Message from Gerald 

If you are visiting this Web page, you are obviously a person who wants to make a difference in your community. Thank you for that interest!

At Central Dallas Ministries, we have worked since our founding in 1988 to affect positive change in the lives of our neighbors. We do so through direct hunger relief, housing assistance, health care and the restoration of hope through education, job training and legal services. But we know providing services is not enough. That’s where advocacy comes in. That’s where we hope you will join us in impacting public policy at the local, state, regional, even national levels.

We define this work as “advocacy on behalf of and with our neighbors and their families, designed to impact the policy decisions of institutions, agencies and entities that impact our neighbors’ well-being and quality of life. We have seen that advocacy can work.

Just this year, Central Dallas Ministries and others pressed upon the City of Dallas the urgent need for permanent supportive housing in our city. Thanks to that dialogue and the open ears of the city, our sister organization, Central Dallas Community Development Corporation, opened the first permanent supportive housing facility in Dallas. And, now, the city of Dallas requires developers seeking residential housing downtown to include a percentage of dwellings for formerly homeless individuals.

Gerald Britt,
Vice President of Public Policy and Community Program Development
Central Dallas Ministries

Learn more about Gerald, read his bio.

WHAT'S HAPPENING AT CENTRAL DALLAS MINISTRIES?

• Visit our Urban Engagement Book Clubs.
  
  
• The Dallas Morning News continues the 125th Anniversary Discussion Series on Saturday, August 28, with "Major news events shaping Dallas." Please join us as our guests as we take a look how major events will impact the development of our city.
  
  Speakers:
  
  The Reverend Gerald Britt, VP of Public, Policy and Community Development at Central Dallas Ministries
  
  Darwin Payne, Historian, Author and Professor Emeritus of Communications, SMU
  
  Lee Cullum, Columnist and Host of KERA’s CEO Roundtable Bill Lively, President and CEO of the North Texas Super Bowl XLV Host Committee
  
  Sharon Grigsby, Deputy Editorial Page Editor, The Dallas Morning News
  
  Saturday, August 28, 2010, 2-4 p.m.
  SMU Hughes-Trigg Theatre
  6425 Boaz Ln.
  Dallas, TX
  
  Click here to reserve your space!

• Hunger
  
  Texas leads the nation in hunger, ranked second for all hunger and FIRST in terms of childhood hunger. This means that 1 in 4 Texas children go to bed hungry each night. Dallas County has over 65% of all of its public school students qualifying for the National School Lunch Program, and over 84% of all the students in the Dallas Independent School District qualify.
  
  The Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 provides $4.5 billion in additional funding over the next 10years – nearly ten times the amount of money provided for the previous child nutrition reauthorization, and the largest new investment in child nutrition programs since their inception.
  
  We want to continue to urge Congress to keep the momentum going for the passing of this bill. Here's what you can do:
  
  1. Send this letter to your Senator
  2. Sign this Petition
  
  
  
• DREAM ACT
  
  Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors Act (DREAM Act – S.B. 729 / H.B. 1751);is a bipartisan proposal that would provide a pathway to legalization to young students who were brought to the U.S. years ago as undocumented immigrant children. The only students who would benefit from this bill are high achievers who contribute to their communities, have learned English, pledge love and allegiance to this nation, have successfully graduated from a U.S. high school despite many barriers, have been accepted into a 2 or 4 year university OR serve the U.S. armed forces, AND have a clean record with the law.
  
  Please urge Congress for the passing of this bill.
  Here's what you can do:
  
  1. Send this letter to your Senator.
  2. Sign this Petition
  
  
  To find out who your legislator is Click Here
  
  
• Volunteer
  
  
• Share Your Thoughts