Builders of Hope Unveils Plan to Protect West Dallas Neighborhoods, But Residents Remain Skeptical of City

Earl D. Thomas, a Victory Gardens resident, is a third-generation legacy homeowner. He’s frustrated that his West Dallas neighborhood is heading in the wrong direction. 

“My taxes went up thousands of dollars. My house is about 23 years old. I’m seeing all of these new homes being built around my neighborhood and my church,” Thomas says, “you know what they do to them? Airbnbs.” 

Thomas is frustrated by the City’s lack of protections for his gentrifying neighborhood. That’s why Builders of Hope, a nonprofit based in West Dallas, is working with Cospero Consulting to help concerned neighbors with a new anti-displacement toolkit. The toolkit has received support during its curation from JPMorgan Chase Foundation and The Dallas Foundation.

The toolkit is a collection of about 30 different policy recommendations and strategies for the City of Dallas to help people who live in neighborhoods where new real estate development is driving up property values and the property taxes homeowners must pay to stay in their homes. Builders of Hope held preview sessions in South Dallas and West Dallas before they will present the toolkit to City Council in October. 

The housing nonprofit’s goal is for the “Dallas City Council to pass a housing policy that protects vulnerable residents from direct displacement, preserve and construct affordable housing that is appropriately targeted to existing and future vulnerable residents, and build and resource community power to promote neighborhood self-determination,” says chief strategy officer Stephanie Champion.

Champion says the toolkit addresses the urgent affordable housing crisis in neighborhoods like West Dallas, where she lives, and presents several policy recommendations. Here are some of the highlights:

• Leverage public land for affordable housing to prevent developers from monopolizing available space.

• Create a “Neighborhood-Based Anti-Displacement Homebuyer Assistance Program” to bring back DHAP 10 – a city program that helped long-time Dallas residents buy homes by providing up to $50,000 in assistance.  Champion says homebuyer assistance programs can help turn renters into homeowners and bring more stability to neighborhoods. 

• Establish a “Neighborhood Stabilization Voucher Program” to bridge the gap between market-rate rents and what renters can afford. Champion advocates for creating these voucher programs in collaboration with the City and local nonprofits to offer long-term relief to renters at risk of displacement. She says this initiative would help community members stay in their homes even as rents rise.

Champion says they are hoping the toolkit spurs new programs to reduce the amount of people who are pushed out of their homes.

“We don’t want to combat development entirely, but we want to make sure that new developments are equitable, inclusive and non-disruptive,” Champion says.

Builders of Hope created the toolkit over two years by gathering community feedback from numerous neighborhood listening sessions, going door-to-door to about 1,000 homes, and conducting more than 400 resident surveys. Champion says they wanted to ensure the voices of those impacted by rapidly rising property tax costs and neighborhood gentrifications were included.

“The main problem we need to address is the trust,” said Sylvia Rodriguez, a West Dallas resident, at the West Dallas session.“People are afraid that if they take a loan from the city through the programs they have, that they’re going to worry  — especially the elders — about what’s going to happen if they don’t have the money to keep up. Or, how can they deal with all that paperwork they need to fill out?”

Rodriguez was referring to liens related to the state’s mortgage assistance and the City’s Home Improvement & Preservation Program (HIPP).

The lack of trust in the City and elected officials came up over and over again in the meetings. Residents pointed out how City officials have done nothing to protect neighbors in La Bajada, despite it having a Neighborhood Stabilization Overlay Plan. Neighbors also mention the need for City officials to explain application processes or definitions when they fill out City documents requesting assistance.

Janie Cisneros with Singleton United/ Unidos, a West Dallas neighborhood association combating industrial pollution, brought up a news article about the Healthy Homes Lead Paint Reduction program. The article states only four homes received aid out of the $2.3 million budget.

“People don’t trust elected officials,” Cisneros said. “They have let people down multiple times or not gone through with what they said they were going to do — this is why people are scared to apply for these programs the City puts out.”

Still, the major theme of the sessions was the rising property values and corresponding taxes. Des Washington, a South Dallas resident who inherited his grandmother’s house, worries he may be priced out of living in his neighborhood.

“I don’t mind that they’re bringing in these fancy new houses,” Washington said at the South Dallas session.”I know that change is going to happen. But, as people who are barely making minimum wage, we shouldn’t have to bear the brunt of these $4 million homes.

“I’m here to figure out what we can do as residents to stop people from selling their homes because they can’t afford these ridiculous property taxes.”