Transform Dallas volunteers preserve a special memory

Not just any paint could be used for Shirley Pleasant’s Hamilton Park home. She and her late husband, Clabon E. Pleasant, Sr., chose the colorful combo of sea breeze and white years ago to bring a touch of brightness to their neighborhood. And she wanted to keep it that way. During her husband's illness -- he battled Alzheimer's disease and cancer — she had focused solely on caring for him and keeping their home's interior comfortable. She hadn’t worked on exterior maintenance, she said.

"When you have a person in your home that's been sick for a while -- any length of time like he was with that Alzheimer’s -- you let things go,” she said. "You just let it go."

After her husband's passing in 2013, Mrs. Pleasant wanted to paint the house, but the project required oil-based paint and would be costly. On top of that, house painting was unfamiliar territory. Her husband, a World War II veteran who served in the U.S. Army and earned four Bronze Stars, a Purple Heart and three overseas bars for tours in Normandy, Northern France, Central Europe, and Rhineland, had diligently maintained their home. "He always took care of everything so immaculately,” she said. "I really didn't know anything about painting.”

Through the collaboration between caring Hamilton Park neighborhood leaders and Dallas Leadership Foundation, volunteers gave her home a fresh coat of paint during the Transform Dallas workday. To show her appreciation, she served volunteers pizza and put out lawn chairs where they could take breaks. She said she was also impressed by the young people who pitched in to paint. 

"My prayer has been:  God just help me get through everything I need to get through,” Mrs. Pleasant said. While she’s continuing to adjust to living without her husband, she's grateful for the sea breeze-and-white paint that preserves a priceless family memory.

To learn more about Dallas Leadership Foundation and its community partnerships, or to contribute, visit dlftx.org.

Can well-designed urban areas boost mental health? Absolutely.

May is Mental Health Month. At Dallas Leadership Foundation, we're commemorating this special time because we recognize the connection between mental health and the physical spaces where we live. The connection between mental health and the physical functionality of a neighborhood have never been lost on us. When we partner with community leaders, for example, they often share a laundry list of challenges they want to tackle.

Making the list every time is a neighborhood’s physical condition. In response, we’ve operated cleanups for decades and assisted community leaders in painting houses or landscaping yards. We’ve also partnered with donors who’ve provided the supplies residents need.

Dallas Leadership Foundation volunteers work on a home in one our targeted neighborhoods in Dallas.

Researchers around the globe increasingly are alerting the public about the connection between wellness and living spaces. The Centre for Urban Design and Mental Health launched last year at the British Embassy in Washington, D.C. to discuss the intersection between mental health and urban spaces. Panelists addressed issues such as walkability, reducing commuting time, and access to nature.

In other words, sitting on a park bench with a view, or coming home to a freshly painted house may lift hours of stress. Litter, intrusive power lines and erratic signage in a neglected neighborhood may impact the senses more than many realize. Transportation planning that leans on a car-dependent model may ignore seniors who need safe crosswalks. Food deserts and the lack of walkable, public markets also can take a mental and physical toll on residents.

On Wednesday at dusk, prominent buildings in downtown Dallas will be lit green to commemorate Mental Health Month, according to the National Alliance on Mental Health Dallas. While checking out the green light show, maybe you can consider joining Dallas Leadership Foundation to make our neighborhoods healthier and more beautiful.

We’d love to hear your ideas! Let us know about them in the comments below.

Power Camp: Young people experience Jesus here

Not only are many young people disconnected from the ever-awesome life Jesus offers, but many of them also lack relevant opportunities for Christian growth. They don’t know where to look for help spiritually or whether they should be searching in the first place. In other words, many of them don’t know how Jesus Christ fits into their world.

Through Power Camp, Dallas Leadership Foundation offers the chance for young people ages 10-16 years old to get to know Jesus. Power Camp, which starts June 6, introduces young people to Christ and builds upon that relationship through relevant biblical teaching, field trips, and other social and physical activities so that their awareness of Jesus, themselves, and the world around them increases.

We’ve designed the six-week Power Camp to serve as a real place for young people to grow spiritually and as an affordable program where parents can send their kids for an unforgettable summer. Christ Community, located at 701 Centennial Blvd. in Richardson, will host this year's camp.

Power Camp is a vital initiative for our ministry. Many young people haven’t grasped how they can view Jesus as the Influencer of All Time. Enraptured by a paparazzi-driven, post-Christian culture, youths follow the trials and tribulations of an athlete and shift with the latest trends among their peers. Some of them find greater spiritual solace when a celeb drops a new album drenched in raw emotion than they do from a sermon. Many of them are busy with sports and other activities during the time churches gather. Family problems at home or parents disinterested in God may compound the lack of participation in Christian-oriented activities.

And if young people have a relationship with Christ, many of them may not be growing in their understanding. God may be God to them, but He may be viewed like Someone in a galaxy far, far, far away.

A report released in April by the Barna Group touched upon this in its research. Barna polled senior pastors about the top five elements of youth ministry. Week-long youth camps were ranked second after youth missions. Youth ministry leaders ranked week-long youth camps third, with youth missions and overnight retreats coming in first and second respectively.

Clearly, the immersive nature of youth programs like DLF's Power Camp can play a key role in a young person's spiritual growth. Take time today to register a young person or donate to Power Camp so that DLF can give young people in Dallas a chance this summer to explore the treasures of knowing Jesus!