Jubilee Park & Community Center

I attended Jubilee for six years as a young child. I'm giving back to the community that helped me grow from a boy to a man. It has progress over the years and the newest building allows the program to expand.

I have volunteered at Jubilee on multiple occasions with my whole family. I am in awe of all that is being done to renovate the neighborhood--by church voolunteers, school volunteers, civic leaders and members of teh community. It is truly a communal project. And the rewards are visible.

I volunteered at Jubilee in the after school program. It was fantastic. The kids were sweet and thrived to learn. I helped them with their homework. Some read to me, and i really enjoyed it. They were very excited to show me the work theu had done. They also told me about the community garden; they enjoyed watching produce grow. Overall, I think Jubilee is doing a great job in helping the community. They have magnificent programs that help the individuals i the community succeed.

I can remember my first time at Jubilee - and there was no park, or anything remotely looking green and peaceful! But the people who lived at Jubilee were warm and welcoming of our efforts to partner with them. Since then, the park is a green oasis, with children playing basketball and pre-schoolers laughing in the playground. I love seeing families together at the events with children who have grown up as I have intermittently been involved with Jubilee. The "I Believe in Angles" Christmas project and reading to pre-schoolers at Davids Place have been my favorite activities with Jubilee. I am so proud of Jubilee Park residents - they are the ones who believed and made life better everyday there.

Jubilee is living proof that miracles can happen when a church community’s support is welcomed by a neighborhood that embraces positive change for its residence, young and old.

The Jubilee Park and Community Center is a project that was started by our church and has many community volunteers. We have undertaken the revitalization of a multi-block neighborhood which was formerly home to prostitutes and drug dealers. It is an ongoing neighborhood project with support services and enjoys the pride of the residents.

I have volunteered with several different projects at Jubilee as part of my church. the people that I have worked with there have all been very grateful for the help and willing to put in effort on their part to better their lives. The key to the community center is continued involvement in one area sos that changes will continue and not just happen and then have things go back to where they were.

I have volunteered down there several times, and the program is absolutely tremendous, creating a sense of "yes we can" in an environment that never would have perceived that.

I have been involved with Jubilee since the beginning in 1997, a surprisingly short time to have made such a profound difference in a community. My favorite story, and most of my involvement has been with seeing one of the lowest performing schools, rated "Unacceptable" in Dallas Independent School District, rise in a few short years to two consecutive years of "Exemplary" ranking. A strong principal of eight years, an excellent Educational Coordinator and committed faculty have been the critical pieces in this amazing turnaround. But Jubilee tutors -- 80 strong -- who visit the school every week can legitimately share in the success. With individualized encouragement and support, Roberts students have surprised even themselves with what they can accomplish!

Jubilee is an amazing organization that I am so blessed to be apart of. I am an Americorps Site Coordinator at Jubilee and I volunteer with the After School Program. I enjoy being with the children and seeing lives changed. Every day is not always easy but it is definitely rewarding to see each person striving to be the best person they can be. Jubilee is not only a building but a diverse and loving family.

As Community Engagement Coordinator for One Man’s Treasure and its current Executive Director, I have been privileged to work in partnership with the Jubilee Park Community Center board and staff on a special project to assist formerly incarcerated men in the Jubilee Park/Fair Park area who are searching for employment by providing them with clothing appropriate for interviewing. From the initial stages of the program to the present, I have found everyone involved with the Jubilee Center to be helpful and enthusiastic in their support of the mission of our program. Whenever I am at the Center, I find that same enthusiasm and dedication in all of the services to the Jubilee Park community, especially with the educational programs for children and adults and its outreach to the area senior citizens. The spirit of a visitor to the Center cannot help but be lifted when witnessing the work of St Michael and All Angels Episcopal Church, the volunteers, and Community Center staff in Jubilee Park. It is a place of joy and hope.

My experience with the Jubilee Center has shown me that I can be an educator towards the young children that will soon be the future of accountants, construction workers, teachers, etc. Jubilee has provided the exercise for me mentally to focus on constructive teaching and behavior modifacation towards children. The Jubilee Center is a tree that branches off and helps families and the community and many different ways. For example, school supplies for children, after school well placed meals to keep their young minds and bodies energized after a long day of school. The Jubilee Center also helps the community out economically with utilities. This also includes the childrens families that attend the Center.

