A Dallas Community Center will close its doors due to the steady rise in COVID-19 cases. The founders of For Oak Cliff said they made the difficult decision after Dallas County elevated its COVID-19 threat to a level red – the highest on the scale.
The center will still hold its annual Back-to-School festival on August 14 using a touchless drive-thru method. All other in-person activities are canceled until further notice.
“We had a phenomenal summer camp taking place and programming with our teens. But we understand that everyone goes home to someone and we don’t know the underlying health conditions of other individuals,” said co-founder Taylor Toynes. “So, we just wanted to make the righteous move to postpone all in-person events.”
Dallas’ Parks and Recreation Department said there’s been no consideration of closing city-run facilities at this point. However, they will continue enhanced sanitation and cleaning, and encourage everyone who enters a recreation center to wear a mask.
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“We’ve continued to encourage face masks within our facilities, promoting hand hygiene. We’ve had a lot of kiddos running around our buildings all summer, so we’re trying to make sure they’re doing as much as possible to be healthy,” said Steven Baker, Senior park manager for Dallas Parks and Recreation.
Toynes said For Oak Cliff’s decision was made with the best interest of the surrounding community in mind.
“The numbers are telling us something and it’s important that we listen to the professionals and we read things and we really have a true understanding,” he said. “We have to be extremely vigilant in how we move forward.”
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For more information on For Oak Cliff's Back to School Festival visit https://foroakcliff.org/
