A homeless shelter in downtown Dallas has been cleaning up trash and canvassing nearby streets for years. Now, the city’s sanitation and police are promising to assume responsibility for the area.
The Bridge is a nonprofit shelter and one-stop shop that helps people struggling with homelessness get off the streets. Shelter President David Woody told The Dallas Express that for the last five years, the group was expected to manage a two-block radius — cleaning up trash, and canvassing homeless people.
On October 21, however, the Dallas City Council unanimously passed a “Good Neighbor Agreement,” assuming responsibility for the two-block radius – leaving the shelter responsible only for its own perimeter.
“We already know that our neighbors are going to be upset because of the lack of effort that, probably, city staff will do,” Woody said. “So we’re going to continue to maintain that.”
The Feedings
For years, disorganized volunteers unaffiliated with The Bridge have led feedings on the surrounding streets – drawing crowds of homeless people, and leaving behind piles of trash, as The Dallas Express previously reported.
Woody said the City of Dallas had left The Bridge responsible for managing trash pickup and homeless canvassing in the area.
“As part of our contract, we have to maintain data on the number of engagements that our safety officers have, how often we do trash pickup,” Woody explained.
When The Bridge initially agreed to manage the two-block radius, Woody said he needed to find funding for safety officers.
“We initiated it with them being on foot, but with the heat and then with the cold, we were able to get assistance from a couple of foundations to purchase golf carts,” he said. “Expectations of them are to engage folks who may be in front of any of the local businesses laying on the concrete, trying to encourage them to come onto our campus for services. Otherwise, if they didn’t have some business … that they move along.”
Woody also said The Bridge was responsible for picking up trash in the surrounding blocks twice per day.
“Of course, that’s important in terms of our neighborhood, the presentation around The Bridge,” Woody said. “But it’s particularly difficult on Wednesday evenings, all day on Saturday, and all day on Sunday, because of the street feeding.”
The area has long faced challenges due to the disorganized nature of charity efforts. Case in point, a Christmas Eve gift distribution in 2021 led to a fight in a nearby parking lot, where one person was shot and killed.
The Bigger Issue
During the meeting, City Councilwoman Cara Mendelsohn said it was unfair to continue asking The Bridge to manage such a large portion of the downtown area. City Councilman Adam Bazaldua called a closed executive session.
Ultimately, the council unanimously passed the agreement that Dallas would assume responsibility for the surrounding streets.
“Why is it that The Bridge, which is the only sheltering operation that’s expected to do that – we can understand it on our perimeter, but within two blocks?” Woody said. “The taxpayers, the citizens pay for the D[allas] P[olice] D[epartment] to do that. They pay for the sanitation department to do that work. They pay for court enforcement to do that.”
Downtown Dallas Inc., the Dallas Citizens Council, and the city government launched a “Safe In The City” campaign in May, which includes a major focus on homelessness – directing authorities to send homeless people to The Bridge, as The Dallas Express previously reported.
While Dallas’ point-in-time snapshots show decreasing numbers of homeless people, The Bridge reported growing numbers seeking services. As of June, the shelter had reached capacity for overnight shelter.