Being at Jubilee has been a rewarding experience. I thank Jubilee for changing my mind in wanting to now become a teacher all due to working in the summer and after school program they provided. Being at Jubilee and getting to know the families in the five years I have been here has been life changing. Many of the families have opened their home to me which they had not done to other staff members here. It is great to see that there is a place like Jubilee where people can just walk in through the door and feel like at home. Jubilee is more than just a community center it's a home where we all come together and become a family.

My professional background is in nonprofit-management, but I have chosen to volunteer my time at Jubilee because I heartily believe in Jubilee. It calls to me because it embodies so much heart and soul, but at the very same time it is very strategic in its multi-dimensional approach to changing lives in an impoverished neighborhood.

I am glad Jubilee is in the neighborhood giving great insight and perspectives. The work that is being done with the children is very needed in this community, and it is a great educational base for children to start learning about history, science, etc. I enjoy the staff - it is an excellent group! Everyone is the best! I want to stay in Jubilee and stay with the organization, because Jubilee is going to grow, and I want to grow with Jubilee! Jubilee is going to go places, and I wish to stay involved!

I had the opportunity to visit Jubilee with a group of theology students in October of this year. It is an impressive facility, professional kitchen and serving area, classrooms for pre-school and K-12 students. Separate facility for older students to meet and hang out. The grounds were spacious and well maintained. The community garden was another indication how Jubilee is reaching out to the community in positive ways. They have a great relationship with the local police who also share part of their office space in a facility separate from the kitchen and classrooms. Jubilee has a friendly, forward looking and knowledgeable staff. Overall, our visit was a great positive experience. .

I have worked with the Jubilee Project since the very beginning as a volunteer. Assisting the neighbors of the community in rebuilding this neighborhood has provided an opportunity for me to appreciate how people living in difficult circumstances can teach the rest of us the value of cooperating with one another to improve conditions for all. There is a common thread that I have observed and that is when two communities interact over a long period of time they both are changed for the better. This experience has become an enormous part of my life, and I foresee continued commitment to helping whenever I can for as long as I can.

I am a Housing Inspector with the City of Dallas, and an active member of the community that I have attended Church Services in for 18 years. I am also a serving member of the Executive Committee of the United Peoples Neighborhood Association in Jubilee Park. I have seen the lowest of the lows as far as Crime, Neighborhood decline, and lack of interest among residents in the (now) Jubilee Park Community. The lack of interest in improving their conditions and a general sense of 'Everyone has lied to us before, and we trust no one. However, I am highly elated and blown away by the 'before' and 'after' insertion of the Jubilee Park & Community Center. I have worked very closely with the JP&CC from the onset and the initial Revitalization Plan, well before the mention of the Cowboy Stadium coming to the Fair Park Area. I cannot say enough about the care, dedication, overwhelming support, and grassroots LOVE that has been and still is a part of the entire Staff of the Jubilee Park and Community Center. In such a diverse and challenging neighborhood (a desert), life has sprung eternal. As a member of the community, I have experienced nothing less than FULL, and UNWAVERING SUPPORT, that has been given to each resident and their needs. We are proud to have become a Model Neighborhood in Crime Watch (more cameras monitored by DPD than other Communities), Neighbor Participation, Neighborhood Cleanliness, NEW NEIGHBORHOOD RESOURCE CENTER, NEW COMMUNITY CENTER, breaking ground for a SENIOR HOUSING COMPLEX in January, Head Start Center with plans for an addition Center, Green Spaces for residents, a BEAUTIFULLY LANDSCAPED PARK for residents, and the list can go on and on. In a community of such vast needs, diverse ethnic backgrounds, where economic depravity, where senior citizen needs and desires were being pushed aside; the JPCC has met each head on and succeeded. I can only ask that you come and visit our Model Community, and you will be as enthusiastic as I am...

