FY 2024 Community Project Funding Requests
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Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett submitted funding requests for important community projects to the House Appropriations Committee for Fiscal Year 2024 (FY24). Community Project Funding are requests for earmarks to support specific community projects as part of the annual appropriations process. Only state, local, or tribal governments, public entities, and 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization may submit these requests. The deadline to submit these requests to Congresswoman Crockett’s office was March 15, 2023. Please note that the following submitted requests are subject to final approval to receive funding by the House Appropriations Committee.
Restrictions on Community Project Funding - Entities are limited to submitting community project funding requests only for those accounts /area listed in committees and subcommittees. Subcommittees will not accept project requests in any other account.
*Submissions for FY24 projects are now closed.*
Subcommittee:
Transportation, Housing and Urban Development
Project Name:
Bonton Farms’ Bexar Street Resource Center
Recipient:
Bonton Farms
6915 Bexar Street
Dallas, TX 75215
Amount Requested:
$600,000
Project Description:
On the Bonton Farms Bexar Street property and within our Tiny Home Village, Bonton Farms plans to construct a 2,000-square-foot resource center to support Bonton Farms housing, residents, and apprentices in our Work Force Development program. The new facility will be home to the only one-on-one counseling rooms in South Dallas, a laundromat, break room, bathrooms, office space, much needed storage space, and the much beloved, Kerry’s Bike Shop. The Center will also house the counseling and mental health services of Bonton Farms' newly redesigned Apprenticeship Program. This program provides pathways to employment and sustainable income to residents of Bonton. The program is self-paced with eight months of curriculum guided by Bonton Farms' T.E.A.C.H.E.S philosophy focused on the following seven human essentials: transportation, education, access to financial tools, community, health and wellness, economic stability, and safe and affordable housing.
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Subcommittee:
Interior, Environment and Related Agencies
Project Name:
City of Lancaster's Wastewater Improvement Project
Recipient Information:
City of Lancaster
211 North Henry Street
Lancaster, TX 75146
Amount Requested:
$4,000,000
Project Description:
City of Lancaster is requesting funding for its City of Lancaster Wastewater System Improvement project. This funding will allow the City to construct over 1 mile of sewer line along Keller Branch to improve capacity and reduce the surcharging conditions. Also, the City looks to accommodate future growth. This project is important as it fulfills the City’s mission statement of delivering sustainable public services and preserving the quality of life. The project seeks to improve the city’s public infrastructure. This project also benefits the taxpayer as it will accommodate the ongoing industrial growth within the City providing job and business opportunities.
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Subcommittee:
Transportation, Housing and Urban Development
Project Name:
Community Lawyering Center (CLC) Permanent Location
Recipient:
University of North Texas Dallas College of Law
106 S. Harwood Street
Dallas, TX 75201
Amount Requested:
$2,500,000
Project Description:
UNT Dallas College of Law Community Lawyering Center (CLC) provides free legal services and programming to assist underserved communities and is seeking $2.5 million in order to purchase a permanent facility. The CLC is engaged in two primary functions both of which will be made permanent and strengthened by the acquisition: 1. Community Lawyering Centers: The Community Lawyering Centers are pro bono services law offices located in under-resourced neighborhoods. Through a collaboration with Legal Aid of NorthWest Texas, law students, under the supervision of faculty attorneys represent individuals who would otherwise be unrepresented in a wide range of cases. 2. Community Engagement Program: The UNT Dallas College of Law partners with local non-profit organizations to utilize law student volunteers to augment and enhance service activities. Through this relationship additional resources are provided to the community partners while law students directly experience the benefit and value of pro bono service. The CLC currently leases space from two non-profit partner organizations, making the center dependent on external support for continued existence and placing the critical pro bono legal services provided by the center at risk. Ownership and control of office space will allow the UNT Dallas College of Law to expand both the direct delivery of legal services and its development of community programming.
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Subcommittee:
Transportation, Housing and Urban Development
Project Name:
Development of the Community Park at Fair Park
Recipient Information:
Fair Park First
3535 Grand Avenue
Dallas, TX 75210
Amount Requested:
$5,000,000
Project Description:
We are requesting funding for the development of the Community Park at Fair Park and support of safe pedestrian crossing. The 18-acre Community Park is the first step to putting the “Park” back in Fair Park. This campaign serves as a positive transformative point in our history. This is the beginning of a decades-long process to revitalize a part of an area the city bulldozed in the early 1970s to make way for parking, erasing a community of homes and businesses belonging to Black families. This is an opportunity to give this space back to the community. The Community Park will include requested amenities from the surrounding residents who participated in selecting the location and helping to design the Park such as Wi Fi, spacious green belts with fountains, splash parks, performance areas, natural Texas landscapes, fitness areas, exercise lawns, and more. Additionally, the park will provide families in nearly 13 neighborhoods with the only access to walkable, 365 day a year community programmed greenspace. The Community Park is expected to have the highest attendance of all Park’s in the City. Well-designed parks contribute to sustainable urban development by improving health and wellness, facilitating a connection with nature, fostering social interaction and inclusion, enhancing connectivity across the urban landscape, and ultimately serving as a catalyst for equitable community revitalization.
