United Way of Metropolitan Dallas
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Last month, a proposed homeless facility in City Council’s District 3 caused a stir among residents in the area. The facility is intended for 2929 S. Hampton Road near Keist Park in Oak Cliff as part of a deal with Dallas County. Residents’ biggest beef with it at the time was that the project would also include a sobering center, a place where intoxicated people can be monitored while they sober up. The facility would also include space for the Dallas Police Department’s RIGHT Care team, which is meant to assist with mental health emergencies.
After a barrage of complaints, the proposed project no longer includes the sobering center. But some, like resident and community advocate Darryl Baker, say the fight isn’t over. He and others say they don’t want the facility at 2929 S. Hampton Road at all.
Dallas City Council members and staff agreed in 2020 that eventually every district would have a homeless facility. The South Hampton Road project would be District 3’s. Task forces are being put together to help include community comments for each project. Baker was appointed to be on the group overseeing the District 3 project.
“I and others on the task force are pushing for the do-not-build option,” Baker said. “This is a very bad location next to a regional park, a library, an elementary school and two senior living facilities.”
During a Dallas Housing and Homelessness Solutions Committee meeting last month, Christine Crossley, director of the Office of Homeless Solutions, said she and her staff were pitching things residents asked for. She walked back on that statement after being pressed by City Council member Chad West.
“As a task force, we are being asked to French kiss Medusa.” – Darryl Baker, community advocate
“So, communities [around] the Hampton Road facility have said they would choose to have a sobering center at the Hampton Road … ?” West asked Crossley at the meeting last month.
She said no and that there was still time for community residents to give their opinions. Raymond Crawford, another District 3 resident who sounded the alarm on the sobering center, said it was never brought up in community discussions about the project.
Overall, Baker’s not happy with the deal or the prospect that every council district will have a homeless facility. “As a task force, we are being asked to French kiss Medusa,” he said.
The South Hampton Road project is part of a bigger proposed agreement between the city and the county to help serve “our most vulnerable population,” as Crossley put it. By that, she is largely referring to the homeless.
The deal with the county initially included the South Hampton Road property and two others – 4150 Independence Drive and 12000 Greenville Ave. in North Dallas The county would throw in $10 million to help redevelop 2929 S. Hampton Road and 4150 Independence Drive, which is near the intersection of U.S. 67 and Interstate 20 in District 8. In exchange, the county would get 12000 Greenville and help manage a homeless facility on the property. At least, that was the deal last month. But plans have changed.
A June 10 memo from city staff now says 12000 Greenville has been taken out of the agreement. If 12000 Greenville Avenue sounds familiar, there’s a reason for that.
Last year, a project proposed for the property landed City Council member Adam McGough in ethical hot water. McGough was asking the city attorney about a potential job opportunity with the nonprofit City of Refuge, which was pitching a homelessness project for 12000 Greenville. McGough had been championing the nonprofit and its proposed project. But, after a local freelance journalist obtained and released communications between McGough and the city attorney about a possible job opportunity, the project was called off.
“It sounds like, to me, like we’re doing yoga and meditation …” – Chad West, City Council
McGough was asking the city attorney if he accepted a paid position with City of Refuge, what he’d have to do to ensure there weren’t any charter or ethics code violations. McGough told D Magazine that there was a “mechanism that allows for a council member to be able to serve in a role that helps with a particular project,” but he ultimately decided not to use it in the City of Refuge deal because of the way it would look.
“I was like, ‘Look, I think it’s going to be too – the perceptions of it could potentially have a negative influence on this,'” McGough told D.
So, the City of Refuge deal was taken off the table, but Crossley said last month there are still efforts to turn 12000 Greenville into a place to provide services for the homeless in McGough’s part of town, District 10. However, some on the Housing and Homelessness Solutions committee, and City Council member West, had problems with what was being proposed for the site. Their biggest issue was it seemed what was being proposed would help the homeless in a more abstract way than what was intended for projects in the other council districts.
The site in McGough’s district would “provide opportunities to aid people in distress through compassionate care, [and] establishing a sustainable pathway to healing for the most vulnerable segment of our population,” Crossley’s explained. Instead of providing housing, West said, “It sounds like, to me, like we’re doing yoga and meditation” at 12000 Greenville.
The site has since been taken out of the city and county agreement.
The plan now is for the city and county to partner on the Independence Drive project in District 8 and another facility in District 7 meant to provide housing to homeless LGBTQ youths.
The exact location for the District 7 facility hasn’t been chosen yet, but Dallas County and the city plan to partner to develop the programs for these two projects. The county will also throw in up to $10 million in American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 funds for the projects. The city will largely be in charge of community engagement.
The general purpose of these two facilities is to provide services for the homeless, those at risk of homelessness or people making below 30% of the area median income. Then, the city will use its own existing resources, $6 million in Prop J Bond funds, to develop 2929 South Hampton Road.
City staff hopes to bring the agreement to council for a vote next week. If Baker and others get their way, the South Hampton Road property may never be built, or at least it won’t have a sobering center.
