Category: Event

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Event Reflections Uncategorized

Engage Dallas Bus Tour 2025

On November 15th, Engage Dallas hosted a bus tour, which took learning outside the classroom and into areas of our city that students may not often experience. The tour guides for the day, from Remembering Black Dallas, shared about the history and current needs of the city of Dallas.

The tour covered many topics including nearby Freedmen’s towns and the Freedmen’s cemetery that was paved over and exhumed in order to create the first highway in Dallas’ history: I-75. Another stop was at Joppy Momma’s Farm, one of the Engage Dallas community partners. Students were able to hear from Ms. Kim, creator and director of Joppy Momma’s, about her personal story and how the farm came to exist. By visiting Joppa, students learned about the struggles of food insecurity and environmental injustice, as well as what community empowerment looks like in action.

Lunch was hosted at the Dallas Black Chamber of Commerce, located at Vista Bank. Attendees met and spoke with Harrison Blair, president and CEO of the Dallas Black Chamber of Commerce. They were able to hear about some of the challenges that Black-owned South Dallas businesses face and the resources that are available to them through the Chamber. Mr. Blair and his team then toured the students through the Chamber offices at Vista Bank, as well as their other location at the MLK Jr. Community Center. Students had the opportunity to walk the halls of the center and reflect on the history represented there through art, photos, newspaper articles, and more.

A big thanks to Remembering Black Dallas, Joppy Momma’s Farm, and the Dallas Black Chamber of Commerce for assisting us in facilitating this powerful learning experience for students.

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Event Reflections Service Trip

Engage Dallas Hosts Annual Fall Day of Service

On October 25th, Engage Dallas hosted the annual fall day of service for SMU. Students, staff, and faculty arrived to a make-your-own-coffee bar and an opportunity to enjoy breakfast from Smokey John’s BBQ before the event began. Over 140 volunteers were transported to seven different community partner sites to spend their morning serving. From restoring benches, to event preparations, to gardening and more, students worked hard to support our partners at Our Saviour Community Garden, Mercy Street, The Bridge Homeless Recovery Center, Austin Street Center, Voice of Hope, Behind Every Door, and Trusted World, for a total of 572 service hours.

Students expressed gratitude for the opportunity to serve together in the midst of the business of midterm exams. Our community partners offered not only the tasks for them to serve, but an opportunity to learn more about the amazing work they are doing for their neighbors.

Sophomore Engage Dallas Student Director Arushi Tripathy shared, “My experience volunteering was both insightful and heart-warming. Mercy Street had volunteers from both SMU and a local historic Black church. I had a lot of good memories working together from funny stories to community-bonding while building furniture and cleaning together.”

The event concluded with lunch served fresh from Ruthie’s For Good and Kona Ice to refresh the volunteers after a busy morning. We look forward to serving again at this event next year!

Engage Dallas continues to offer opportunities to SMU students for community engagement, including service events, internships, and learning opportunities. Through Engage Dallas students can earn their Community Engagement and Civic & Individual Ethics proficiencies for free, while experiencing meaningful learning and relationship-building.

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Community Partners Crum Commons Event Reflections Service Trip Uncategorized

Painting with Purpose

During my first semester as an Engage Dallas Student Director, I had the opportunity to tour one of the senior living homes supported by our community partner, The Senior Source. While visiting Modern Senior Living, I had a meaningful conversation with the activities director about the positive impact their new garden had on the residents. That conversation got me thinking—what other creative ways could we enhance the space and bring more joy to those living there? When she mentioned their hope to one day have a mural painted on an outer wall, the idea for the mural project started to take shape.

After months of planning, searching for the right artist, and finalizing the design, we brought that vision to life this April. I eventually connected with an artist through the SMU Student Organized Art Collective, and with the support of the SMU Engaged Learning ELSA Grant and additional funding support, we were able to paint the mural and host a block party to celebrate with the residents and their families. With the help of 17 amazing volunteers, we spent the day painting, celebrating, and even inviting residents to leave their handprints on the wall. It was a special moment that brought so much energy and community spirit to the space.

