June is National Homeownership Month. Owning a home is a wealth builder for individuals and families who decide to buy their piece of Americana. Ownership increases personal net worth over time, and pride of ownership creates an essential engine of stability in any community that doesn’t happen when the community is comprised only of renters.

Homeownership enables a city to have a robust tax base that can fund schools and sustain a safe infrastructure. Affordable home ownership allows people to live and work so that they can care for their families and reach their dreams.

In recent years, however, homeownership has declined in Dallas and other U.S. cities. That’s troubling for those who care deeply about their fellow Americans enjoying the benefits of homeownership. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, from the mid-1990s to 2005, homeownership reached a peak. It’s been declining ever since.

In the February 2017 post, “A Close Look at the Decline of Homeownership” on Liberty Street Economics, the authors write that the homeownership rate of 63.4 percent in the third quarter of 2016 was only slightly higher than homeownership in the fourth quarter of 1965 of 63.0 percent.

The authors say that “although there is reason to believe that the homeownership rate may begin to rise again in the not-too-distant future, it is unlikely to fully recover to its previous peak levels. This is a disconcerting finding for those who view homeownership as an integral part of the American Dream and a key component of income security during retirement.”

The Urban Institute, also during February, focused on the decline of homeownership among African Americans specifically. In the post – “Are gains in black homeownership history?” – the authors state that “black homeownership rates have declined to levels not seen since the 1960s, when private race-based discrimination was legal.”

The authors further state that “unless this setback to black homeownership is addressed, black families will rent for more years before homeownership than they did a few years ago. This will shrink the landscape of housing choice available to black families, increase their exposure to displacement, and delay or close off a key wealth-building mechanism. All three of these outcomes will widen the inequality that underlies so many current struggles.”

The observations from Liberty Street Economics and the Urban Institute are staggering. They should rally community leaders, churches, nonprofit organizations, businesses, municipal institutions and other stakeholders. One-size-fits-all approaches that don’t uproot and untangle the problems of our nation’s housing issues won’t work. Most of all, our citizens deserve more than that. 

To engage Dallas Leadership Foundation in solutions-based discussions about homeownership in Dallas, please reach out to us at dlftx.org.

Many neighborhood and group leaders throughout the Dallas area host cleanup, construction and renovation projects throughout the year. They’re sprucing bushes and mowing grass. They’re painting. They’re refurbishing interiors and more. It’s an essential way leaders demonstrate compassionate support for families and the neighborhoods they live in and such projects provide a critical step during the community transformation process.

Projects continue to move forward when they have all of the resources required -- such as committed volunteers for work crews and more than sufficient money for materials. Leaders also require a functional array of tools -- from saws and wheelbarrows to ladders and hammers. It's a fundamental requirement for community projects, and our loan program is another way we at Dallas Leadership Foundation serve the community through DLF Neighborhoods.

Leaders know they can count on us to help supply the tools they need to serve families. We're a reliable resource, and we provide professional tools. It’s a role we cherish because the loan program allows us to leverage our relationships throughout Dallas to obtain the resources leaders need to minister effectively throughout Dallas.

If you’re interested in supporting our tool loan program, please contact dlftx.org for more details.

Troubling news about increased gang violence in Dallas ignited by social media and leading to a jump in drive-by shootings should cause all of us to commit to intercession for our city. According to the Dallas Police Department, more than 122 drive-by shootings have been reported to date, and the bulk of the incidents have happened in southern Dallas.

Overall crime is at a historic low, but crimes such as aggravated assaults and businesses robberies are increasing, the Dallas Morning News reported. And, as the summer months approach, concerns about gang violence continue to rise.

Dallas police acknowledged that there is a growing problem with gangs during its meeting earlier this week with Dallas City Council. The report illustrates that Dallas isn’t immune to the gang violence that has affected other U.S. cities -- from Houston to Chicago to Denver.

From our perspective at Dallas Leadership Foundation, the uptick in gang violence confirms the importance of our mission to co-labor with neighborhood leaders. Neighborhood leaders have a matchless, on-the-ground view of how gang violence grows and spreads. Neighborhood leaders need to be supported not with haphazard support, but intentional, ongoing, best-in-class resources. Every Dallas resident needs to understand that gang violence anywhere in Dallas is a threat to the safety and prosperity of the entire city.

We know how tireless and compassionate neighborhoods leaders are in the face of sustained challenges that affect underserved communities.  We respect their wisdom. They don’t need anyone to jump in to help and overlay their problems with five points and an anecdote from a bestselling business book. They ask for collaborators and partners who’re willing to build relationships with them and the residents in their neighborhood. That’s what we’ve learned after more than 20 years of walking with neighborhood leaders throughout Dallas.

