A Right to Stay: It’s Time To Do Something About Neighborhood Displacement in Dallas

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Builders of Hope CDC launches a new policy toolkit that identifies Dallas’s most vulnerable neighborhoods and provides specific strategies and solutions to address residential displacement in Dallas. 

DALLAS, TX – After two years of dedicated research and community engagement, Builders of Hope Community Development Corporation, with support from JPMorganChase and The Dallas Foundation, is launching their anti-displacement toolkit to advance housing policy that protects vulnerable Dallas residents and neighborhoods from the growing threat of gentrification and displacement. 

“Building equitable communities starts with thoughtful planning. This invaluable resource provided by Builders of Hope is the data-based solution Dallas needs to address neighborhood displacement,” said Michelle Thomas, Regional Executive for Global Philanthropy at JPMorganChase, which invested $500,000 to help fund the study outlining specific strategies for mitigating residential displacement.

The report, A Right to Stay: Dallas Neighborhood Anti-Displacement Toolkit, includes community insights based on the organization’s city-wide open houses, numerous neighborhood listening sessions, over 1,000 doors knocked, and a survey of more than 400 Dallas residents impacted by rising housing costs and neighborhood change across the city. 

The report includes citywide mapping of neighborhood vulnerability and displacement risk indicators, case studies of specific Dallas neighborhoods currently experiencing displacement pressures, and data-informed policy recommendations to mitigate the displacement of vulnerable Dallas residents and communities. 

The Dallas Neighborhood Anti-Displacement Toolkit will be released on Thursday, November 14th, at a public event from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at Gilley’s Southside Music Hall. The evening will include topline findings and a panel discussion on equitable community development strategies.

“The urgency of the issue cannot be overstated,” said James Armstrong, CEO of Builders of Hope CDC. “Our city has a history of displacing its most vulnerable residents. More than a few of Dallas’s first Black and Brown communities are no more. We have to keep that history from repeating itself.”

Builders of Hope CDC developed this toolkit to provide a comprehensive set of policies, strategies, and solutions to effectively reduce the threat of residential displacement in gentrifying Dallas neighborhoods. Successful adoption and implementation of these recommendations require collaboration across sectors; no single entity can achieve this alone. Local government, private developers, financial institutions, philanthropic organizations, nonprofits, and grassroots community groups must all work together.

“This toolkit is a call to action,” said Stephanie Champion, Chief Community Development and Policy Officer for Builders of Hope. “It’s time to prioritize the preservation of our people, our history, and our culture as a city and to enact policies and strategies that protect and uplift our most vulnerable residents and communities.” 

A Right to Stay aims to create meaningful policy change within the City of Dallas. Builders of Hope CDC is collaborating with various city departments on implementation strategies and is scheduled to present to the city council in December.

Media Contact: Ellisa Brown, The Shearer Group, (214) 709-6159, ellisa@theshearergroup.com