Our Story

You can’t tell the story of the growth and evolution of social services in Dallas without telling the story of Community Council. Formed in the midst of WW2 and incorporated in 1943, Community Council of Greater Dallas brought the important movers and shakers in Dallas together.

The council was determined that the needs of ALL members of our community, were met.

 

This is a quote from our July 12, 1942 board minutes, convened in the middle of World War II:

 

‘We must be concerned about our children in cities such as Dallas as well as places that might be bombed. While there is talk of evacuating children from danger spots, we should be concerned with keeping ALL of them well and living under good conditions. We should be concerned about equal opportunities for all, regardless of race or religion.”

In its early years, through the 1940’s and 1950’s, Community Council was a convenor and incubator for new organizations addressing many different identified needs. Just a few of the organizations incubated by Community Council over the years include:

•  Greater Dallas Community Relations Commission

•  Head Start of Greater Dallas

•  Volunteer Center of North Texas

•  Lemmon Avenue Bridge

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In 1948, Community Council was asked by the city to appoint a bi-racial committee to look at and address health and welfare problems in areas that were predominantly black and Hispanic. Community Council was an early leader in bringing communities together to address social welfare problems.

In the 50’s Community Council started its division on aging and in 1956 it was the only organization in Dallas with an active program on aging.

 

In the 1960’s Community Council oversaw summer programs to address juvenile delinquency and helped launch Crossroads Community Center which eventually became the MLK Center. Throughout this time, Community Council was a leader in advocating and working for social service programs addressing the needs of low-income communities.

In 1961, Community Council started the first information and referral service. It was started by CC and funded by United Way and took 126 calls in its first month. This was the model for what later became the national 211 call center, taking over 20,000 calls a month today.

In the 1970’s, Community Council opened the Dallas Area on Aging to serve the senior population of Dallas County. Community Council was directly involved in creating nutrition programs like Meals on Wheels, which it still funds to this day. The DAAA was Community Council’s first foray into direct services and in 1979 CC established ACE, Access Center for the Elderly which was recognized as a national model in 1980.

 

In the 80’s during the AIDS crisis, Community Council began providing services to people who had contracted the disease. We incubated AIDS arms to address this crisis. AIDS Arms is now Prism Health North Texas and continues to serve the LGBTQ community.

 

In 1992, the Community Council Benefits Counseling program began, providing much needed neutral advice on Medicaid, Medicare and SNAP to lower income seniors and those with disabilities in Dallas County. This service is still active today.

 

Throughout the decades Community Council has continually been called on as a leader in the community to form and lead coalitions and commissions looking into health and welfare issues. We convened organizations including Salvation Army, Boys and Girls Clubs, Dallas Dental Health, National Council of Jewish Women and many more.

Commissions and coalitions fostered by CC resulted in many of Dallas’ large projects including:

• Annexation of West Dallas

• Creation of the Pearl C. Anderson Day Nursery for African Americans

• Creation of the School of Social Work at the University of Texas at Arlington

• Concilio

• The Dallas Area Coalition to Prevent Childhood Obesity

• the expansion of Methodist Hospital

• Creation of MHMR information and Referral Service, and

• Dallas County comprehensive Alcoholism Services, to name a few

 

In 2002, the 2-1-1 Call Center was launched to assist all community members throughout the state and nation in accessing vital social services. Over the last 20 years 2-1-1 has been a beacon, especially for those without access to computers or internet. In 2020, during COVID, 2-1-1 answered over 30,000 calls a month and connected thousands of people to rent, utility, employment and health assistance.

In 2009 Community Council began administering wellness programs like Diabetes Self-Management and Falls prevention. These classes have enabled thousands of people with chronic conditions to live healthy independent lives.

In 2017, Community Council was selected to receive the Community Services Block Grant for Dallas County to alleviate poverty. In 2018, with that grant, the workforce development program began, along with emergency services. During COVID, we kept thousands of people housed and to date, we have helped hundreds of people transition out of the cycle of poverty and has saved thousands from eviction. Last year, we began our housing program, and we currently are helping countless homeless working families to secure affordable housing.

In 2020 The healthcare Navigator program was restarted at Community Council, helping hundreds of people who are qualified sign up for healthcare programs like CHIP to keep their families healthy.

 

In 2025, we were awarded a SNAP Outreach grant, enabling us to help thousands of people throughout North Texas attain food security by assisting them with applications for SNAP benefits.

While Community Council has moved from an incubator and convenor to a direct service provider over the years, our ultimate goal has not changed. We help those in our community who need a hand up. We always have been and always will be the change we want to see in our world.