As a member of the Communications Committee of Saint Michael and All Angels Episcopal Church in Dallas, I have a special interest in and passion for the work in progress known as Jubilee Park & C ommunity Center. Incredible vision and dedication has brought this project to the day of the dedication of the Walt Humann and T. Boone Pickens Community Center. This Center is the heart of the Jubilee neighborhood, transformed by volunteers, priests and clergy, the police department - untold numbers of individuals who felt strongly the possibility for success.

I have lived in Jubilee Park for 13 years and all of my children was helped by the after school program. Our last child is now about to graduated from high school ad I owe a great thank you to Jubilee for be4ing available for my children. I volunteer with the neighborhood association and Jubilee also helps with the safty in the community. They host children in the evening as well as feed them. The families are so grateful for the assistance that is available for them. They have helped families with paying their rent and given them gift cards to buy food for their families. Thank you, Jubilee.

Jubilee is about the alignment of 100's of people who share a basic belief that our purpose is to improve lives and strengthen communities. The "gift" of engaging in the ministry of Jubilee Park is that one not only is changing the lives of the people in the 62 block community but the boomerang effect of life changing opportunities for all who give of their time and love. While there are differnces in individual approaches to this transformation; the goal of attacking poverty and injustice through education is a shared vision of all who support the vision that Jubilee Park is a community where people love to live.

I toured Jubilee while working at another Non-Profit and I was amazed at how much they do for their community. While I was touring the community center and neighborhood, there were many community members that came in and out- all appreciative of Jubilee. This is an awesome resource for the community. One more thing that was great is all the staff members are nice!

I have volunteered with Jubilee for 11 years with the first seven years as Chairman or the Education Committee. One of the most rewarding accomplishments was to see OM Roberts Elementary School move from being the second lowest performing schhool to being exemplary for the last two years. I tutored the children there for five years and felt a pride for the whole school. Working with the administration of the school, being an advocate for the children and for the school itself, and being a friend to the teachers and children was most rewarding. I am now on the Jubilee Board of Directors, have helped witn the Dedication of our two buildings and am in the process of working to raise funds for the programing in those buildings. Jubilee is in the stage of growing-up. In our teen years we must expand our Board, raise funds in new areas, and keep-up with our expanding programing. Working with Juhilee has been a very special part of my life and an opportunity to "give back" to the Community. It has given me special friends and a deeper understanding of people, needs, and cultural differences. The more I heap into it's basket, the greater the gifts I find in mine.

Jubilee is a dedicated volunteer organization that is transforming a 62 block lower-income area of Dallas by dealing with all aspects of poverty (education, crime, housing, mentoring, child-care, etc.). The volunteers and staff are all highly motivated and focused on providing long-term solutions to breaking the cycle of poverty in this neighborhood.

I enjoy helping out with the kids after school . They are all such great childrren and I am looking forward to continuing to spending time with them.

I learned about the Jubilee neighborhood through my church, St. Michael and All Angels a few years ago when my family volunteered a couple of weekends to help with small jobs to help the neighbors fix up their houses. My boys were very little, and I do not know how much we really helped. What we did do, however was become familiar with an area of town that we might not have been introduced to otherwise. Time marches on, and after those few weekends, we hadn't been back until recently when my now 4th grade son, helped host a Halloween Party for the families in the neighborhood. I was so moved by the positive growth in the neighborhood, that I immediately signed up to tutor and read at OM Roberts each week. I find myself counting the days until I can go back! Thank you to Carrie Clark, Director of Volunteers, for the detailed and enthusiastic tour that she gave me recently. She is a wonderful advocate for the neighborhood, and has a huge heart for the plight of this part of town. I think that her childhood in New Orleans and her exposure to the 9th Ward generated her calling to be a part of this community in such a positive way.

The Jubilee Park neigbhorhood is a neighborhood in change thanks to the work of Jubilee Park & Community Center. JPCC has been able to work directly with the Dallas Independent School District to increase test scores in the local school by helping children through one on one tutoring. JPCC has helped to reduce crime significantly by working hand and hand with the Dallas Police Department. JPCC has increased the green spaces and given the neighbors a safe place to play and gather. JPCC is focused on creating a strong community for all people living in the neighborhood.

