Dallas, TX
Dallas’ poverty-fighting CitySquare out of funding and will close at year’s end
Dallas nonprofit CitySquare — for decades a leader in the battle against poverty and homelessness — has run out of money to do its work and will go out of business at year’s end.
In an interview Friday with its leaders, I learned CitySquare will devote the rest of 2024 to transferring its many programs, which serve 27,000 people annually, to other neighborhood providers.
CitySquare also expects to turn over its Opportunity Center campus, across Interstate 30 from downtown, to another operator as a hub for poverty-fighting organizations.
“We didn’t have the time we needed to really right the ship,” said CEO Annam Manthiram, who arrived in late August in hopes of creating a new identity for CitySquare. “We kept thinking fundraising would come back early this year and thought the brand was stronger than it was.”
CitySquare’s long-time visionary was Larry James, a champion of the poor who in 1994 became head of the fledgling Central Dallas Ministries, as the nonprofit was originally known.
James grew the operation into a powerhouse responsible for many good works in Dallas — permanent and temporary housing, food resources, health care and job creation. He also educated policymakers and led anti-poverty efforts at the behest of elected officials.
CitySquare was synonymous with James, perhaps too much so. Once he moved from his CEO job to a board seat in 2021, community members who long supported his work also began to move on.
Ongoing cuts in operating costs, staff and programming in the last year or so haven’t kept up with the “millions of dollars decline” in giving, said board chair Lewis Weinger.
Weinger and Manthiram told me CitySquare’s prospects were further hurt by a lack of financial transparency to the board and donors after James’ retirement and by “culture-workplace issues.” They said they could not provide details of those issues because of HR considerations.
This month, the leadership team and board decided the best outcome for the neighbors who rely on CitySquare’s services was to go public with plans to cease operations and enlist partners to take over the work at year’s end.
CitySquare’s main campus, on Malcolm X Boulevard just south of Interstate 30, provides services such as a food pantry, workforce training and a community resource center. Also on the site are 50 cottages that shelter a fraction of the 500 neighbors in its housing programs.
The best news in this grim moment is that local philanthropic foundations have CitySquare’s back and will provide funds to carry the nonprofit and its programs through the year.
Wayne White, president and CEO of the Communities Foundation of Texas, told me Friday he and others have met with CitySquare leaders to determine how best to ensure neighbors don’t lose services. He said his team “is committed to working with funders and nonprofits to address the gap that will exist once CitySquare winds down their work.”
When I profiled Manthiram in February, she had a sense of the financial problems, but she believed she would have three years to turn things around. “I didn’t anticipate as big of a budget shortfall as actually existed,” Manthiram said, “and the board didn’t know the budget deficit was as large as it was.”
For example, the board had been told the shortfall in CitySquare’s $39 million budget for 2022 was $1.6 million. Manthiram discovered the deficit was $3.2 million. Despite her cost-cutting after arriving in the last quarter of 2023, the nonprofit expects final numbers to show it finished last year with a $2 million deficit.
The previous CEO, John Siburt, took the job in January 2021 after serving as CitySquare president for five years. He left in December 2022 and is now president of Timberview Farmstead in Fort Worth. CitySquare’s chief financial officer and chief development officer at the time, both of whom had been on staff for only a couple of years, also left in 2022.
“There was no intentional hiding of the financial situation,” Siburt told me Saturday. He did not comment on the workplace-culture issues beyond saying “the need to change the CitySquare model created tension at times.”
In separate interviews, Siburt and James said CitySquare’s aggressive attempts to keep people housed during the pandemic triggered an unsustainable financial picture. “I took responsibility for overextending us during COVID,” Siburt said. He later chose to leave the organization “out of a belief that both CitySquare and I could benefit from a fresh start.”
James said the nonprofit many times tried to do too much. “We would see the need and we were sure filling that gap was the right thing to do.”
For example, with struggling residents further crippled by COVID, CitySquare paid the rents and mortgages of hundreds of people and operated 1,000 apartments as permanent supportive housing. Once pandemic-related funding dried up, the nonprofit continued the program with the misguided belief fundraising would catch up.
