Led by the North Texas National Service Alliance and CitySquare, Dallas is a coalition of programs, alums, local government, and nonprofit leaders who are demonstrating the value of cross-sector collaboration in addressing the systemic challenges faced by members who are serving. The Dallas Service Year Impact Community is working to pioneer a local service year continuum or roadmap that clearly delineates opportunities to serve at all stages of life.
Lead organization:
CitySquare
Focus issues:
- Education
- Healthy Futures
- Economic Opportunity
Current number of service years in impact community:
900
Current number of service year programs in community:
11
Growth goal:
1,200 service years by 2020
How service years have/will help your community address local challenges:
“Dallas is a city of great opportunity and prosperity, but also a city of great need. With the 9th largest population among U.S. cities and a booming employment and housing market, Dallas is often associated with wealth and power. At the same time, however, Dallas has the highest number of people living 185% below the poverty level of any city in the United States. Dallas is #3 in the nation in child poverty levels, with 89% of students in Dallas ISD qualifying for free or reduced-price breakfast and lunch. While service efforts vary greatly in topic and scope, every organization in the Serve Dallas-Fort Worth collaborative is working to provide services to those who are under-served in the Dallas community, with goals to improve education outcomes, food security and economic opportunity. Service years add energy and people-power to these efforts and truly make an impact in the community.”
How working with Service Year Alliance/being a member of the Impact Community Network has been helpful:
“Being part of the Impact Community Network has opened our eyes to other ways of approaching service from a strategic, community-wide perspective. Our collaboration has been primarily at the program level, and it is inspiring to see examples of how other communities have leveraged the power of service years to tackle large-scale challenges that have been identified by local leaders and elected officials. We are energized every time we connect with other Impact Communities, and it helps renew our commitment to service as a strategy to bring about positive change and growth in Dallas.”