Jubilee is a beacon of hope for the surrounding Fair Park community. With thousands of volunteers and dedicated Board and Staff members, this organization is able to touch people's lives in different areas - housing, education, public health, and public safety. Thank you to everyone at Jubilee for all that you do!

Jubilee Park and Community Center has been an integral part of our lives since its inception some 11 years ago. The bold undertaking to revitalize this 62 block area of South Dallas has been a huge success primarily due to the generosity of hundreds of donors to fund the operations and thousands of volunteer hours. These selfless acts have made a significant difference in the quality of living for the neighbors many of whom lived in abject squalor. My wife and I have assisted in building the original community center, recruiting task force chairs and workers, neighborhood clean up, cooking and serving holiday meals, tutoring in the grade school, playing Santa and providing gifts for children and providing leadership as Board member and president. The holistic approach taken by this initiative includes a primary focus on education for children, anti-crime cooperation with Dallas PD, healthcare education, community leadeship involvement, and housing. All parts are necessary for the ultimate creation of a self sustaining community. Much has been accomplished and much remains to be done. The real testimony to the success of Jubilee is to hear volunteers say that they are the benefactors of providing their time talent and treasure. Most are blessed and this provides an opportunity to return those blessings as gifts to those less fortunate. It is "loving thy neighbor" in action and seeing tangible results only ten minute from where most of us live in our secure neighborhoods.

I am a new volunteer at Jubilee. The Episcopal documentary on the neighborhood that was produced earlier this year was quite moving and inspirational (link here - http://episcopalchurch.org/multimedia/jubilee/). On a personal level, I was glad to see private charitable efforts partnering with public efforts in addressing these sorts of systemic problems -- neither can have as much success working alone, in my opinion. The staff and volunteers are dedicated and all have clearly been touched by their involvement with Jubilee. It can be easy to live in a cocoon - in Dallas or anywhere - but organizations like Jubilee are helping to break down barriers and engage communities in outreach, understanding and advancement. What a joy to be a part of!

Jubilee Park & Community Center has improved lives and strengthened community since 1997 in a low-income area near Fair Park in Dallas. The area was plagued by crime, housing issues, hunger, lack of educational resources and poor health when the project was begun. Now the crime rate has been reduced by 25% for two straight years. The local elementary school is now ranked Exemplary. Jubilee provides a produce stand to bring fresh produce into the neighborhood, along with a garden to teach children about proper nutrition. There are 7 exercise classes for women of the neighborhood to improve health. Jubilee provides hot meals for all children in the After-School program, some of whom do not get another meal at home. Jubilee has also improved job skills with ESL and computer classes. For 13 years, the wonderful volunteers and staff at Jubilee have improved the futures of the residents of the neighborhood.

As a consultant, I have worked with the Jubilee board and its various committees over the past 4 years and I am always amazed at the progress being made in this little neighborhood. From new construction to the reduction in crime rates, this area has become an example for other neighborhoods in Dallas to follow. Jubilee is proof that change is possible and can be achieved through perserverance, diligence and community involvement.

I have been a volunteer in many capacities from the very beginning. to me what is the most important achievement of Jubilee is that the community has taken our dream to a higher level. I have witnessed parents, who would not even consider a PTA, to become advocates not just for the school, but for the entire neighborhood. When the last DISD bond issue was not handle well at O. M. Roberts, these parents demanded monthly meeting with the District superintendent. They spoke for themselves and got action. This was not happening before Jubilee.

As a volunteer, I have helped with the Senior Citizens Thanksgiving Dinner, the neighborhood clean-up day, the Steering Committee, the Angel Tree Christmas program, and writing for numerous publications about this amazing neighborhood revitalization program. To see the neighborhood elementary school go from the worst performing in Dallas to be rated Exemplary is a testament to the efforts of hundreds of volunteers. When others had relegated the neighborhood children as doomed to be low-performers, the Jubilee volunteers proved them wrong! Big Time.Jubilee was started by the efforts of an outstanding church, Saint Michael and All Angels Episcopal, and now the army of volunteers reaches over the entire city. Senior citizens can watch the children play in the beautiful and safe park. Housing is so improved. Nutrition and health issues are big priorities. When we share communion with residents and volunteers (in English and Spanish), the bond of friendship and humanity is bridged so beautifully.

