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Armstrong Commons Boaz Commons Cockrell-McIntosh Commons Community Partners Crum Commons Event Kathy Crow Commons Loyd Commons McElvaney Commons MHPS Commons Morrison-McGinnis Commons Reflections Service Trip Virginia-Snider Commons Ware Commons

Engage Dallas Hosts Fourth Fall Day of Service

On October 12th, Engage Dallas held the 4th annual #1Day4Dallas fall day of service. On this day, students from every Residential Commons, along with staff and faculty, were able to engage in serving the city of Dallas. Engage Dallas offered service opportunities with ten of our community partners during this event.

Students served with Trusted World, Empowering the Masses, Austin Street Center, The Bridge Homeless Recovery Center, Mercy Street Ministries, Brother Bill’s Helping Hands, Keep Dallas Beautiful, Our Saviour Community Garden, Senior Source, and Trinity River Audubon Center. 127 volunteers spent their Saturday morning assisting these community partners in serving the people of South & West Dallas.

Several of the community partners shared gratitude for the service that students offered. One of Ware Commons’ partners, Empowering the Masses, hosted one of the sites where students served:

“Keeping our space tidy and presentable is an underrated part of providing our services.  Whether you’ve broken down boxes, wiped down tables, swept and mopped the floors, or anything in between, we thank you for your diligence and dedication.Your positive attitude and willingness to serve is noted by the members of the church and staff of Empowering the Masses. Every aspect that goes into serving our community, no matter how small in the grand scheme, is crucial to the progress we’re achieving. We cannot thank you enough.”

Students from Crum Commons were able to serve with their community partner, Senior Source/Modern Senior Living. They were able to facilitate activities and interact with the residents who reside there. Senior Source staff shared their gratitude for the students who came to their site: “I cannot THANK the students from SMU Engage Dallas Crum Commons enough for hosting their #1Day4Dallas Fall Service Project at Modern Senior Living Nursing & Rehab Center in South Dallas this morning. The residents enjoyed meeting and socializing with the students. So many residents do not have family and seldom have visitors, therefore, the students made an immeasurable impact in the residents’ quality of life.”

Students at other sites engaged in trash pickup, gardening, donation sorting, and facilitating sports camps for youth. Overall, student volunteers had an excellent experience learning more about their city and how they can impact others. When asked what was impactful for them about the experience, students shared that the opportunity to give back and to connect to the community was really meaningful. One student shared, “Meeting people who live so close to me and have fallen on tough circumstances while I am so privileged has humbled me significantly. It has made me both more grateful for what I have and more determined to give back.”

A big thanks to all who came out to serve, and to our community partners for offering opportunities for SMU to learn and serve alongside them to better our city.

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Community Bus Tour Reflection

On June 28th, 2024, Engage Dallas hosted a bus tour to celebrate the end of the spring book club featuring Paved A Way by Collin Yarbrough. The tour highlighted historically significant sites around Dallas, many which are discussed in the book. This tour allowed participants to gain a deeper understanding of how the histories of environmental and infrastructural racism have profoundly impacted the city of Dallas, particularly Black and Latinx communities.

Community leaders, faculty, and staff gathered for a comprehensive journey through significant historical sites in South and West Dallas. One notable stop was Freedman’s Cemetery, located off the Central Expressway. Established in 1861, this cemetery is a crucial historical site for understanding Dallas’s early African American community and is among the largest of its kind in the country.

Another highlight was stopping by the town of Joppa, founded in 1872. This community, one of the last remaining Freedman towns in Texas, has faced severe marginalization over the years, yet remains a poignant reminder of resilience and perseverance.

Throughout the tour, guests gained profound insights into the struggles and triumphs of Dallas’s African American population, deepening their understanding of the city’s complex racial history and the ongoing efforts to achieve justice and equality.

At the conclusion of the tour, community partners, faculty, and staff,  gathered for a reflection session over lunch. This culminating event gave participants an opportunity to share their insights and discuss the profound impact of understanding environmental racism within their local community. The conversation emphasized the significance of recognizing how historical and present-day environmental racism affects organizations and society. Participants deliberated on actionable steps to foster unity and drive positive change, reinforcing the commitment to building a more inclusive and equitable future for all.

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Engage Dallas 2023-2024 End-of-Year Report

After months of recaps, reflections, and writing, Engage Dallas is excited to present the 2023-2024 end-of-year report. Inside you will learn about the new elements added to Engage Dallas this year ranging from the inaugural Engage Dallas Bus Tour to the launch of the Community Partner Council, the Engage Dallas Book Club, and more! Volunteers collectively served more than 1,600 hours directly in the community this year. Check out the full report below.

Thank you for your continued support of Engage Dallas. There are many exciting fall activities in the works…stay connected and stay engaged!

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Alternative Spring Break Event MHPS Commons Reflections Service Trip

An Alternative Break Reflection

This past March I, along with a staff advisor (Brandon Kitchin), and four other SMU students (Ava, Liah, Ben, and Tommy), embarked on an Alternative Breaks trip.

Alternative Breaks offers students a chance to go on issue-specific trips during spring break. Our trip focused on the issue of Immigration and Refugee Support, which is also the Engage Dallas community-identified need for MHPS Commons. When I heard about this trip, as the MHPS Commons Engage Dallas Student Director, I instantly became interested in leading it!

Our trip’s destination was San Benito, Texas, located in the Rio Grande Valley. Throughout our 5 days there, we were graciously hosted by La Posada Providencia, a long-term shelter for immigrant and refugee newcomers who seek to settle in the United States. La Posada provides clients (what residents are referred to as) with the time and resources to become self-sustaining by, for example, helping them obtain work permits and understand the use of U.S. currency by teaching them English. Residents of La Posada receive accommodation and three meals a day, funded entirely by donations.

Over the next two days, we helped the La Posada shelter with projects around the property. During that day, we had the chance to interact with some of the shelter’s clients who mostly were from Spanish speaking countries. Fortunately, we had Spanish speakers in our group. Interestingly throughout our trip, we shared lunch and dinner with the clients and met others from countries such as Afghanistan and Haiti.

On March 12th, we traveled to McAllen, Texas to assist with the Humanitarian Respite Center. The center serves as a short-term shelter. We were unable to take pictures in the center for privacy concerns but one of the major takeaways we had was that the center would be unable to function properly without volunteers and that the full-time staff were regularly overwhelmed. During our time there we engaged in laundry duty, help desk duty, and children’s programming.

For our next and final day of service, we lent a hand at the Rio Grande Valley Food Bank with other first-time volunteers.

We were able to package 1,248 boxes (37k pounds) of food in the span of a few hours, breaking a record for the facility!

This became a full circle moment when we learned that La Posada is one of the non-profits that the food bank serves.

Later that day we took some time to relax by making our way to South Padre Island to rest and enjoy some great seafood on the beach.

We returned to Dallas the next day with a complete shift in our perspectives on the issue of Immigration and Refugee Support and how important our roles as volunteers are. By taking the time to help non-profits you can really make a difference and directly or indirectly change a day in someone’s life whether it be sorting clothing donations or packaging food!

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Event News

One Night for Dallas 2024 highlights campus and community leaders

2023-24 Engage Dallas Staff at One Night for Dallas. Photo Credit: SMU

Community partners and campus leaders gathered at the Moody Graduate School on April 9th for the 3rd Annual One Night for Dallas reception, celebrating the impact of community engagement on the Hilltop. 

Dr. Toni Harrison-Kelly and Willie Baronet. Photo Credit: SMU

This year’s theme was “Dallas is Home,” and keynote addresses were delivered by the Executive Director of the Budd Center, Dr. Toni Harrison-Kelly, and SMU Professor in Creative Advertising Willie Baronet. Baronet also serves as the Armstrong Faculty-in-Residence and creator of the We Are All Homeless Project.

One Night for Dallas was also an opportunity for campus and community partners to hear from our Student Directors and why they participate in Engage Dallas. For Loyd Commons Student Director Kate Alonzo ‘26, her ”why” is personal.

Engage Dallas Student Director Kate Alonzo ’26. Photo Credit: SMU

“We can look at community service as serving the community. But South Dallas is not just a community, it’s my community,” Alonzo said. “Engage Dallas enables me to serve my own hometown, and I’m proud of that.”

The annual celebration is a joint effort between Engage Dallas and the Office of Social Change and Intercultural Engagement (SCIE), reflecting upon the collective impact that SMU students have had on the community during the academic year. Engage Dallas was proud to highlight that 571 students collectively spent 1,378 hours directly serving the community across 41 student-led service events during the 2023-24 academic school year.

Danielle Palomo, Coordinator for Community Engagement. Photo Credit: SMU

Danielle Palomo, Coordinator for Community Engagement, reflected on the work of SCIE community engagement student organizations.

“Reflecting on Alternative Breaks, one student said, ‘It was a valuable experience and something I’ll never forget. I was able to form relationships and help people start a new life here which was amazing.,’” Palomo shared. ” I could not be prouder of our students and looks forward to all the work they continue to do to serve their city.”

The night ended with remarks from Engage Dallas Initiative Manager Audryanna Reed and the presentation of campus and community-nominated awards.  Award Recipients are as follows:

Outstanding Community Partner

  • Dallas Furniture Bank
  • Jubilee Park and Community Center

Do Good for Dallas Award 

  • Emmanuel Garcia
  • Lourdes Randle

Outstanding Student Leader

  • Hannah Green, MHPS Commons

Outstanding Student Director

  • Miles Chen, Kathy Crow Commons

Outstanding Faculty and Staff

  • Laura Robinson Doyle, Department of Applied Physiology and Sport Management

Award Recipients. Photo Credit: SMU

Engage Dallas would like to thank the staff, faculty, students, and community partners again for their participation and support. We look forward to celebrating again on April 9, 2025!