Resource Center CEO Cece Cox cuts the ribbon to officially open the Oak Lawn Place senior housing facility. See more photos of the grand opening ceremonies online at DallasVoice.com (Tammye Nash/DallasVoice)
Resource Center cuts the ribbon on Oak Lawn Place senior living apartments, announces new health care facility
FROM STAFF REPORTS
Leaders of North Texas’ LGBTQ community spanning the years gathered Tuesday morning, Sept. 10, outside a colorfully-appointed five story building situated right at the curve of Sadler Circle to celebrate the grand opening of Dallas’ first living facility focused on LGBTQ seniors.
Although Resource Center broke ground on Oak Lawn Place just a little more than a year ago in July 2023 and saw construction completed in early July 2024, with residents beginning to move in by mid-July, the road to this accomplishment is a lot longer than that.
As Resource Center CEO Cece Cox pointed out at the grand opening ceremony, “Forty-one years ago, Resource Center’s founders dreamed of a home like this, by us, for us.
“Their dreams were interrupted by a nightmare, the nightmare of going to funeral after funeral for friends, decimated by the early days of the AIDS pandemic,” she said. “Our community was also fighting discrimination everywhere we turned — in houses of worship, in our families, and at work. And even though much progress has been made since then, Oak Lawn Place is one of only a handful of residential settings designed to affirm and support members of the LGBTQIA+ community, ages 55-plus.”
Cox also oversaw the triumphant opening of Resource Center’s iconic community center and headquarters just eight years ago and about two blocks down Inwood Road from Oak Lawn Place. And on Tuesday, while celebrating Oak Lawn Place, she got to introduce the Center’s new health care facility, located directly in front of the apartment building and facing Inwood Road. Nelson-Tebedo Clinic, formerly located at the intersection of Cedar Springs Road and Throckmorton, has already moved its operations to the new Inwood Road location, as have some of the staff and services that had been housed at the Center’s health care campus on Reagan Street at Brown.
All of the center’s health care programs — including HIV testing and care, primary care, gender-affirming care, immunizations, mental health care and more — are expected to be moved to the new location on Inwood by the end of the year, Cox said.
A crowd that included state Rep. Rafael Anchia and a host of other community leaders and dignitaries attended grand opening ceremonies for Oak Lawn Place, pictured above. Tours of the facility highlighted the carefully-curated art, including murals, found throughout the building.(Tammye Nash/Dallas Voice)
“The creation of an affirming and inclusive housing option for LGBTQ seniors in North Texas is a critical component of Resource Center’s vision for an equitable society in which all community members are afforded the opportunity to thrive without bias or barriers based on sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, or HIV status,” according to a written statement from Resource Center about the opening of the new apartment building.
By recognizing and addressing their unique needs, Oak Lawn Place empowers individuals to age with dignity, foster a sense of belonging and preserve their invaluable contributions to society,” the statement continues. “The goal of the project is to ensure that all individuals, regardless of their sexual orientation or gender identity, have access to safe and supportive housing as they embark on their golden years.”
Oak Lawn Place has 79 one-bedroom units and five two-bedroom units in a new, five-story building with a large outdoor terrace that overlooks a creek and, from the upper levels, allows for views of downtown Dallas.
Amenities include a lobby, community room, conference/dining room, kitchen, fitness room and a business center. The apartments are income-restricted to those earning between 30 percent and 60 percent of the area median family income.
Resource Center financed the $31 million project with $25 million in public funding, $4 million from a capital campaign in 2020 led by Lynn McBee and Phil Clemmons and a $750,000 Affordable Housing Program grant from the Federal Home Loan Bank of Dallas through Veritex Bank.
Resource Center was founded in Dallas in 1983 and was originally named the Foundation for Human Understanding. It is the nation’s third-largest center providing a wide range of programs and services for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer/questioning, intersex, asexual and more community members and critical assistance to people living with HIV and AIDS and for their families.
More than 62,000 people each year access services through Resource Center, including medical, dental, nutritional, legal, mental health, housing and financial support through multiple clinics and facilities throughout the Dallas area.
For more information, go to MyResourceCenter.org.