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Subcommittee:
Transportation, Housing and Urban Development
Project Name:
East Campus Building Location
Recipient:
Recovery Resource Council
2700 Airport Freeway
Fort Worth, TX 76111
Amount Requested:
$1,045,000
Project Description:
Although RRC has served the mental and behavioral health needs of North Texans for more than 76 years, we do not have a permanent home for our East Campus in Dallas. The current location and its design are not well-suited to meet the needs of our target population, who include persons who use wheelchairs, persons experiencing homelessness, and veterans struggling with post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, and other mental health disorders. Everyone entering the building must sign in at the front desk with a uniformed security guard before being allowed to ride the elevator. This process does not provide a welcoming environment for clients experiencing homelessness who have trauma and are often mistreated by figures of authority and can also be triggering for veterans struggling with mental health disorders. The enclosed space of the elevator can also be a trigger for clients suffering from anxiety, agoraphobia, claustrophobia, and can cause them to panic or relive a past trauma. We hope to remove these barriers in our current location by moving to a space designed to meet our clients’ unique needs and which encourages their healing and recovery and are requesting funding to support the renovations and furnishings of the new building.
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Subcommittee:
Homeland Security
Project Name:
Emergency Warning System Replacement Project
Recipient:
City of Glenn Heights, Texas
1938 South Hampton Road
Glenn Heights, Texas 75154
Amount Requested:
$510,000
Project Description:
The City of Glenn Heights is requesting funding to replace its emergency warning system with new state of the art warning system that is strategically placed throughout an entire community to cover approximately 7+ square miles of land area that spans over two counties: Ellis and Dallas. This project would seek to upgrade the current outdoor warning system with a new system that comprises of voice activation as well as sound sirens. In addition, the technology that would accompany such a system, would also utilize the latest secure monitoring and activation software. In addition this technology will allow the City to break up the warning system in to sections, thus isolating specific emergency warnings to certain areas, where necessary.
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Subcommittee:
Transportation, Housing and Urban Development
Project Name:
Expansion of Lake Ridge Bridge
Recipient:
City of Grand Prairie, Texas
300 West Main Street
Grand Prairie, TX 75053
Amount Requested:
$10,000,000
Project Description:
The City of Grand Prairie requests consideration for funding to expand two roadway bridges crossings of the USACE Joe Pool Lake to provide safe mobility for pedestrians and bicyclist along the Lake Ridge Parkway corridor. The addition of new subdivisions and the recreational nature of this area, bike and pedestrian activity have continued to increase and the original bridges crossing Joe Pool Lake were not designed to accommodate bike and pedestrians. One of the greatest shortcomings of the current Lake Ridge corridor is the lack of multi-modal facilities. With the proximity to the lake, this roadway is a sought-after location for bicycle users, including weekly rides by the Fort Worth Bicycle Association, and by pedestrians for annual running events. In the 2018 Comprehensive Plan Update, this area was identified as a Principal Arterial. The typical section for this type of roadway is six vehicular lanes and includes a ten-foot wide shared-use path on each side, further reinforcing the desire for this location to be both bicycle and pedestrian friendly.
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Subcommittee:
Transportation, Housing and Urban Development
Project Name:
Hampton Road Redevelopment
Recipient:
City of DeSoto, Texas
211 E Pleasant Run Road
DeSoto, TX 75115
Amount Requested:
$3,000,000
Project Description:
The City of DeSoto is redeveloping a mile long section of Hampton Road between Pleasant Run and Belt Line to be a new urban city center with a walkable, pedestrian-friendly environment to spur new development in a blighted area not currently suitable for development. One of the essential public components of this mile-long corridor is the establishment of a Village Green that will reclaim an area that is underutilized and has become a nuisance into a beautiful natural area to spur development around that area. This request will allow for the acquisition of 6 parcels that are needed to reclaim the Village Green area and preserve it for natural elements.
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Subcommittee:
Transportation, Housing and Urban Development
Project Name:
Judge Charles R. Rose Community Park
Recipient Information:
Trust for Public Land
3000 Pegasus Park Drive
Dallas, TX 75247
Amount Requested:
$8,000,000
Project Description:
In partnership with the City of Dallas and residents of the Highland Hills neighborhood, Trust for Public Land (TPL) is developing the 40-acre Judge Charles R. Rose Community Park. Located in the Highland Hills neighborhood on Simpson Stuart Rd. near Bonnie View, this new park will serve the 15,971 residents who live in adjacent census tracts and attract visitors from across the City of Dallas to experience the park's beauty and unique natural features. TPL is currently building Phase 1 of the park, and funding received will allow Phase 2 of construction to begin. This phase will include two sports fields, a second signature pavilion, a half-mile paved walking trail, a signature bridge over the creek which bisects the park, and other features requested by the community.
