Builders of Hope, a community development corporation, is rolling out an anti-displacement toolkit as part of an effort to address housing instability across Dallas.
The “right to stay” initiative is a citywide campaign aimed at creating policy changes to prevent displacement in rapidly developing neighborhoods. Builders of Hope has targeted communities like West Dallas, South Dallas, and Vickery Meadow to gather feedback and ensure the toolkit addresses local needs.
“In the city of Dallas, we are losing affordable housing ... far faster than we are replacing it,” the organization’s government and policy officer Stephanie Champion said. “One of the most impactful things we can do is actually have a plan.”
The toolkit features three core strategies: protect vulnerable residents from displacement, preserve and construct affordable housing for current and future residents, and strengthen communities to promote neighborhood self-determination.
These strategies include various policy recommendations, from emergency rental and relocation assistance programs to shared equity housing models, that Builders of Hope plans to present to the Dallas City Council this fall.
“We're recommending everything citywide, but these are ... the tools we think will be most impactful here,” Champion said.
The organization hopes that over time, it can create opportunities for new low-income residents to move into those neighborhoods.
Builders of Hope has been focused on this project since 2023, conducting neighborhood listening sessions as well as going door to door in West and South Dallas to gather more than 400 resident survey responses. The goal, said Jonathan Pena, a consultant with the firm CoSpero, is to bridge the gap between policymakers and residents' lived experiences.
“When the community is raising these issues in terms of housing, the policymakers at city hall are actually getting this information in an organized way that's informative by the community residents and accessible to not just people of South Dallas, but all over the city,” Pena said.
Builders of Hope held a listening session South Dallas last week that drew community leaders from various organizations, including Elizabeth Wattley, who has relaunched the historic Forest Theater, and Diane Ragsdale, a member of the South Dallas/Fair Park Innercity CDC.
Ragsdale, a South Dallas native, said her biggest concern is for her neighbors who are renters.
“I don't want my neighbors to be priced out,” Ragsdale said. “We got to protect the renters and ensure that they have ongoing housing as well.”
Builders of Hope recently launched its first property tax relief program. The program provides direct financial assistance to low-income homeowners who have lived in West Dallas for at least 10 years.
Builders of Hope plans to brief the Dallas City Council on the toolkit by October, with a public release to follow later in the fall. The next listening session is at 5:30 p.m. on Sept. 17 at the West Dallas Multipurpose Center.
Zara Amaechi is KERA’s Marjorie Welch Fitts Louis fellow covering race and social justice. Got a tip? Email Zara at zamaechi@kera.org. You can follow her on X @amaechizara.
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