The City of Dallas launched a multi-service outreach effort in the Zoo Creek Neighborhood on Wednesday – aiming to educate residents on city services but perhaps most importantly as they relate to COVID-19.
“I didn’t know that I could go online and find a place to get tested if I needed to, so a lot of the information they gave me was pretty helpful,” said resident Mariah Jones.
The Zoo Creek Neighborhood has been a hot spot for COVID-19 cases, according to city-data. Equally important, as a largely minority neighborhood – city leaders said it remains an underserved area when it comes to COVID-19 education, outreach and resources.
“The advocacy is something that we kind of have to drill down on and make sure we know this is not just here locally, you see this nationwide,” said District Four City Councilmember Carolyn King-Arnold.
King-Arnold is helping to lead a city effort to better serve communities of color during the pandemic, which includes things as simple as providing masks and making sure they know where testing sites are located.
“These communities are in need of support – not just at the local level but at the state, county and federal level,” said King-Arnold.
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Code Compliance, Dallas Fire-Rescue and the Office of Homeless Solutions were all among the city departments who took part in the outreach. In addition to providing information, King-Arnold said the hope is it will also help build positive relationships with the community.
*Map locations are approximate, central locations for the city and are not meant to indicate where actual infected people live.