What made this project truly meaningful was the response from the residents. Throughout the painting process, many came outside—some for the first time in a while—to watch, share feedback, and chat with us. The staff told us it was rare to see so many residents actively engaging like that. During the block party, which was held on a Saturday when many families came to visit, residents proudly showed their loved ones the mural and took photos in front of it. One resident shared how moving it was to see someone in a wheelchair represented in the mural, saying it made them feel seen. For many of us students, it was their first time visiting a senior home, and it was eye-opening. I hope this project not only made a difference for the residents, but also encouraged all of us to stay engaged with and advocate for our elders—because one day, we might find ourselves in their place.

Raissa Umwali ‘25

Engage Dallas Student Director – Crum Commons

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Alternative Spring Break Event Reflections Service Trip

Spring Engage Dallas Alternative Break Trip

Written by Engage Dallas Area Coordinator Hannah Green

Over this past Spring Break I, along with our staff advisor (Dani Palomo), and three other students (Julian Seghers 26’, Margaret Alt 26’, and Marcus Johnson 28’) engaged in a week of direct service in the Dallas community. Specifically, we served at Engage Dallas community partners Joppy Momma’s Farm, a community farm and garden, and Mercy Street, a sports and mentoring outreach organization that serves the youth of inner-city communities! Here are some key highlights from that week.

Joppy Momma’s Farm
Spending the morning assisting with the upkeep of the garden was such an educational and eye-opening experience. Some of the tasks that we did throughout the week included mulching, planting, harvesting, and weeding. We were not only taught how to do these things properly but also the amount of care that goes into completing these practices weekly in order to maintain the garden. Some of the highlights from our time at Joppy Momma’s included harvesting lettuce, planting bell pepper sprouts, and making our take-home tea bags of sage, rosemary, mint, and lemongrass! It was truly a delightful experience to lend a helping hand. During the week, I was reminded of the importance of supporting initiatives that provide local access to fresh produce, such as Joppy Momma’s initiative! This farm is meeting a nutritional need within a community struck by the wider inequalities we see in Dallas.

Mercy Street
Following our lunch breaks, we would spend the afternoon serving at Mercy Street. We spent Monday and Tuesday repainting their soccer field gate but due to unfavorable weather conditions, we pivoted to assisting with other tasks. When we met with the Mercy Street administrative staff, they were so grateful for what we were able to accomplish with giving the gate a newer coat in time for Mercy Street’s opening day for their various sports programs, considering the financial commitment of otherwise completely replacing the gate. On Wednesday and Thursday, we organized and rolled hundreds of shirts tied with handwritten motivation messages that would be given out to the attendees of the opening day ceremony that upcoming Saturday! This was again much appreciated by the staff, and it was quite satisfying to get the shirts prepared in time! On Friday, we were tasked with setting up chairs in the gymnasium, setting up signs around the complex, assembling a pressure washer, and getting the soccer goals in tip-top shape for Saturday! Although the tasks at times were physically demanding, it was really neat to activate our teamwork skills in the process of doing new things such as putting together the pressure washer or replacing soccer nets and moving the goal across the field. Overall, we ended up accomplishing so much that week and we collectively walked away with a renewed understanding of how important volunteers are for organizations such as Mercy Street.

Not only was this week truly enriching, but it was also fun and full of surprises! I would encourage anyone who is debating on whether to go on an Alternative Break trip to go for it and be ready to potentially step out of your comfort zone!
If you have any questions about earning your Community Engagement proficiency, please reach out to me: greenh@smu.edu

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Announcements Event

Support Engage Dallas on SMU Giving Day

Today, March 11, is SMU’s annual Giving Day. Donations to Engage Dallas today will support our summer internship program. In partnership with the Hegi Family Career Development office, Engage Dallas offers students paid ten-week internships with our community partners in South and West Dallas.

Engage Dallas is a place-based community engagement initiative via SMU’s Residential Commons to address community needs focusing on South and West Dallas. The initiative is a long-term, University-wide commitment led by students to partner with local residents, organizations and other leaders to positively impact the community. There is equal emphasis on campus and community impact stemming from the initiative.

We are excited to announce the continuation of the Engage Dallas Summer Internship Program for the fourth year. This program provides the opportunity for our community partners to apply to host an internship experience and be matched with a qualified SMU student.  Engage Dallas provides compensation to interns, so that the community partners do not have to. Supporting this project allows donors to contribute to meaningful career exploration opportunities for Mustangs while investing into our South and West Dallas community organizations.

Visit our site here to make a donation today to benefit these summer internships and our Engage Dallas community partners.