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Community Impact
AT A GLANCE: COMMUNITY IMPACT
the community and to bring hope by evidence of investment on the Martin Luther King Jr. Corridor. This project has been a true collaboration with the help of so many partners. It started with the acquisition of the property in December 2017 and acquisition/due diligence assistance from Candace Rubin, Sharon Morrison, EcoSystems Environmental Inc, Winstead and Stantec. In 2018, we
partnered with Cornerstone Baptist Church and CitySquare on a collaborative revitalization effort for MLK Blvd. The
Real Estate Council (TREC) selected this revitalization from over 40 competing ideas as their inaugural Dallas Catalyst Project (DCP).
St. Philip’s work in Community Advancement is best described by our TRIPLE A rating: We are an Anchor, an Advocate and an Agent for Change. As a Neighborhood Change Agent, St. Philip’s strives to accelerate the community’s vision for positive change. We invest in neighborhood initiatives that create pathways of opportunity for people of all backgrounds and provide services and amenities that improve the well-being of our neighbors.
We have a dream … of a bustling, walkable Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd, lined with mixed-use retail. We believe economic development is the key to igniting change in our community. Through economic development, we create hope, community, and a sense of what is possible.
A transformational project on Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd will be a catalyst for positive change all along the boulevard and benefit our community and our city. This development project is the revitalization of a 12,000 square foot commercial structure on the corner of Martin Luther
King Jr. Blvd and Colonial Avenue. The project concept is the complete renovation of the existing commercial retail structure, creating modern leasable units.
The purpose of the project is to provide increased services to
We have a dream … of a
Through DCP, TREC has invested countless hours along with a financial commitment of $475K, and helped St. Philip’s secure major Pro-bono development support which is being provided from the Beck Group, Perkins & Will,
Kimley-Horn, The Retail Connection, 42 Real Estate,
among important others. We are excited to share that on October 28, The City of Dallas approved a $1M grant for this revitalization, allowing St. Philip’s to confidently move forward with the reconstruction and planned grand opening scheduled for 2021!
Ruthie’s is Rolling into South Dallas!
Great food to fill tummies and melt hearts is coming our way! St. Philip’s is thrilled to announce that the anchor tenant of its transformative retail project will be Ruthie’s Rolling Café. The café will serve as the popular Ruthie’s Food Truck’s first brick and mortar location and a restaurant use, which was among the top two priorities expressed by our community during our yearlong equitable development planning process. What makes this collaboration even more exciting is that Ruthie’s has partnered with Café Momentum, founded by visionary Chef Chad Houser, to staff and operate the restaurant.
This partnership will not only bring a desired service to the neighborhood, but also transform young lives through their program that equips our community’s most at-risk youth with life skills, education, and employment opportunities. Once the restaurant is open, Ruthie’s, the brainchild and passion project of Ashlee Kleinert, a former St. Philip’s trustee and loyal friend, will feature a rotating sandwich each month that celebrates the community and reflects the flavors and taste preferences of residents.
St. Philip’s Gets its Neighbors to the Polls
This fall, St. Philip’s was honored to do its part to help its community members exercise their right to vote.
The 2020 Presidential election was one like no other, filled with high stakes, especially for those residing in disenfranchised inner-city communities, like South Dallas. This year, Lasheryl Walker, Community Outreach Director, worked to ensure St. Philip’s community neighbors were registered and had rides to the polls.
“With people being negatively impacted by the economy, jobs, COVID-19, we had to educate, inform, and mobilize people to get out and vote,” said Walker, who reached out to Faith in Texas to help get people registered. Members of Faith in Texas, a nonpartisan, multi-racial, multifaith grassroots movement working together to achieve economic, racial, and social justice for all people, spent weeks helping Aunt Bette Community Pantry’s clients and other Community Center participants register to vote.
It was particularly rewarding for Walker to witness a couple people register who had been on parole and thought they were forever ineligible to vote. Fortunately, the voter registration team assured them of their eligibility.
St. Philip’s also partnered with Innercity Community Development, Miles of Freedom, and Southern Dallas
Link to help transport members of the South Dallas Community to the polls. Wanda Leonard, a neighborhood senior who used the free transportation, said she wouldn’t have made it to the polls were it not for St. Philip’s. “A lot of people want to sit down and complain about a lot of things in the neighborhood but going around not voting doesn’t help. I feel that my vote matters, it counts, and it will speak for a lot of seniors as well,” she said.
Girl’s Night Out Program Goes Virtual
Every year, St. Philip’s hosts an engaging mentoring program called Girls Night Out (GNO) in collaboration with the Junior League of Dallas. Each month, girls who attend the School as well as our Community Center, enjoy a night full of food, fun and fellowship. This year, the program went virtual because at the end of the day, the girls we serve want to be mentored…and have fun, in spite of a world pandemic.
“I felt it was super important to keep Girls Night Out going,” explained Lasheryl Walker, Community Outreach Director. “We had really good momentum - the girls and the Junior League members looked forward to it every month.”
So far, the virtual sessions have had tremendous participation and turnout. Through the program, participants explore a different theme each month, from goal-setting, health and wellness, public speaking, to leadership. The fun offered through GNO is balanced with the mentoring they acquire through the regular interactions with the program facilitators, all successful women committed to instilling something positive in the girls, ages 6 – 13. Thankfully, the connections the girls have with each other and the Junior League members has not been lost through a virtual platform. As we continue Girls Night Out, we hope participants continue to gain a better sense of themselves and their power as emerging women.
On November 14th we hosted our Annual Thanksgiving Feast in a drive-through format that allowed us to safely serve 300 neighbors. Each family received a Thanksgiving box of nonperishable goods, produce, milk, and a turkey as part of the Pastors Turkey Box Giveaway 2020. A huge thank you to the Dallas Spurs, Liverpool Supporters Clubs, and other volunteers who were incredibly helpful. We are grateful to the sponsors of the Pastors Turkey Box Giveaway 2020 for helping us feed our community.
Annual Community Thanksgiving Feast
