DAVID TAFFET | Senior Staff Writer
Taffet@DallasVoice.com
When three people were killed and 19 families displaced in a gas explosion at the Clyde Apartments in Oak Cliff on May 28, the Austin Street Center and Mission Oak Cliff jumped into action. One of the three killed, Sylvia Collins, was well known in Democratic Party circles and LGBTQ+ political circles. And an LGBTQ+ community member is being hailed as a hero.
The Vincentians
Once the displaced families were settled in relatives’ homes or in hotels, Austin Street Center and Mission Oak Cliff called Luis Gonzalez, CEO of The Society of St. Vincent de Paul of North Texas, and asked his group to step in. That group has been providing direct aid to those in need for 70 years, and the parent organization has been around for almost 200 years and has branches in 153 countries.
Gonzalez said Austin Street Center acquired apartments scattered around Oak Cliff for the displaced families with rent paid for six months. But the families lost everything except for the clothes they were wearing. So the Vincentians delivered their House in a Box to each family.
“That’s part of a national program,” Gonzalez said. “It comes on three palettes, shrink wrapped.”
The palettes contain everything from kitchen items to beds and box springs, sofa and chairs, cleaning supplies and more. Gonzalez said that by Wednesday of this week (June 10), all of the House in a Box deliveries should have been made, and each of the families should be in their new homes.
Then each family was given a voucher to shop in the Vincentians thrift store. Gonzalez said that gives people the dignity of shopping for what they want and will use rather than being handed a bag of clothes. The idea is similar to one pioneered by Resource Center’s food pantry which allows clients to pick items they’ll eat, rather than just handing each client an already-filled bag.
House in a Box began after Hurricane Katrina when Vincentians in different cities welcomed people escaping the floods in New Orleans — people who arrived with almost nothing.
Gonzalez said more recently, they’ve responded to those affected by last year’s Kerrville floods and those who lost their homes in recent California wildfires.
North Texas
Since 2018, the Vincentians have also run a charitable pharmacy, distributing free medications, mostly to people who are uninsured. Gonzalez said they’d make their pharmacy available to the displaced families as well, since no one had time to gather their medications before getting out of the burning building.
And the organization doesn’t refer to the people they help as clients or victims. They’re simply called neighbors.
“It was a humbling experience to be able to help them,” Gonzalez said, describing the scene after the explosion. “Some were still shell-shocked. One gentleman didn’t say a word for a while. He was overwhelmed by people wanting to help.
“One woman, I just held her hand. We want everyone to know they’re not alone.”
The bright spot in a tragic situation was to see how everyone has rallied around these families.
“There will always be a need,” Gonzalez said. “We’ll never turn someone away, but I know we won’t be able to solve every problem.”
He said his organization, while not widely known, is thought of as a “hidden gem” by their supporters.
Vinnie DeLuna
When the explosion happened, Deputy Constables Vinnie DeLuna and Jonathan Banda were nearby and were the first first responders on the scene.
On Tuesday, June 16, their heroic actions will be recognized by Dallas County Commissioners Court, as Constable Michael Orozco commends them for their courage, compassion, professionalism and selfless service.
DeLuna graduated from the police academy in Austin in 2021 and moved back to Dallas with his husband in 2022. He’s the executive director of Pride in Dallas, the September Pride celebration and parade on Cedar Springs Road. He also gives dance lessons at the Round-Up Saloon.
On May 28, DeLuna was in Halperin Park, the new Oak Cliff deck park, handing out stickers to kids when he saw smoke. He said he didn’t feel the explosion, probably because the decking over I-35 is so solid.
He ran to his squad car and, with lights and sirens, was on the scene of the explosion — about five blocks away — in less than a minute. He parked down the block to stay out of the fire department’s way, then, he said, he headed toward the burning apartments, walking briskly rather than running so he wouldn’t add to any panic or confusion.
“Dozens of people would have called 911 by then,” he said. “It went from gas leak to five alarm in minutes.”
DeLuna said his training kicked in, and, first, he directed people to move their cars to get out of the fire department’s way. He said he saw that the building’s door was open, indicating people got out.
Next, he went to the neighboring apartments and found a maintenance worker had a key fob.
Since many of the apartment complex’s residents were not home, he knew a lot of pets would be stranded in the first. So he turned his focus to rescuing pets.
The first dog he encountered was a husky who was in its crate. He said, he kept saying, “Please don’t bite me.” He grabbed the dog’s harness and put it on the animal, asking the dog repeatedly “Please don’t bite me,” and got him out of the apartment. Next door were two dogs, but they didn’t have leashes he could find, so he went back to the husky’s apartment, found leashes and got those two dogs out.
In all, DeLuna said, he rescued six dogs then called animal control to help with the animals.
Then he found a new house with a fenced yard down the street and put the dogs in there for safe keeping until animal control could arrive
DeLuna said he ran into one resident who was screaming. The man had burns on his legs but had saved a nine-year-old girl. DeLuna made sure the child and the man both got to the hospital.
“Everything was happening so fast but so slow at the same time,” he said. “Everybody came together — Atmos workers, that maintenance worker, Dallas police, Dallas fire, paramedics.”
He didn’t mention himself and the other constable who were first on the scene, but plenty of other people are pointing to them both as heroes. But, DeLuna insisted, “I was just doing my job.”
Sylvia Collins
Three people lost their lives in the explosion — a child, that child’s mom and Sylvia Collins, a well-known local Democratic Party activist, community organizer and champion for change.
City Councilman Chad West remembered Collins on his Instagram page: “Josie Sylvia Collins was an irreplaceable Oak Cliff leader, and I was proud to call her a constituent and friend,” West wrote. “She could always be counted on to join arm in arm with those who needed a strong ally whether that be working people, immigrants, seniors, renters, and the list goes on.
“She held elected officials to her high standards and also was a source of honest advice for us,” West continued. “She was everywhere in Oak Cliff and across our city. Our community mourns for her and the other victims of Thursday’s tragic events. Please keep them in your thoughts as we work to support the survivors.”
“For so many of us, Sylvia was more than an activist,” wrote Martin Antonio Guerra on Facebook. “She was a constant presence. She was the person who showed up when others stayed home. She was the person making phone calls, knocking doors, organizing events, helping candidates, uplifting neighbors, and fighting for people who often had no one else fighting for them.”
Funeral services for the 79-year-old activist will be held Saturday, June 13, at 11 a.m. at Kessler Park United Methodist Church, 1215 Turner Ave.
To help our neighbors in Oak Cliff, make a donation to St. Vincent de Paul North Texas at SVDPDallas.org. The St. Vincent de Paul Thrift Store is at 3052 W. Northwest Highway.