Learning to heal

There is a shortage of preschools in the Vickery Meadow neighborhood. The Avance program educates young children at Hotchkiss Elementary while their parents gather in a nearby classroom.

oryears,PaulaSanchez’sunrelenting worries about feeding and clothingherfamily,coupledwith concern over dangers of daily life in one of Dallas’ most violent neighborhoods, prevented her from treasuring time with her children.

The young mother’s neighborhood, Vickery Meadow, flanks our own, but the2.86-square-mileareawithits almost 18,000 apartment homes can seem to Lake highlands homeowners like a different world. at least 20 different languages are spokenamongthe36,000Vickery Meadowresidents.Itisoneofthe mostdenselypopulated,ethnically diverseandlowest-incomeareasof Dallas, according to statistics provided by the Vickery Meadow Improvement District,whichformedin 1993 in an effort to curb crime. The average income is $24,000 and average family size is 5.3 persons. as theVMIDcontinuesto build a healthier and safer environment for renters (crime is down 52 percent since itformedanddown 6 percentsince 2008, according to Dallas Police statistics)complementarygroups,suchas the Vickery Meadow Youth Development Foundation, are reaching the heart of the neighborhood — children and their parents — in an effort to heal the community at its core.

In February 2009, Dallas Police pinpointed Vickery Meadow the violent-crime capital of Dallas, reporting more than 350 rapes, assaults or murders for 2008.

For 18 years, the improvement district has been working to increase the quality of life for the residents by partnering with Dallas Police and city officials, hiring off-duty officers to patrol the area, and implementinginteractivepolicingprograms that involve apartment owners.

MarthaStowe,executivedirectorof the VMYDF who is also on the VMID a

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