District 9 News & Updates

Issue No. 40 ♦ October 6, 2023

Please Meet Chad Anderson, Our New District 9 Council Assistant

Chad was born and raised in North Richland Hills, Tx. After graduating from Richland High School in 2014, he moved up to Denton to study English and Political Science at the University of North Texas. Chad previously worked for several years at the Denton Public Library where his love of working in the public sector began. Along with being an avid reader, Chad is also a huge fan of music, writing, chess, and his dog, Charlie. He is very eager and excited to begin his new journey, serving District 9 as the new Council Assistant!

Pictured above are Chad Anderson (left) and Luke Tinker (right) attending the Little Casa View National Night Out Celebration and speaking with residents of District 9. A big thank you to Lisa Kelly, our District 9 Commissioner on Disabilities, for inviting us!

Please feel free to contact Chad at chad.anderson@dallas.gov or 214-671-8916.

NYC Invites Co-Chairs of the Fentanyl Strike Force Blackmon and Bazaldua for Mayoral Fentanyl Summit

Long day at the NYC Mayoral Fentanyl Summit where I enjoyed the opportunity to speak with NY DEA Officials and many other partners in the fight against fentanyl.

Senator John Cornyn Joins Council Members Blackmon, Bazaldua, and Moreno in the Fight Against Fentanyl

Council Members Blackmon, Bazaldua, and Moreno attended an event on Monday, September 25th with Senator John Cornyn who spoke about his Fentanyl Safe Testing and Overdose Prevention Act which will increase access to fentanyl testing strips, helping the reduction in the number of opioid overdoses.

CM Blackmon and Bazaldua are the chairs for the Dallas Fentanyl Strike Force and were happy to hear Senator Cornyn advocate for safe testing practices. The event was hosted at Fire Station 19 in Council District 2 so a big thank you to CM Moreno for hosting!

Dallas Morning News article link detailing the event:

https://www.dallasnews.com/.../sen-cornyn-hosts-dallas.../

The Texas State Fair Returns but My Texas Tech Pride Never Leaves!

I had a blast at the Opening Day Parade for the Texas State Fair riding on the Texas Tech University Float with CM Willis! Wreck ‘Em!

Bath House Cultural Center Presents: Día De Muertos: A Love Letter for the Departed Art Exhibition

The Bath House Cultural Center presents Día de Muertos: A Love Letter for the Departed, an art exhibition inspired by the Mexican celebration of the Day of the Dead that features the works of close to seventy artists from Texas, Arizona, Oregon, and Mexico.

The tradition of the Day of the Dead is deeply linked to the human desire to stay connected to our loved ones even after they have left. The holiday is a time of celebration and loving remembrance that offers the community an opportunity to honor dear departed relatives and friends in public settings or intimate places. Although we are nowadays more familiar with the massive Día de Muertos celebrations that take place in cemeteries, community venues, and—increasingly more popular these days—in spectacular parades and processions, it is worth paying closer attention to the personal demonstrations of love that occur in more private ways and sites.

The idea of this exhibition is that the celebration allows us to convey a message of persistent love. The show focuses on works of art that are metaphorically or literally used as a love letter for the departed. The pieces of art and altars depict various Day of the Dead themes that are of interest to the artists and many of them include a message of affection in written form. The exhibition reminds the public that although the Día de Muertos festivity is experienced and observed collectively by many people, it is absolutely fascinating to get a glimpse of the less public, yet potent, manifestations of love for the dead that are ever-present during this time of the year.

Event Link: https://bathhouse.dallasculture.org/muertos2023/

Hispanic Heritage Month

Celebrate #HispanicHeritageMonth with the City of Dallas! From September 15 to October 15, we honor the rich history and ongoing contributions of this community during #HispanicHeritageMonth.

For upcoming events: bit.ly/45IsrrT. #CulturalPride

Please Scan the QR Code Below to Take our D9 Survey on

The City of Dallas 2023-2024 Budget. We Want Your Input!

