Dallas has an online dashboard to connect new immigrant residents with resources and programs to improve their quality of life.

About 23% of residents are immigrants and about 42% speak a language other than English at home, according to the city of Dallas.

The Welcoming Communities and Immigrant Affairs Office was established in 2018 to connect Dallas’s diverse immigrant communities with existing residents.

In 2019, Dallas became the first certified welcoming city in Texas. The certified welcoming status is given by Welcoming America, a national nonprofit organization that evaluates local efforts to establish an inclusive community through government leadership, civic engagement, equitable access, education, economic development and connected and safe communities.

The Community Resources Welcoming Hub is an online dashboard residents can access to find information, organizations, programs and services.

The dashboard is divided into 10 categories: food, housing, goods, transit, health, money, care, education, work and legal. Residents can filter by ZIP code and topic to find the help they need.

For example, in the area of food, the site provides lists of free food pantries, community gardens, programs to learn how to cook healthy foods, free food programs for pregnant women, and where to apply for food assistance. The lists include hours of operation, addresses, websites and contact information.

The dashboard provides a list of places where residents can sign up for free English as a Second Language classes. The same goes for those who want to get their GED, learn a new skill or become professionally certified.

Users can customize the dashboard to their preferred language. More than 30 languages are available. Residents can add filters, such as gender, age group, ethnicity and disabilities, to find available programs or information that fits their needs. The site is constantly updated.

For more information about the Community Resources Welcoming Hub, visit https://communityresources.dallascityhall.com/.

DALLAS — Dallas police are investigating a large-scale jewelry heist in East Dallas over the weekend. The family who owns the store claims the thieves stole more than $600,000 worth of merchandise from the business.  

Surveillance video shows how a quiet Sunday for Angel Cuenca shattered in just 30 seconds after four men started smashing his family’s jewelry displays inside the El Rancho supermarket in East Dallas.

“I felt completely helpless. They went for the two showcases with the most valuable jewelry,” Cuenca told CBS News Texas.

Three of the suspects wore masks and one showed his face. Cuenca said the men walked away with about $600,000 worth of merchandise. 

“A $15,000 chain. We had $13,000 bracelets that were taken,” he explained.

He says the heartbreak of the crime was hard for his mother, Lucy, who opened the store in 2009 and built it from the ground up. 

“It’s very heartbreaking, obviously, because, you know, my mother put her blood, sweat and tears into this, and she came to this country at 17,” Cuenca said. 

Cuenca says he chose not to engage with the thieves in case they were armed. 

“Any type of movement like that, it may have escalated,” he added.

Investigators said earlier this month a similar jewelry heist happened near Houston at the same grocery store chain. Police say the two could very well be related. Cuenca believes a suspect captured on video in Houston is one of the men who robbed his family’s business. 

“Just to come in there and steal, steal the American dream from us. It’s just it’s hard. So, this must have been planned out,” Cuenca suspected.

Cuenca suspects a fifth person could have also been acting as a lookout. He posted the surveillance video to social media, catching the attention of thousands across the county. He hopes the crooks can be caught soon so they can start the new year with piece of mind. 

“We need the surrounding community at Dallas to hopefully help us bring them to justice because, it’s not right,” said Cuenca.

Dallas police have not made any arrests in the case yet and are ask anyone with information to come forward.