By Gabrielle Beechert and Sofia Barnett
Reco Dotson, who has lived in Dallas for the past 30 years, knows about Texas summers. He also knows some who are fighting it with nothing more than a fan.
The high temperatures, he said, can be hard for senior citizens and people with all types of medical conditions.
“Texas heat does not care about your age,” Dotson said.
That’s why Dallas officials and Reliant Energy announced Tuesday they’re renewing their Beat the Heat partnership to help city residents survive the summer heat.
The West Dallas Multipurpose Center, 2828 Fish Trap Road, and the Martin Luther King, Jr. Community Center, 2922 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., will serve as cooling hubs with water and snacks for the summer.
Residents can also apply for a free window or portable air conditioning unit of their own.
The free AC initiative began during the pandemic, said Leanne Schneider, senior director of community relations for Reliant. Her team recognized people still needed ways to stay cool when it was not safe to gather in public spaces.
Dallas City Council member Omar Narvaez, who represents District 6, said that the city’s partnership with Reliant will help residents who can’t afford to keep cool because of concerns over high electricity bills and the high price of air conditioning units.
“I don’t know if you’ve gone to the store recently to look for one … they can be very, very pricey and for some of our residents, it’s just out of reach for them to be able to afford,” Narvaez said.
This year, Reliant has donated 150 evaporative cooling units and 50 portable air conditioners to the two city centers.
Ashley Hutto, manager of the West Dallas Multipurpose Center, said only Dallas residents are eligible to apply for an air conditioning unit. Community members with disabilities, senior citizens and families with young children are prioritized. Hutto said residents can apply for a unit at the multipurpose center or over the phone if transportation is an obstacle.
“The way we do it here in West Dallas is, you fill out an application and then we distribute each Friday 10 to 12 units,” she said. “We have products throughout the summer to be able to address emerging needs as the summer goes on.”
Hutto said the center was able to meet “all but about 15 people’s needs” last summer, and that some community members even contributed to the cooling efforts themselves by donating additional air conditioning units to be redistributed.
Dotson spent Tuesday at the West Dallas center, enjoying its accommodations, which included a catered barbeque lunch, he said.
“Oh, yeah, it’s a nice place. Very friendly. Yeah, they feed you … [it’s] a good place to come in and cool out from the heat and relax your mind, get your thoughts together and meet new friends,” he said.
Schneider noted that Reliant’s partnership with the city includes a bill assistance program specifically for Reliant customers. Others seeking bill assistance can call 211 if they are in Texas or go to 211texas.org to find and contact agencies that can help pay electricity bills, she said.
Cooling centers and distribution of portable ACs could play a crucial role for Dallas residents this summer given how hot previous summers have been. Last year’s summer was the second-hottest in Texas history and Dallas-Fort Worth’s third-hottest. The National Weather Service has also predicted that this summer will be hotter than normal. In August from 8 a.m. to 9 a.m., there will be a small chance of both an electrical grid emergency and rolling black outs due to high usage rates, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, said.
“One thing I want to make sure we all agree on is no one should put their health at risk by choosing not to run their AC when the weather gets hot because they are afraid of high electricity bills,” Schneider said. “It’s not safe, and we want to make sure people are running their AC when they need to.”
The West Dallas Multipurpose Center, located at 2828 Fish Trap Road, is open 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. Friday and 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday. The Martin Luther King, Jr. Community Center, located at 2922 MLK Boulevard, is open 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday to Friday and 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday. Both facilities are closed Sundays, according to their websites.
This story, originally published in The Dallas Morning News, is reprinted as part of a collaborative partnership between The Dallas Morning News and Texas Metro News. The partnership seeks to boost coverage of Dallas’ communities of color, particularly in southern Dallas.