Digital Inclusion Week

Digital Inclusion Week is an annual event held the first week of October hosted by the National Digital Inclusion Alliance that highlights the digital inclusion movement and raises awareness of digital equity in communities throughout the country. This years events will occur between October 2 through 6, during which time the City will highlight programs and initiatives that increase awareness and knowledge of the importance of digital equity. For a list of events taking place in Dallas: visit https://www.dallascitynews.net/city-of-dallas-recognizes-digital-inclusion-week.

Dallas Parks & Recreation

Do you love your #DallasParks? Post a pic of how you use your local parks, trails, recreation centers, golf courses, pickleball courts, or other park facilities! Be sure to tag @DallasParkRec so we can share the love! Get a "We Love Our Park" virtual frame here: https://bit.ly/45HUw2j

¿Amas tus #DallasParks? ¡Publica una foto de cómo usas tus parques locales, senderos, centros de recreación, campos de golf, canchas de pickleball u otras instalaciones del parque! ¡Asegúrate de etiquetar @DallasParkRec para que podamos compartir el amor!

Dallas Arboretum

The wait is finally over! Autumn at the Arboretum, presented by Reliant Energy ® , is officially OPEN! Join us September 16th to November 5th as we welcome the Great Pumpkin and the beloved Peanuts gang to this year's themed pumpkin village, It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown™.

Grab your tickets now: https://www.dallasarboretum.org/autumn-at-the-arboretum/

National Week Without Driving

Nearly a quarter of people living in the United States – people with disabilities, young people, seniors and

people who can’t afford cars or gas- do not drive. Disability Rights Washington created the Week Without

Driving challenge in 2021 so that policy makers, elected leaders, and transportation professionals can begin to

understand the barriers nondrivers experience in accessing our communities. After two successful years of

hosting the challenge in Washington State, this year, #WeekWithoutDriving is going national in partnership with

America Walks.

• We believe the knowledge and expertise reflected in the lived experiences of nondrivers must be

incorporated into the way our government funds, builds, and operates the transportation system. We know that

those of us who don’t have the privilege of driving deserve sidewalks, streets, and public transit systems that

actually work for us.

• Black and Native American people, immigrants, poor people, and disabled people are much less likely to

have access to a vehicle. Understanding how our communities work or don’t work for us is a matter of racial,

economic and disability justice.

See more:

-America Walks Campaign Overview: https://americawalks.org/national-week-without-driving-october-2023/

Dallas Public Library

Every two years, a local poet is honored with the Poet Laureate title and honorarium to recognize a career in writing exemplary poetry and their role in sharing poetry with the greater community. The Dallas Poet Laureate is a liaison, advocate and leader who inspires the diverse residents of Dallas to read, write, perform and appreciate the written and spoken word. If you want to be the next Dallas Poet Laureate, apply today: https://dallaslibrary2.org/.../poetlaureate_guidelines.php Submissions are due Dec. 15.

See you next week for one (or more!) of our great programs! Find the entire calendar at dallaslibrary.org/events

Banned Book Trivia at The Wild Detectives!

Age Group: Adult

Location: 314 W Eighth St. Dallas, Tx 75208

Time: Friday, October 6^th from 7:00-8:00 PM

Program Description & Event Details: In honor of Banned Books Week, The Dallas Public Library is hosting a banned books trivia night with the Wild Detectives Book Store and Coffee Shop.

Get a team together, grab your preferred beverage and test your knowledge of banned books at one of Dallas's best local bookstores.

Banned Books Week is Oct. 1-7. This year's theme will be "Let Freedom Read."

This program is made possible by the generous support of the Friends of the Dallas Public Library.

Event Link: https://thewilddetectives.com/events/banned-book-trivia-2/

Office of Homeless Solutions Updates

R.E.A.L. Time Rehousing

The Dallas Real Time Rapid Rehousing (D.R.T.R.R.) team of homeless service providers, co-led by the Office of Homeless Solutions (OHS) and Housing Forward is on track to house over 2,700 unique individuals by 2023. The City and its partners now have a new goal of housing 6,000 unique individuals by 2025 and have rebranded the initiative to reflect the rehousing of those individuals across the expanse of the metroplex to R.E.A.L. Time Rehousing (RTR).