I joined Jubilee three years ago as chair of the Public Health Task Force. Residents of Jubilee face a myriad of health issues from infant to senior, we see diabetes, hypertension, plumonary disease, & obesity as example. Jubilee is surrounded by a "food desert" with no neighborhood grocery store & limited transportation. With 1000 healthy calories costing $17.00 & !000 unhealthy calories available for $1.75 it is understandable that with financial constraints that dietary input is affected. With the creation of the Children's Community Garden we are able to provide healthy & accessable alternatives in the residents diets. Additionally, the Kids Cafe provides dinner for children who often would have no other meal in the evening. Jubilee is that oasis to the neighborhood where fellowship is ongoing, dreams are realized, & smiles abound.

The community enjoys coming to Jubilee because of the great ESL and Computer classes that we provide. People also like the fact that we fix any computer problems they encounter with their home computers. We also go to their homes and help them set up their internet connection. Since we opened our new building, attendance has been twice as much in both ESL and Computer classes.

I had the privilege of serving on the team responsible for construction of the new Jubilee Park Community facilities. Through my involvement, I was able to witness first hand, the impact that Jubilee has on the community it serves. The care and consideration that was put into each decision was an awesome thing to experience. The level of commitment and dedication that the Jubilee program has for the Community is an inspiring thing to see. Jubilee is a great example of what a few with giving hearts who commit to making an impact can do for an entire community.

I volunteer in the Jubilee neighborhood every week. I enjoy working with the Jubilee staff. Jubilee's vision is education through the life cycle. I see this happening every week. Whether it's the elementary students after school program, lunches for senior citizens, or adult computer classes, Jubilee is committed to changing lives. This is very encouraging!

My son needed a non-profit to research for a school project. He selected the Jubilee Center. We spent a day down there, exploring the facilities and meeting some of the children in the after school program. The teachers and staff there were so gracious and the children were obviously pleased with their program. The new building had not yet opened, and the children were just beginning their seedlings for their upcoming vegetable garden. They spoke with pride about the changes coming at "their" center. I was touched at how much ownership these youngsters had in this organization...with a foundation like this, how can these kids NOT succeed?! What a blessing for these students and their families!

I have been on staff at Jubilee for the past 6 months, and I cannot describe how blessed I am to work with this organization. Each day I witness people of different races, socio-economic backgrounds, and religions work alongside each other...even if we do not all speak the same language. The community outreach of this organization is phenomenal! I've never seen anything like it! It is amazing to see what great work can be done with groups of volunteers, donors, and community partners!

As a Jubilee member I have experienced the learning experience of children of diffferent age groups. I have exercised encouraging students to count with their fingers while engaging math. Also word pronounciaction; by reading along with students or reading before them to give the general ideal of how to pronouce a word while reading.

As a volunteer at Jubilee Park and Community Center, I feel extremely happy to be able be participate of this great cause. Volunteering at Jubilee has been the most rewarding volunteering I have ever done. I am currently working as a tutor/assistant with the 3rd grade after school program, and just having the kids smile and run to hug me, and ask for help with their homework every time they see me, is an accelerating feeling that has me wishing I could do this all day long. Just driving trough the community can give one an idea of how much the help is needed in this area, but Jubilee is sure to provide breath of hope to the families that participate in this program.

Jubilee is reaching its neighborhood in new and exciting ways! Come be a part of this organization's awesome outreach! Jubilee is changing lives!

I am amazed at how Jubilee Park & Community Center successfully changes the lives and futures of the residents of Jubilee with a small staff. The reason is the large number of volunteers that provide so many hours of support. Among them are tutors and readers in the local elementary school. It was one of the lowest rated in the DISD and is now exemplary for two years. The opening of the new Walt Humann-T. Boone Pickens Community Center has provided oppotunities to greatly expand programs for children and adults.