Cottages Under Construction

Learn more about The Cottages at Hickory Crossing here.

September 2014 saw the start of construction on the Cottages at Hickory Crossing permanent supportive housing community.  Located on a three-acre site less than one mile from downtown Dallas, the Cottages will provide on site permanent housing and support services for the fifty most chronically homeless residents of Dallas.  

The design process began over five years ago and included a combination of research, focus group charrettes, conversations in the neighborhood, and a comprehensive engagement of stakeholders in the decision-making process.  This approach to engagement and design yielded a design for fifty individual 430 square-foot homes.  The Cottages at Hickory Crossing design re-imagines traditional models by abandoning compartmentalized forms for a composition of separate but linked structures.  Individual homes encourage stronger personal identity while promoting a sense of community for residents.  The 4,000 square-feet of support-service spaces comprising the Services Building will be located under one large “porch roof”.  A series of courtyards and a common green connect the homes and Services Building and provide flexible space for activities from urban farming to outdoor recreating, encouraging interaction between neighbors. 

Project partners include: CitySquare, Central Dallas Community Development Corporation, Metrocare Services, Metro Dallas Homeless Alliance, Dallas County Criminal Justice System, UT Southwestern Medical Center, and initial funding provided by the W.W. Caruth Jr. Foundation at Communities Foundation of Texas.  For information on funding or other opportunities, please contact Shawn Wills, Chief Development Officer at CitySquare.

In September 2012, the Dallas Chapter of the American Institute of Architects honored the project with an Unbuilt Design Award.

Macon Starks

Read more about the Macon Starks project.

Design meetings have spanned the summer and fall of 2015 for seven new rental homes for seniors in the Ideal neighborhood of South Dallas.  Residents graciously convened over five warm (sweltering may be a more appropriate description for some) Saturdays in the vacant home on site to discuss and develop the design of the series of homes.  Conversation was framed around the current assets, challenges and opportunities of the neighborhood.  From there, discussion focused in on how the proposed homes could become an amenity to the senior residents and community by harnessing select opportunities and facing select challenges.

Currently, the site strategy promotes social interaction among residents as well as physical health and safety by means of internal walking paths, active and passive gardens, and visual connections via specifically oriented porches, windows and doors.

Design meetings are scheduled to wrap up this fall with design development completing in early 2015.

Cottages Groundbreaking

A public-private partnership of Dallas organizations broke ground on April 17, 2014, on The Cottages at Hickory Crossing, an innovative permanent supportive housing project and a model for the future in the campaign to end chronic homelessness. When completed, The Cottages at Hickory Crossing will provide homes for 50 chronically homeless Dallas residents who suffer from severe mental illness and have also been involved in the criminal justice system. Residents will live in small, freestanding cottages on a wooded site southeast of downtown and will receive intensive behavioral health services, paired with social services and supports, to improve their lives.

Speakers included Larry James, President & CEO CitySquare, Brent Christopher, President & CEO Communities Foundation of Texas, Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings, Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins, Dr. John Burruss, CEO Metrocare Services, and Dallas City Council Member Carolyn Davis of District 7.

Dallas Heroes

Learn more about our Informing work.

Dallas Heroes was initiated by bcWORKSHOP in recognition of Dr. Martin Luther King’s incredible legacy of service. Dr. King challenged us to build a more perfect union and taught us that everyone has a role to play. With the Dallas Heroes project, on January 20th we honored some of those who serve or have served locally by distributing "Dallas Heroes" trading cards across the city of Dallas. Our hope is that this advocacy will encourage you to honor your heroes and to engage the causes that you care about.

How were the 25 heroes chosen? For the First Edition we nominated our own local heroes, the people that have inspired us by striving to bring greater economic, social, and environmental justice to Dallas. They come from a wide range of causes, including civil rights, environmental justice, and the arts. There are many more heroes to honor - now we welcome your submissions for the Second Edition.

Why trading cards? They’re tangible, portable, collectible, and fun. We were inspired by vintage sports cards, and we believe our heroes can be celebrated in this form as well.

Where can I get a pack? This is a limited edition of 1,000 packs, distributed across the city. You can find locations posted on Twitter and Instagram (#dallasheroes). The cards will not be reprinted!

What can I do? Submit and share your Dallas heroes, either through the website www.dallasheroes.org, or through Twitter or Instagram  (#dallasheroes). On the website you can also connect to the causes or organizations associated with some of the 25 heroes in this pack. We encourage you to find other local opportunities for volunteerism, advocacy, or donations.

When will the Second Edition come out? That all depends on you and the submissions we receive. Submit your heroes through www.dallasheroes.org for a chance to win a t-shirt featuring your Dallas Hero!

More questions? Give us a call at 214-252-2900, e-mail us at inform@bcworkshop.org or drop by our office at 416 S. Ervay Street!

 

Read more about the Dallas Heroes project in the local Dallas media:

Dallas Morning News

D Magazine

Knox Park

Check out more from our Shopfront Series.

Join Kate Medin on Tuesday, December 17th as she shares her recent research on the Knox Park neighborhood. Knox Park is a pie-piece shaped neighborhood tucked between Central Expressway and the Katy Trail. Flanked originally by two railroads, it remains a unique entity in the city due to its infrastructural isolation. Through the influence of its neighbors, it has converted from one of Dallas' first northern suburbs to a retail and multifamily residential hub. This discussion will focus on how infrastructure not only shapes the physical environment, but also the culture of a place.