Give Responsibly Campaign Outreach Update

The Office of Homeless Solutions and Code Compliance work together to promote the Give Responsibly Campaign (GRC). This initiative aims to prevent street charity and illegal solicitation in the community through education and engagement. While providing alternative solutions for our residents experiencing homelessness.

The Office of Homeless Solutions Community Liaison and Code Compliance Neighborhood Code Representatives are partnering to visit businesses in hot spots across all districts. This joint effort aims to address issues related to homelessness and the adverse effects street charity and illegal solicitation have on the community. It will provide education on sustainably supporting those in need while ensuring a safer and more comfortable environment for businesses and their patrons.

OHS Street Outreach Update

Outreach is currently targeting several encampments, which will result in closure through the housing of those unsheltered individuals throughout the year. The team will outreach to these sites and meet with various persons experiencing homelessness to assess their needs in preparation for site closure via housing. During this time, the OHS Street Outreach Team will continue to engage with unsheltered residents through normal street outreach, connecting people with the needed resources, such as: getting IDs, working with Community Courts on expunging eligible tickets and offenses from their records, identifying medical needs, and getting them access to the Coordinated Access System (CAS). The RTR Community Dashboard is live and may be found here.

September 25 through September 29, 2023. Please note that these will be for debris removal and outreach only. All encampment cleaning requests are being resolved as time and weather allows and are subject to modification in response to special requests by City leadership.

H.A.R.T/eam Update

The Homeless Action Response Team (H.A.R.T/eam) is led by the Office of Homeless Solutions (OHS) and encompasses four teams comprised of a core team of the following: Crisis Intervention Team (CIT), Dallas Animal Services (DAS), Dallas Marshals, and Code Compliance (Code). This team is supplemented by Parks and Recreation, Dallas Fire & Rescue, and Public Works as needed. The purpose of H.A.R.T/eam. is to provide a quick response to immediate safety concerns around homeless encampments and hot spots. To report a critical issue regarding an encampment or panhandling, please submit a service request to 311 or the OurDallas smartphone app.

The teams are assigned and respond to time-sensitive, critical issues received via 311 and via email which are defined as:

Issues raised by City Leadership and members of City Council requests
Issues presenting an immediate safety concern (the presence of firearms, uncontrolled fires, reports of threatening behavior)
Any issues which would derail the normal street outreach service resolution process
Panhandling

Heat Advisory

When a heat advisory is in effect, partners within the local Continuum of Care will offer additional services so that our unsheltered neighbors may seek relief from the heat, as well as accept in-kind donations. For all other donations please see the link provided here. All inquires may be directed to ohsinfo@dallas.gov.

OHS continues to urge people who see an encampment to report it via 311 or 311’s OurDallas smartphone app to ensure strategic alignment with comprehensive OHS outreach. The OHS Service Request dashboard can be utilized to track the progress of encampment resolution efforts.

Dallas Police Department -Northeast Division

Kids Health & Safety Fair

The Northeast Division of the Dallas Police Department will be hosting its Annual Kids Health and Safety Fair on Saturday, November 11, 2023. This year’s fair will be at Lake Highlands High School 9449 Church Rd starting at 10:00am. Our Kids Health and Safety Fair is the best in town, because of the unbelievable support we receive from our neighborhoods and community partners. Last year we had over 4000 citizens attend, and gave away the following: 200 plus turkeys, 300 Bicycle Helmets, and over 300 Coats for Kids. We thank you!!!!

We are excited to announce that at this year Kid’s Health and Safety Fair we are having a drive to collect 500 Coats for kids Campaign. These coats we will be given away on the day of the Kid’s Health and Safety Fair. If your or your neighborhood would like to participate in this effort, contact Senior Corporal Amber Oliver at amber.oliver@dallapolice.gov or phone 214-670-7747.

Some other attractions at this year’s Kids Health and Safety Fair include: