Engage Dallas announces 16 new community partners

Engage Dallas is excited to announce our newest community partners as we continue our work to address community needs in South and West Dallas via SMU’s Residential Commons.

In Fall 2021, the Engage Dallas Offsite and Risk Management Committee noticed that as Engage Dallas grew, the needs of our students and community partners started to vary. Engage Dallas strives to facilitate a mutually beneficial relationship between the campus and SMU community. To ensure that community partners have volunteer support at various times and that students had opportunities to serve outside of their class schedules, the need to expand our network of community partners surfaced.

Audryanna Reed, Offsite and Risk Management Committee co-chair, shared “interviewing and onboarding new community partners has been an exciting process. Our new partners are energetic and are anticipating serving our students. I think expanding our number of community partners was a great idea so that our students can have consistent opportunities to serve throughout the community.”

Our community partners offer a combination of monthly, group volunteer opportunities and individual opportunities such as solo service, individual pathways, and internships for SMU students. Service opportunities for the spring semester will kick off in February 2022 with monthly, group service through the RC and solo service to support community partners with limited volunteer capacity.

Jin Ae, Volunteer and Operations Association for Readers 2 Leaders, noted that “Readers 2 Leaders is so grateful to partner with Engage Dallas and have SMU students serve with us to support student learning, especially during this challenging time. As an SMU Embrey Human Rights Program alumna, I am so inspired to see the university taking an active approach in connecting with and serving the Dallas community.”

SMU is excited to announce the following organizations as the Spring 2022 community partner cohort for Engage Dallas. Each Residential Commons is listed with its chosen community need and new partner(s).

Armstrong Commons | Homelessness

• The Stewpot

Boaz Commons | Food Insecurity

• CitySquare
• Mission Oak Cliff

Cockrell-McIntosh Commons| College Access & Preparation

• LNESC
• Girl Scouts of Northeast Texas

Crum Commons |Arts as Social Impact

• Remembering Black Dallas
• Bishop Arts Theater Center

Kathy Crow Commons | Environmental Injustice

• Trinity River Audubon Center

Loyd Commons | STEM Education

• Crowned Scholars
• Jubilee Park

McElvaney Commons | Community Wellbeing

• Brother Bill’s Helping Hands

Morrison-McGinnis Commons | Childhood Poverty

• Vogel Alcove
• Behind Every Door

Virginia-Snider Commons | Childhood Literacy

• Readers 2 Leaders

Ware Commons | Community Rebuilding

• Empowering the Masses
• Frazier Revitalization

For more information on Engage Dallas partnerships, visit the Engage Dallas website. Inquiries by community organizations or suggestions for partnership can be submitted via the Engage Dallas Community Partner Information Form.