ASP hits the streets in Dallas for Community Action Day
Published by Christina DiChiara
On April 1st, the All Stars Project of Dallas hosted Community Action Day as part of an effort to engage people in creating conversations for growth, the foundation for building bridges across diverse communities.
Seventy-seven people, from dozens of organizations, traveled to five different communities across Dallas with questionnaires to discover what residents feel is missing in their communities, ways to positively impact change, and how we can be a part of bringing development opportunities to the youth and poor communities across the city. Volunteers had conversations with hundreds of people from all walks of life and collected a total of 154 completed surveys.
The day began at the All Stars’ office where City Leader Antoine Joyce and Director of National Operations, Jim Horton, led an orientation and community organizing training session. Once confident in their door knocking performance, participants boarded buses for South Dallas, Pleasant Grove, and West Dallas.
After the outreach, many reflected on the meaningful conversations with people different than themselves, building bridges across Dallas, and how they discovered new trends in their communities.
Here are a few responses Community Action Day participants had about their experience:
“[Chicago Community Action Day] confirmed and reconfirmed the need to go to people where they are. We can’t stay in our comfortable place and ask people to come to us.” – Nancy K.
“I was previously under the impression that Dallas was supersaturated with after school programs and support for our youth. While there may be many options out there, they are either inaccessible or ineffective. The youth and elderly in our communities are vulnerable, undeserved, and underappreciated. I don’t think we understand.” – Miranda S.
The All Stars Project is currently developing a comprehensive report to detail the findings of the survey. Stay tuned!
For more information on volunteer and involvement opportunities with the All Stars Project of Dallas, contact City Leader Antoine Joyce at ajoyce@allstars.org or (214) 382-5890.