Dallas, TX
Here’s what’s happening on the old Pearl C. Anderson property
This summer Watermark South Dallas will celebrate three years of Sunday services and five years since we purchased the former Pearl C. Anderson Learning Center. Watermark’s involvement in South Dallas started over 15 years ago with various Watermark members serving alongside South Dallas leaders through several nonprofit organizations. Then, in 2019, after DISD placed several shuttered schools up for public auction, Watermark acquired the current property in the “as-is” condition as the only bidder. The next year was spent removing about 70 cubic tons of debris and conducting significant environmental abatement and repairs.
So far, we’ve finished about 24,000 square feet of the 190,000-square-foot property. We have worked to honor the legacy of Pearl C. Anderson in the South Dallas community through the ways we have preserved certain aspects and designs within the building. The heart of our campus is the original cafeteria from the Pearl C. Anderson Learning Center, which will hopefully feel familiar to all former students and faculty who visit.
Our first church service was on June 20, 2021. Three years later, we welcome about 120 adults and 60 kids and students each Sunday. Throughout the week, we hold men’s and women’s Bible studies, host community events, and try to be good neighbors by serving our surrounding areas with initiatives like trash cleanup days and summer day camps for kids.
Beyond church services, our goal has been to use the space to meet the needs of the surrounding community through providing meeting spaces for Young Life, Fellowship of Christian Athletes and other organizations. On Wednesdays and Saturdays, the Dallas Tigers host youth sports games, and our fields are filled with the sounds of players, coaches and fans taking part in a time-honored Texas tradition: football. Two ministries, Watermark Community Development Corporation and Watermark Health, operate consistently at our church as well.
Watermark Community Development Corporation provides services to financially empower the community, including financial education, matched savings programs, job placements, career training workshops and business owner support. So far in South Dallas, Watermark Community Development Corp. has had the privilege to work with 152 participants to purchase 12 strategic assets such as homes, vehicles, educations, or business assets, and gain access to $87,800 in matched funds to further economic opportunities. We’ve seen 154 job placements through our Job Connection Program, pairing each career seeker with a mentor who walks with them through their first six months of employment for support and encouragement. Forty-one local businesses have participated in the Business Cohort, a 10-week class for entrepreneurs, and we have invested $192,000 of cash, in-kind services and grant funding to help see these businesses continue to thrive and contribute to the community.
Watermark Health operates a mobile clinic on our campus twice a week, providing care for urgent and chronic medical conditions such as treatment for cough or cold, minor injuries or pain, various infections, school physicals and hypertension management.
Most recently, Watermark Health has been able to offer a vision clinic with free lenses for students as they return to school. In partnership with Texas Health Resources, we have added a blood pressure kiosk to our lobby to allow residents the ability to take their blood pressure regularly and connect with services for follow-up care. All services are provided for free, with no insurance required.
To date, over 2,000 patients have been cared for through our mobile clinic in the South Dallas area as we seek to treat our neighbors’ physical needs and care for them spiritually and emotionally. A secondary goal of the mobile clinic is to help keep our city’s emergency rooms from being overcrowded with non-emergent needs. More than 30% of patients indicated they would have gone to the ER if Watermark Health’s services weren’t available, and 36% said they would have had no access to care.
Over these last five years, we have learned much from the South Dallas community and are so grateful for the patience, hospitality and partnership many have shown us. We have had the opportunity to host weddings, funerals, trainings and networking events on our campus, and met with dozens of community and church leaders and local non-profits to continue to find additional ways to collaborate.
During community meetings over the last few years, South Dallas residents consistently identified four major community needs: healthcare, jobs, food, and youth development.
To those ends, from 2022 to 2024, we pursued a zoning change to adapt our building for additional uses to meet some of these needs – specifically zoning that would allow us to provide a more robust approach to medical care and food access as well as vocational training and job opportunities.
While our zoning request was ultimately denied in early 2024, we plan to meet the same needs the community identified, but within a more limited scope.
We will continue to host weekly church services and community events and operate Watermark Health’s mobile clinic. We also intend to expand the Watermark Community Development Corporation’s involvement through job training, financial services, and economic empowerment initiatives. Our most immediate project is to renovate an additional 10,000 square feet of the property to accommodate more space for current and future ministry activities.
So, after five years of being a neighbor, we want to say thank you to South Dallas. It’s truly been our joy to learn from other churches, ministries and nonprofits who have been a part of the community for so many years. We have witnessed firsthand the way so many of our neighbors reflect the love of Christ to serve one another and their community.
We’re honored to work collaboratively with you. We hope to continue together for many more years to come.
Todd Anders, Timothy Ateek, Ben Caldwell, Mickey Friedrich, Blake Holmes and Rob Thomas are the elders of Watermark Community Church.
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The search for the next general manager or president of basketball operations of the Dallas Mavericks has begun. They terminated Nico Harrison in November, which was about nine months too late, and gave any available candidates clear notice that they were open for business.
The plan was always to wait until after the season to start the search. While names popped up as the season reached an end, they didn’t begin turning over the staff until the Monday after the season ended. However, Dallas Mavericks fans are not going to like how the team is going about the search.
Patrick Dumont Leading Search for General Manager
NBA insider Jake Fischer reported that the Mavericks are not hiring a search firm in their hunt for a new lead executive. Instead, team governor Patrick Dumont is “acting as his own point person.”
