. Everything we do is founded on unassailable integrity and an unwavering commitment to ethical business practices.

PICTURED: (left to right) Drew Williamson, Dana Manry,* Heather King,* Rob McEwan,* Jessica Janicek,* and Paul Leopold. *Board-Certified in Family Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization

CONTACT INFORMATION:

550 Reserve St., Ste. 450 • Southlake, Texas 76092

817.481.2710 • Fax 817.481.2637

koonsfuller.com

**Principal office in Dallas.

Family Law Firm of Donna J. Smiedt, PLLC

SPECIALTY: Board Certified Family Law Specialist, Family Law Mediator and Collaborative Attorney. EDUCATION/CERTIFICATIONS: B.A., Southern Methodist University; J.D., Southern Methodist University School of Law; Board Certified by State Bar of Texas in Family Law. HONORS/ AWARDS: Texas Super Lawyer; Arlington Family Law Attorney of the Year; Top Attorney, Family Law, Fort Worth Magazine. PROFESSIONAL MEMBERSHIPS: Texas Academy of Family Law Specialists; Arlington Bar Association; Tarrant County Family Law Bar Association; Tarrant County Bar Association. GREATEST PROFESIONAL ACHIEVEMENT:

Being sworn in by Chief Justice Rehnquist to practice before the United States Supreme Court in 2000. APPROACH TO LAW: I strive to provide the highest level of legal expertise tempered with an empathy and

understanding of the great emotional challenges clients are facing in their family law cases. WHAT SETS THEM APART: Experience and expertise. MOTTO: When your family and finances matter, experience counts. SPECIAL INTERESTS: Girls Inc.; Arlington Animal Shelter. FREE ADVICE: Do not marry with the expectation you can change your spouse. The only person you can change is yourself. PICTURED: Attorneys Donna J. Smiedt, Desaray R. Muma, and Michael A. Muñoz.

CONTACT INFORMATION: 3216 West Arkansas Lane • Arlington, Texas 76016 817.572.9900 • Fax 817.572.7679 smiedtlaw.com • arlingtondivorces.com

“This was captured on a Saturday afternoon. A typical hot summer day in Texas but also one of those days where the sky was bright blue with large, puffy clouds floating on by. I had driven over to Panther Island to capture some photos of downtown with my drone, but as I scanned the area, I noticed all of the folks out enjoying a summer day on the river. To me, the image captures the fun of summer out on the water, but with the social distancing squares, it also captures the times we’re all going through together.”

So you’ve snapped a cool pic of the city. We want to see it. Tag your photos on Instagram with #fwtxmag. The winning image will get published on this page — so hit us with your best shot. main line 817.560.6111 | subscriptions 800.856.2032 | website fwtx.com

@katebranning

PHOTO BY KATE BRANNING

Nothing moves us like Fort Worth.

The thrill of the hunt. Finding the one. Moving day!

Since 1960 and counting, we’ve helped our amazing clients

ﬁnd amazing new homes across North Texas. Now it’s our turn: This fall, we’re moving to 4828 Camp Bowie Boulevard — on the famous bricks — where we’ll be even closer to our favorite people: you. In the meantime, come see us at briggsfreeman.com. It could inspire you to make a move, too.

SOUND

and Fury

There’s no mistaking the Porsche 911 GT3 RS for anything but the track-focused racer it is. “The Porsche 911 GT3 RS promises unadulterated sound, pure performance, and a challenge that nobody whose heart beats for sports cars can shy away from,” the Porsche website says. And Warren Huddleston took the challenge, purchasing a 2019 Porsche GT3 RS from Porsche Grapevine. Huddleston says it’s fun to drive on the track but also for everyday driving. “On a road trip, comfort is the thing. For me, driving the GT3 RS is pure joy no matter the destination,” Huddleston says.

A Porsche enthusiast since he was a kid, the retired Dallas real estate developer bought his

first Porsche, a 1978 Porsche 911 SC, when he was 24 years old. A 30-year member of the Porsche Club of America, Warren and his wife, Roxana, enjoy the PCA social and driving events.

But the GT3 RS is not the only Porsche in the Huddlestons’ garage. Doing business with Porsche Grapevine for years, his previous purchases include a 2018 Porsche 911 Carrera T and 2019 Porsche 911 GT3 Touring. “The people at Porsche Grapevine are all wonderful, from the valets to the general manager,” Huddleston says. “They have knowledgeable, professional, and polite staff — plus they sell some of the best cars in the world.”