THE NEED: Across Dallas, families who live in high-crime areas feel unsafe, like prisoners in their own homes, because of crime and violence occurring at nearby properties in their neighborhoods. They sleep away from windows to avoid stray bullets and their children face drugs and violence on their walks to school. Community violence is an adverse childhood experience (ACE) that can cause long-ter
m trauma and chronic health problems and also limit future opportunities. Crime and an absence of safety block the resolution of many of the inequities in our city, such as poverty, segregation, job access, housing, and neighborhood change. OUR MODEL: Act is a justice nonprofit that equips individuals who live in high-crime areas to fight crime on their street using the justice system. We are motivated by Christ's challenge to seek justice—every family has the right to live in a flourishing community. We serve clients who are religious and non-religious and who have diverse cultures and backgrounds. To our knowledge, Act is the only organization nationwide using our justice model to help residents rebuild their communities to become places of peace and safety. Act’s resident equipping and legal advocacy model connects neighbors with one another and provides education, tools, and volunteer lawyers from our partner law firms so that residents can hold the owners of drug houses and other high-crime properties accountable for the criminal activity. Strong collaboration is essential both to Act’s model and to the long-term sustainability of a neighborhood, and Act works closely with local neighborhood associations, churches, and nonprofits, as well as city stakeholders, including the Dallas Police Department, City Attorney’s Office, and Code Compliance. OUR IMPACT: Since 2009, Act has partnered with over 300 residents to resolve more than 200 crime properties across West Dallas, South Dallas, and South Oak Cliff, and Pleasant Grove. Our legacy West Dallas neighborhoods (where we have completed active casework) experienced up to a 50% reduction in crime. Neighborhood revitalization is more sustainable with Act’s model because the agents of change are the communities themselves standing up for justice and systemic change. In West Dallas, engaged community leaders have continued their efforts to maintain the peace and flourishing of these neighborhoods and have advocated for our work in other parts of the city. They demonstrate that equipping residents to be neighborhood guardians together is vital to sustaining long-term results. Communities have a vision of what is possible with a safer, more peaceful neighborhood, and we equip them to bring this vision to life. As one client shares, “I do what I do so that my children can see if you stand up for something, things can change.”
To find more information or donate to Act's work, visit https://actforjustice.org/
