Dallas dashboard connects immigrant residents with free or reduced-cost services

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/.