We also respect the wealth of community knowledge they bring. Their understanding can help steer intercessors so that they intercede for neighborhoods not as generalists but as prayer warriors who cry out to Heaven about specific challenges. The sharing of the Gospel and the discipling of committed Jesus followers are the first remedies to resist gang violence.

Gang violence anywhere represents a myriad of embedded problems. To support us as we provide multi-faceted assistance to leaders in Dallas neighborhoods, please consider praying, volunteering, or donating at dlftx.org.

Leading takes many forms. One form that’s often underestimated is the power of friendship. Not friendship with an agenda. Not friendship for just a day. Authentic friends work alongside each other and weather tough times together. As Ecclesiastes 4:9-10 says: 

Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor: 

If either of them falls down, one can help the other up. But pity anyone who falls and has no one to help them up.

At Dallas Leadership Foundation, we intentionally nurture friendships within the communities we serve. Before there’s a program or activity, there’s a friendship. We enjoy being called by name by residents. We like sitting on front porches to chat. We like catching up at lunch or sitting in on a neighborhood meeting. After more than 20 years of ministry in Dallas, we know that with each interaction, we either build a relationship or strengthen one.

Without friendships, our work as a nonprofit organization would have only a top-soil effect that yields temporary results. Here are two examples of why we feel strongly in building relationships in communities.

First, genuine, deep-seated friendship is key when considering the trends in mental health. May is Mental Health Awareness Month, and there are tons of discussion about how to improve the lives of those with mental illness. According to the National Alliance on Mental Health, one in five adults nationwide wrestle with a mental condition, and one in 25 have a serious mental health illness. Individuals in underserved communities often have mental health conditions that go untreated and sometimes these individuals become entangled in the justice system. The Safety and Justice Challenge reports that 14.5 percent of men and 31 percent of women have been admitted to jail have a serious mental condition.

Second, a study released this week by the Barna Group says that 27 percent of individuals with lower incomes are more likely to be lonely and 47 percent say they have no one to call on in an emergency. Twenty percent, according to the report, say they have no friends at all.

If Dallas Leadership Foundation didn’t pursue relationships in the communities we serve through DLF Neighborhoods, or in prison through DLF Reentry, we would miss opportunities to support our friends by connecting them to our networks for an array of services. We also wouldn’t have the chance to just be there for someone in need. We believe it’s what Jesus would have us do, according to John 15:12-15:

My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends if you do what I command. I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you.

Look a young person in the eye. Really look. It’s important that you look. Do you see a leader thriving because of someone’s mentoring or a leader hungry for nurturing?

God may be calling you to invest in that young person. He may want you to be the person that young person calls – whether you’re their parent, friend or the manager at McDonald’s that teaches her how to fry French Fries.

God may want you to be the person who provides a desperately needed opportunity at a critical juncture in a young person’s life. God may need your financial resources to help a young person go to school or afford a place to stay. God also may require your seasoned business experience to help a young person become an entrepreneur.

Directing young people toward success doesn’t manifest in a vacuum, and it doesn’t happen overnight. God gives each young person gifts, but He places them in families, friendships, schools, churches and communities where those gifts can blossom in an atmosphere cultivated by His love.

The alternative to ignoring that young person can mean that God seeks someone else willing to pour into his or her life on the Lord’s behalf. More perilous options may also woo the young person from seeking a productive, satisfying life in Jesus Christ. 

Some youth abandon their aspirations for college and a career. They settle for something less than the promise they showed in grade school and high school. Some pursue violence or struggle to cope with the violence surrounding them. Some eventually find themselves entangled within the justice system. 

Tragically, some are taking their lives, a concern that has many criticizing the 13-episode drama on Netflix called “13 Reasons Why,” a depiction of a teen’s suicide and the 13 audiotapes she leaves about the multiple events that led her to death. And it’s not just teens. On Thursday, CBSNews.com reported that an 8-year-old died by suicide in January. Two days before, the boy had been bullied by fellow students.

Paying attention to the young people around you matters. Mentoring them matters. Loving them matters, and being there for them as God fashions them into the leaders He purposed them to be matters for eternity. 

We've witnessed what happens when young people receive loving support. Through partnerships with schools, our Power Lunch program through Dallas Leadership Foundation's Youth inititiave provides weekly group, peer and individual mentoring to students. Through Power Lunch, DLF has seen a 97 percent graduation rate among participants compared to DISD's graduation rate of 50 percent. Every summer, we see young lives changed after being mentored for six weeks. Within the last three summers alone, our Power Camp has served nearly 400 at-risk youth with over 50 committing to Christ. 

 To learn more about our work with youth through our free summer program Power Camp, or to invest in the life of a young person, visit dlftx.org.