Dallas Bethlehem Center, Inc.

Founded in 1948, Dallas Bethlehem Center is a community center that supports families living in our South Dallas/Fair Park neighborhood located in the Queen City Heights Historic District.  Each year, we serve over 10,000 local community members through our three pillars of service - Education, Health & Wellness, and Technology.  Our priority neighborhoods are the 75215 and 75210 zip codes, however we will not turn anyone away if they have a need for services. 

Please click on the Programs tab above to see more details and pictures of our programming.  Thank you!

Our Programs

Education – 

Adult Education – DBC offers adult education opportunities throughout the year.  These sessions are often hosted by partner agencies and include topics of interest to our neighbors.

Youth Education –  DBC provides summer programming for youth in our community.  This summer we launched a Jammin' and Jellin' camp that taught children ages 10-14 how to create canned jams and jellies; and we also hosted a month long educational program for teens from Madison and Lincoln High Schools that combined the preservation of Black history and culture with creative expression.

Health and Wellness - 

Food Pantry – DBC provides supplemental meal support through our food pantry distribution.  Last year we served over 10,000 people through our pantry services. We are a CDP (Community Distribution Partner) with Crossroads (a hub of the North Texas Food Bank). With a focus on distributing healthy food items, DBC often supplements what we receive from Crossroads with healthy protein sources. We also work in partnership with Lovers’ Lane United Methodist Church to distribute almost 100,000 pounds of fresh produce each year.  Last year, DBC moved to a client choice based food pantry.   The Bethlehem Market allows clients to shop for what they need/want and leave what they don't for other families.  The Market is open both weekday and evening hours.  

Family Dinners – Each Tuesday and Wednesday evening, DBC provides a hot, healthy meal for our community.  These free dinners ensure that our families can stretch their food budgets a bit further each week, while also serving as an entry point for a relationship based service model.  Each evening, we serve between 80-100 of our neighbors.  About half are families from the community who are seeking a healthy meal for their children, while also reducing their grocery budget.  The other half are often homeless men and women who come to DBC for a place to cool off, charge their phones, and eat a filling meal before they head back out for the night. 

Grocery Connect – DBC is proud to be a Grocery Connect partner.  Grocery Connect is an innovative partnership with Kroger that brings online grocery ordering and delivery to food deserts.  With help from the Grocery Connect Concierge, our neighbors utilize the DBC computer lab to place an online food order with Kroger.  The order is then delivered to DBC and picked up by our clients.  If a client utilizes DBC as the pickup site, then Kroger waives all fees, delivery charges and tip.  Grocery Connect also allows our neighbors to pay with debit, WIC, SNAP, or cash (a much needed option as almost half of our clients to not access traditional banking systems).  By coupling Grocery Connect with the Bethlehem Market, our neighbors do not need to spend their dollars on items already in the food pantry. Instead, they can focus their funds on supplemental items like protein and fresh fruits and vegetables.

Community Garden  - Restarted last year after being dormant for 4 years, our community garden offers a place for residents and volunteers to join together in planting, harvesting and tending vegetables, flowers and fruits.  Produce grown in the garden is used in our on-site cooking classes and is also distributed to our neighbors. 

 Community Events – It takes a village to raise a child and it takes a community to support each member!  DBC is, at its heart, a community center focused on helping our community thrive.  We hold numerous community events throughout the year that are focused on both providing much-needed services, but also on providing a place to gather and belong. In the spring we host “Eggstravaganza,” in the summer we have a Back to School Fair, in the fall we provide a Community Fair with free mammograms, a children's area, and other services, and in the winter we host an Angel Tree event for all of the children in our neighborhood.

Technology – 

Thanks to support from Grocery Connect, DBC is able to provide a 12 seat computer lab for our community.  This commuter lab provides internet access and a place to access online services.  Each week, Connected Dallas provides "Tech Tuesdays" with computer, workforce, and skills-based classes.