One of the greatest barriers to transitioning out of homelessness is lack of identification. Without identification, a person cannot get a job, housing, or qualify for many social services. Often, members of the homeless community are unable to procure identification because they have a variety of unpaid tickets.
Community Court allows DART fee evasion tickets to be resolved in exchange for a community service sentence which is served that day. The JP Courts, the Stewpot, and DAYL’s Aid to the Homeless Committee work in collaboration to put on this great program. Community Court helps remove the barrier to procuring identification, clears the JP Courts’ dockets, promotes accountability among the homeless population, and provides community service.
This year, Community Court was held on Saturday, October 4th at 8:00 a.m. Roughly forty members of Dallas County’s homeless community participated in the program. Two judges, numerous clerks, multiple Stewpot staff members, and seven DAYL volunteers facilitated the program. DAYL volunteers Charles Gearing, Chris Hodge, Michael Holmes, Joseph Mongaras, Pamela Sieja, Caleb Trotter, and Reagan Vernon are pictured below.
