On the latest episode of The Dallas Express Podcast, host Sarah Zubiate Bennett sat down with two local entrepreneurs and talked about some of the issues small businesses face in Dallas.
Pam Eudaric, founder and CEO of Chocolate Secrets on Oak Lawn, and Suzanne Palmlund, founder of Enjoy Fun Fudge, discussed how active they have been in the community and in business.
One issue where the two have directed their efforts is homelessness.
“We’re constantly, you know, giving to shelters and larger programs, because there are a lot of programs out here,” Eudaric said.
Zubiate Bennett highlighted one initiative underway in Dallas called Refuge for Renewal, a one-stop-shop campus for homeless services modeled after Haven or Hope in San Antonio.
As previously reported by The Dallas Express, Haven for Hope is a non-profit organization that provides social services like drug counseling, drug training, and transitional housing, all on a single campus. Its operating model has been credited with reducing unsheltered homelessness in San Antonio’s downtown area by 77%.
The City of Dallas has yet to try the “one-stop-shop” strategy despite it polling favorably among Dallas residents. Meanwhile, some 75% of Dallas residents believe homelessness, vagrancy, and panhandling continue to be “major” problems throughout the city.
“I used to be affiliated with [Downtown Dallas homeless recovery center] The Bridge,” said Palmlund. “I was on the board, and I went to a breakfast, and it was like a thousand people, you know, as they were eating, and I looked around and walked around and talked to people, and I thought, ‘You know, they’re homeless, but this entire room is either mentally ill or drug addicted.’ So what are we doing about that?”
To check out the whole episode of The Dallas Express Podcast and hear about Eudaric and Palmlund’s business journeys and efforts to help communities in Dallas, click here.