This is an… interesting decision, to say the least. Dumont is not a basketball person whatsoever, and most organizations usually hire a search firm. The Chicago Bulls hired one as they look for their replacement for Arturas Karnisovas. Just because a firm is hired doesn’t mean a team will listen, though.
The Mavericks hired a firm in their last search for a GM. They let Donnie Nelson go in 2021 after a long tenure with the Mavs. Instead of listening to the firm, though, Mark Cuban ignored it to hire Nico Harrison, who had no previous NBA front office experience. Harrison had been an executive with Nike, which gave him connections with players like Kyrie Irving, Anthony Davis, and plenty of others.
For a while, that seemed to be working out okay. While he still had some questionable transactions, such as trading for Christian Wood and letting Jalen Brunson walk in free agency, they were still able to make a run to the NBA Finals in 2024. Then, he blew it all up, trading away Luka Doncic for an older and injured Anthony Davis, and the team hasn’t been the same since.
It’s imperative that the Mavericks get this hire correct. The interim Co-GM setup with Matt Riccardi and Michael Finley has performed admirably, but the 2026 NBA Draft is important for the Mavs to get right. It’s their best chance to pair Cooper Flagg with another young star, as they don’t own their first-round pick again until 2031 after this.
Hiring the right GM could help bring in more draft capital by bringing in bad contracts or flipping veterans into picks.
Dumont was able to convince Rick Welts, a Hall of Famer, to come out of retirement to be the CEO and lead the charge for a new arena. Maybe Dumont pulls another rabbit out of his hat for the GM.
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For a moment, it looked like FC Dallas was on its way to another statement win at home tonight.
Petar Musa scored two first half goals, to extend his Golden Boot leading tally to nine goals. But after Dallas grabbed control, the Galaxy found a way back before halftime with goals from Lucas Sanabria and Joseph Paintsil.
The second half brought more chances and more frustration for Dallas, which finished the night with 13 shots to LA’s nine. In the end, the point stretched Dallas’ unbeaten run to five games, though just like last week, it felt like another match where Dallas left points on the table.
Key Moments
7’ – GOAL! After a poor pass back by a LA defender, Petar Musa was free to go one-on-one with the LA goalkeeper. After a touch to get ahead of a defender, Musa slotted home his eighth goal of the season from outside the penalty box.
21’ – Offside! Joaquin Valiente sent a floating ball over the Galaxy defense, where Musa was able to get behind the defense and make an easy play for what appeared to be his second goal of the night. The play was called offside despite a fairly lengthy review period.
38’ – GOAL! This one counts! Musa gets his second of the night off a great ball from Chris Cappis. Logan Farrington picked off the ball in the midfield. He then played Cappis wide to the left of the penalty area. Cappis immediately played a ball back across the goal for Musa to slide in and finish for his ninth of the season.
43’ – Goal LA. Lucas Sanabria got the ball near the top of the penalty area. He took a couple of touches to get outside the penalty box before firing a shot that beat Michael Collodi at the near post.
45+4’ – Goal LA. Gabriel Pec got the ball near the top of the penalty area. He pulled the ball back a bit, which caught a pair of Dallas defenders. This allowed Joseph Painstil to get free behind the Dallas defense as Pec played him through inside the penalty area. Pec immediately smashed home a shot above Collodi to tie the game.
75’ – Another offside goal. This time on a corner kick for Dallas, after a scrum in the penalty box, Kaick hammered home what looked to be the go-ahead goal. But after a few seconds the flag was raised due to a deflection on Osaze Urhoghide, who was in an offside position.
Instant Reaction
Yeah, this is another disappointing result for this team. In a real way, it felt like the first half against Houston from last month. Dallas grabbed the lead, looked in control, but some defensive miscues opened the game up for the visitors to climb back.
With a double-game week coming up, this will certainly be another game where Dallas will wonder ‘what if’ more than anything else…especially when you factor in the two goals called off for offside.
About the Subs
Eric Quill went to his bench for the first time in the 66th minute, as he brought on Santiago Moreno for Logan Farrington. Quill went to his bench again 81st minute with Ran Binyamin and Nolan Norris coming on for Sebastien Ibeagha and Deedson. The final sub came during stoppage time with Herman Johansson and Joaquin Valiente coming off for Sam Sarver and rookie Nick Simmonds, who made his MLS debut.
Man of the Match
No question about it tonight, it has to be Musa.
Where does this fit into the season
As of this writing, the draw puts Dallas into a three-way tie for 5th place with Real Salt Lake and Seattle. Both are in action right now and look firmly in control of their games. I’d expect Dallas to be in 7th place by the end of the night.
What’s next for FC Dallas
Dallas wraps up a three-game homestand next Wednesday night as they host Minnesota United.
Dallas, TX
Akheem Mesidor selected by Cowboys by Blogging The Boys in SB Nation’s community mock draft
Akheem Mesidor, Edge, Miami
Pass rush has been an issue since the Micah Parsons trade. The Rashan Gary trade helped, but Dallas still needs an injection of talent. Akheem Mesidor fits here because his body size allows for some versatility inside and out, something DC Christian Parker utilizes. Mesidor is also a high-motor player with a deep bag of pass rush moves.
His last season at Miami was full of disruption in the offensive backfield and he shows an all-around game, not just a bend-around-the-edge pass rusher. Yes, he’s a little older than you’d like in a rookie (25), but his motor, pass rush toolbox, and ability to play the run matches up with a need and makes him a quality pick at number 20.
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