Weinger described it like this: “Larry could pick up the phone to a few very generous donors and say, ‘This is the check I need each of you to write.’ We didn’t have that path forward any more.”
After James’ departure, Weinger said, a lack of faith and mistrust developed. “It became sort of a Catch-22 that, once Annam was on board, didn’t give her the time to show what we could do.”
Manthiram didn’t uproot her two school-age sons and leave a good job running an Albuquerque homeless services agency to be part of closing down a venerable nonprofit in Dallas.
But with no other apparent choice, she is determined CitySquare’s programs stay in place and its 85-member staff continues its work — eventually under other nonprofits. “My goal now is putting together a transition team to figure out which community-based groups are the best for the neighbors,” Manthiram said. ”Perhaps community partners will even more effectively lift neighbors out of poverty and homelessness than we’ve been able to do in the last few years.”
The Opportunity Center property likely will become even more valuable once the proposed redesign and expansion of I-30 is complete. CitySquare leadership is adamant any new owner maintain the programming without gentrifying the neighborhood.
CitySquare could have sold the building and land to provide funding to get through this year, Weinger said. “But then what about next year?”
Manthiram is heartened that this transition will put neighbors first and avoid gaps in services. “A favorite verse of mine is ‘With God all things are possible,’” she said. “Right now this feels like the right decision.”
At least four people were injured after a vehicle drove into a crowd of people in Dallas on Thursday evening.
Dallas police responded to an “Assist Officer call with an Ambulance” at approximately 7 p.m. in the 300 block of West Davis Street.
Authorities learned that a vehicle drove into a crowd, injuring multiple people. At least four have been taken to a local hospital for treatment. Police said no one was in critical condition.
The driver of the vehicle was arrested at the scene, police said. Authorities are still working to determine if this driver could have been drunk or if this could have been a medical episode.
According to police, there is no indication that the crash was terrorism related.
The investigation is ongoing.
This story will be updated as we learn more.
Dallas, TX
FOX’s Kasper Schmeichel compares England to Dallas Cowboys, so who are their other sports analogs?
Scottish World Cup fans reportedly drink Boston dry
Dana Perino announces that Scottish World Cup fans have caused an unprecedented beer shortage in Boston, emptying bars and liquor stores. Jesse Watters playfully observes that Europeans visiting America seem to “love it,” despite negative media portrayals, while Greg Gutfeld adds a satirical comment about “liberal mayors” and local resource management, contrasting Boston’s beer woes with LA’s water and Chicago’s Bears.
FOX Soccer analyst Kasper Schmeichel came prepared for this year’s World Cup on American soil.
The former Danish goalkeeper may not be from around these parts, but that didn’t stop him from dropping an eerily accurate comparison between two overconfident but long-suffering sports programs.
With England and Croatia warming up inside AT&T Stadium, the home of the Dallas Cowboys, Schmeichel decided he would roast two fanbases with one stone, comparing the Cowboys to the Three Lions with a hilarious one-liner.
Funny, but also painfully true if you’re a supporter of either team.
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I made a comparison last week between the English national team and Notre Dame, but Schmeichel got me thinking, who are the sports analogs to England from the four major North American leagues (NFL, MLB, NHL, NBA)?
Today, I will be doing exactly that, including giving a slightly better NFL comp than the Cowboys (shocking, I know).
Without further ado, let’s piss off our neighbors from across the pond.
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NFL – Chicago Bears
Chicago Bears helmets are displayed before the game against the Las Vegas Raiders at Allegiant Stadium in Paradise, Nev., on Sept. 28, 2025. (Kiyoshi Mio/Imagn Images)
While the Dallas Cowboys are a fine comparison for the English national soccer team, I think I can do one better.
Schmeichel mentioned that England “won it once and have never stopped talking about it,” and although the second part of that statement applies to both, the Cowboys are five-time Super Bowl champions, having won it most recently in January 1996, a good three decades after England.
If you really want a team that more accurately mirrors the hard luck of the English, it would have to be the Chicago Bears.
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They have one Super Bowl win to their name, which came 40 years ago, and really don’t have much else to show for it.
