Ebola unfairly taints Dallas neighborhood, residents say
DALLAS — In Vickery Meadow, a large immigrant community in Northeast Dallas, there's always a need.
Ebola only exacerbated it.
Fear is tangible here in the area where Thomas Eric Duncan became the first person in the U.S. diagnosed with the Ebola virus while staying with a family in the Ivy Apartments. He remains in critical condition at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital, just a short walk away.
"Volunteers that usually show up, aren't showing up," said the Rev. Brent Barry of NorthPark Presbyterian Church.
Heart House Dallas helps tutor children in the neighborhood, but a dozen volunteers stopped coming this week.
Vickery Meadow Learning Center lost four of its 150 volunteers.
Plus, fewer residents went to the Vickery Meadow Neighborhood Alliance Food Pantry.
"About a fourth of the people who usually show up showed up because they're scared to go out," Barry said. "They don't know what the story is, either. Really, the fear is inside Vickery Meadow, but it's also out in the community."
Michael Fleischer, CEO of Jewish Family Service — which staffs the pantry — said the decline is not enough to signal a trend, since participation does vary.
Still, NorthPark Presbyterian Church is trying to recruit volunteers, temper anxiety and reduce fear.
Dallas City Council member Jennifer Staubach Gates wants to dispel rumors about the residents.
"They are not at risk for getting the disease, and they are not risk for transmitting the disease. And — unfortunately — they are feeling discriminated against," she said.
Barry has heard similar stories.
"They've gone to work and been told to leave," he said. "That's been corrected now. We know a couple young people who went to a restaurant and had been turned away."
Life is hard enough in Vickery Meadow. For some, it's a struggle to survive.
No one here wanted to be known as the epicenter for Ebola in Dallas. These residents don't want it to define them.
Vickery Meadow is postponing its National Night Out activities on Tuesday because so many resources are being used to respond to the current health situation, Staubach Gates said.