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Subcommittee:
Transportation, Housing and Urban Development
Project Name:
Martin Luther King, Jr. Community Center Enhancements
Recipient:
City of Dallas, Texas
1500 Marilla Street
Dallas, TX 75201
Amount Requested:
$2,500,000
Project Description:
The Martin Luther King, Jr. Community Center has a long history of caring for the residents of South Dallas/Fair Park. Organized into a campus with 5 buildings, the Center serves more than 300,000 Dallas residents annually, and acts as a community hub with meeting and event space. However, the Center has not kept pace with the growing community; it is out-of-date and in need of enhancements to improve service delivery. This project will improve the interior of the main building, including a teaching kitchen, enhanced computer lab and production room, improved storage, a reconfiguration to conference and meeting space and creation of new flex spaces, improved restrooms, and better accessibility, including replacement of the current slick and slippery flooring. In addition, the City wants to expand an existing facility, or build a new facility with clinic facilities to house mental health and WIC services.
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Subcommittee:
Transportation, Housing and Urban Development
Project Name:
Renovation of Park South YMCA
Recipient:
The YMCA of Metropolitan Dallas
146 Town Center Blvd
Coppell, TX 75019
Amount Requested:
$2,000,000
Project Description:
This facility is in dire need of a complete revitalization to optimally address the population’s widening gaps among health and wellness, education, economic opportunity, safety, and quality of life in Southern Dallas. To improve the equity of services and facilities in Southern Dallas County and ensure equitable access to the essentials needed to become thriving members of the community, it is critical to build a new Park South Family YMCA facility. Finalizing construction drawings in the first quarter of 2023 for the new Park South YMCA and to be shovel ready by September 2023. We expect the building to be open in early 2025.
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Subcommittee:
Transportation, Housing and Urban Development
Project Name:
Southern Gateway Park
Recipient:
Southern Gateway Public Green Foundation
633 W. Davis St., #227
Dallas TX 75208
Amount Requested:
$7,000,000
Project Description:
This project will provide a catalyst for economic growth in an economically disadvantaged area, provide needed greenspace, and reconnect communities divided by the construction of a major interstate in the 1950s. This project will create a beautiful and sorely needed park in an area of Dallas that lacks sufficient greenspace. In addition, by adopting and implementing an equitable development plan, the Southern Gateway Public Green Foundation, which is building and will manage this park, is working to ensure that the benefits provided will lead to equitable and inclusive growth for the entire community. The Foundation is dedicated to ensuring that the design of the park and the programming it provides are inclusive and representative of the many cultures and needs represented in Oak Cliff. In addition, the Foundation continues to push for solutions on the city, state, and private level to ensure that current residents can partake in and benefit from the economic growth that we are confident will occur.
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Subcommittee:
Commerce, Justice, and Science
Project Name:
Technical Improvements at the DeSoto Regional Jail
Recipient Information:
City of DeSoto, Texas
211 E Pleasant Run Road
DeSoto, TX 75115
Amount Requested:
$200,000
Project Description:
This project includes improvements to the DeSoto Regional Jail to include replacement of the current analog communications (intercom) system used for communication between inmates and Jail staff as well as the internal video/audio monitoring system. These systems are extremely important in ensuring the health and safety of both the Jail’s inmate population and its staff.
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Subcommittee:
Transportation, Housing and Urban Development
Project Name:
US Highway 67/Tidwell Bridge and Intersection Improvements
Recipient Information:
City of Cedar Hill, Texas
285 Uptown Blvd, Bldg #100
Cedar Hill, TX 75104
Amount Requested:
$10,000,000
Project Description:
Funding is requested to replace/widen the bridge, as well as provide ramp and intersection improvements at Tidwell Street and U.S. Highway 67 in Cedar Hill, Texas. The existing bridge is only two lanes and serves Tidwell/Parkerville Roads, a four lane arterial as well Highway 67, a six lane freeway. The bridge serves as a major connector for east and west areas of the City and links many neighborhoods and businesses to the US Hwy 67, downtown and the commercial and services district. The bridge and intersection already serve as bottlenecks for existing traffic but significant active development and growth in the area will greatly exasperate the bottleneck making the need for greater capacity and traffic flow a big priority. Significant commercial development near the bridge is already underway. Most notably, Texas Health Resources (THR) recently purchased 40 acres at this intersection and will construct a full service hospital, making the intersection a major route for emergency EMS traffic. Desired improvements include widening the bridge to four lanes with U turn lanes for north and south bound traffic (Texas turns). Also desired are the reconfiguration and reversal of on and off ramps from Hwy 67 to and from the intersection.