Also, having lived in the DFW area for the better part of a decade, I can confidently say Cowboys fans are a little too arrogant and cocky to be compared to the English.
Sure, England will say things like “it’s coming home,” but they are far more self-deprecating and aware of their faults, even nihilistic in some cases.
The Bears hang onto their history because they know things will inevitably go bad for them on the biggest stage.
Speaking of which…
NHL – Toronto Maple Leafs
Spencer Carbery, assistant coach of the Toronto Maple Leafs, looks on from the bench during the third period against the Washington Capitals at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, Ont., on April 14, 2022. (Kevin Sousa/NHLI via Getty Images)
The Toronto Maple Leafs actually line up with England more closely than either fanbase would like to admit.
While the Leafs have a litany of Stanley Cups to their name, their most recent win was back in 1967, less than a full year after England won their first and only World Cup.
As far as expectations go, both constantly go into their respective tournaments with the weight of the world on their shoulders, only to come crashing down in the most horrific ways imaginable.
For the Leafs, it comes in the form of blowing big leads in the playoffs, while English fans and players alike can’t even hear the words “penalty kicks” without having a mental breakdown.
England and Toronto are both long-suffering cities, but their fans keep showing up expecting a different outcome.
Insanity? No, just sports fandom.
NBA – New York Knicks
Jalen Brunson of the New York Knicks celebrates a three-point basket with Karl-Anthony Towns during Game Two of the 2026 NBA Finals at Frost Bank Center in San Antonio, Texas, on June 5, 2026. (Ronald Cortes/Getty Images)
This one would have been an even better comparison if the New York Knicks hadn’t gone and won the whole damn thing this year, but these two sports teams are still eerily similar.
WHY THE KNICKS, DISRESPECTED BUT CLAWING BACK, TOUCHED A RAW NERVE IN NEW YORK CITY AND ULTIMATELY THE COUNTRY
Think of the Knicks’ 2026 NBA Championship run as a window into what it would look like if England captured a World Cup (on American soil, no less).
Before this year, the Knicks famously had not won a Larry O’Brien trophy in over 50 years, yet they were still considered one of the “blue bloods” of the NBA.
Decades of heartache didn’t change that; it only made their fans more insufferable, but their triumph earlier this month in the NBA Finals exorcised all those demons.
THE ATHLETIC BEWILDERINGLY CELEBRATES ‘ZOHRAN MAMDANI SPORTS SUMMER’ AFTER NEW YORK KNICKS WIN NBA FINALS
A win in the World Cup Finals would probably do the same for England fans, as you could probably feel that sigh of relief from the other side of the Atlantic.
MLB – New York Mets
New York Mets outfielder Juan Soto reacts after scoring a run on an RBI double by infielder Bo Bichette against the San Francisco Giants during the first inning at Oracle Park in San Francisco, Calif., on April 2, 2026. (Robert Edwards/Imagn Images)
Hello again, New York.
The Big Apple certainly has its fair share of winners, but it also has plenty of franchises that are aching to make a trip back down the Canyon of Heroes, none more so than the Mets.
Year after year, the Mets are near the top of MLB in terms of spending, with little to show for their efforts.
WATCH THE WORLD CUP FINAL ON FOX ONE
They won a World Series back in 1986 and have been chasing that high ever since.
The common thread between England and the Mets (along with all the other teams on this list) is expectations relative to results, and it seems like the Mets are sort of a Schrödinger’s baseball franchise in that regard, expected to both compete for a World Series with their high-priced talent and flame out in spectacular fashion all the same.
FOX ONE’S NEW WORLD CUP VIEWING EXPERIENCE
England always has flashy players heading into World Cup play, but the results haven’t been there, and they’ve often been sent home in brutal fashion, offering a great parallel to the Mets’ clockwork-like midsummer swoons and late-season meltdowns.
Guerrocastillo was taken into custody without incident and charged with Prohibited Weapon, a third-degree felony; Unlawful Carrying of a Weapon, a class A misdemeanor; Possession of Marijuana under two ounces, a class B misdemeanor; and Public Intoxication, a class C misdemeanor.
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