Where we live matters. Our address determines whether we have easy access to fresh food, clean air, and recreational facilities. It determines whether our children will have access to quality education, and there is also compelling research that suggests our zip code is the single most significant predictor of our life expectancy. In short, where we live influences our ability to realize the American dream.
Since 2005, ICP has helped low-income families achieve economic success by addressing the barriers to affordable housing in high opportunity areas that offer a clear path to good schools, safe neighborhoods, gainful employment, and healthy living environments.
ICP provides direct services to families with Section 8 Housing Choice Vouchers and supports this effort through housing initiatives that expand housing and advocacy activities that promote and support the Fair Housing Act.
ICP is a 501(c)(3) corporation, and contributions are tax-deductible as allowed by law. The office is located at 3301 Elm Street, Dallas, Texas 75226. Inquiries about the organization should be addressed to info@inclusivecommunities.net.
Our Mission
The Inclusive Communities Project (ICP) is a nonprofit organization that works to create and maintain inclusive communities by expanding fair and affordable housing for low-income families and redressing the harmful effects of racial discrimination and segregation.Our Vision
ICP envisions an America where equality is created and sustained in community through access to good schools, affordable housing, safe neighborhoods, and economic opportunity. ICP wants to be a resource to those who share that vision by providing information about where those opportunities exist in the North Texas area, where they don’t, and why. We will work with individuals and families seeking to secure the benefits of such communities, unfettered by discrimination and prejudice. And we will advocate and promote policies and practices that are consistent with this mission of inclusiveness, fairness, community, and opportunity.
Our Equity Statement
At the Inclusive Communities Project, racial equity, diversity, and inclusion are core principles that inform and direct ICP’s mission of creating and maintaining inclusive communities that welcome people across racial, ethnic, and economic lines. ICP is fully committed to inclusion, and our commitment is reflected in every area of our work and workforce.
Since its inception, ICP has focused its work on addressing bigotry and bias in institutions, systems, and processes and sought redress for policies and practices that perpetuated the harmful effect of discrimination and segregation. At ICP, racial equity is not a program or initiative. Instead, it is an inextricable part of our vision and mission. As the nation moves forward in the era of racial reckoning, ICP will continue the difficult but necessary conversations about race and challenge the racism that underpins housing policies in this country.
Our Approach
ICP engages in advocacy to promote and expand fair and affordable housing opportunities, secure access to such opportunities, and address the violation of laws that protect the right to access those opportunities by low-income people of color. Specifically, ICP contributes to administrative and policy discussions at the local, state, and federal levels and, where necessary, engages in administrative advocacy and litigation to further the organization’s mission.
Areas of Operation
ICP areas of operation include Dallas County and the surrounding counties of Collin, Denton, Tarrant, Rockwall, Ellis, and Kaufman.
Affordable Housing Development
ICP is a resource for affordable housing developers, both for-profit and not-for-profit, who want to create affordable housing in safe communities that offer excellent schools and healthy environments for children, especially areas with little or no affordable housing. ICP will work with developers and homeowners to help overcome the effects of NIMBY (“not in my back yard”) attitudes that create barriers to affordable housing.
Allies
No one wants their city, town, or neighborhood to be viewed as refusing to include families simply because of the race, color, or national origin of those families or because those families have children. But inclusive communities require inclusive housing. ICP would like to use its resources to ensure that, as we grow as a region, people of all races and economic conditions are included in the progress that growth represents.
ICP seeks to work with local civic/non-profit/faith-based groups interested in meeting the challenges and reaping the rewards that living in a diverse and inclusive community brings.
