Community groups come together to provide hope after tragic fire in Vickery Meadow displaces refugee families
On Monday, March 4, a fire destroyed the homes of sixteen families and damaged the homes of ten others at Sunchase Square Apartments in the 7200 block of Holly Hill Lane in Vickery Meadow.
Immediately following the fire, the Vickery Coalition Action Team, a coalition of organizations who lead and drive collective support for the Vickery Meadow Community, pulled together resources and support, serving these families with humanity and dignity. Countless individuals showed up to help families retrieve items from their homes and generous people from across Dallas contacted each of these organizations to offer assistance and donations.
Members of the Vickery Coalition Action Team include organizations such as Heart House,
Northwest Bible Church, Park Cities Baptist Church, Temple Emanu-El, Northwest Community Center, Vickery Trading Company, Vickery Meadow Youth Development Foundation and several others.
“To ease the complex process of providing support, Heart House established a Family Relief Fund,” said Lenita Dunlap, Heart House CEO. “It is devastating for us to see our neighbors who have fled war and severe trauma in their home countries, face yet another tragedy here. We have several students from our early childhood education program whose families were directly impacted.”
“Northwest Community Center is honored to stand shoulder to shoulder with those in the
community as we facilitate resources for immediate needs. We continue to be a platform for community members to access long-term support and care in the weeks and months ahead,” said Liz Curfman, Northwest Community Center Director. “We remain hopeful and steadfast in our community’s recovery.”
“The Vickery Meadow community is inextricably tight-knit, both geographically and
emotionally. With more than 50 different dialects spoken in this community, it makes sense for those of us already engaged here to pull together and support the affected families. But we need the greater Dallas community’s support to make lasting impact,” said Stephanie Giddens, Vickery Trading Company CEO.