There is little in the worn, second-hand furnishings of the East Grand Avenue storefront shared by Common Ground and the Texas Tenants Union to suggest activities of great note.
Yet for 10 years, these two grass-roots agencies have helped instill a spirit of empowerment to the City’s homeless, public housing tenants, and renters seeking fair treatment from landlords.
The driving force behind the small, non-profit groups is an East Dallas husband-wife duo who have dedicated nearly half of their lives to advocating safe, affordable housing for the poor.
As a founder of Common Ground, 39-year-old John Fullinwider promotes housing, jobs and inner-city investment. As state director of the Texas Tenants Union, Sandy Rollins, 34, works to protect renters against unfair treatment.
“They put their heart, soul and blood into everything they do – and often at great risk,” says Jonathan Vickery, litigation director with Legal Services of North Texas.
In recent years, Rollins and the tenants’ union have focused on monitoring landlords with federally subsidized mortgages and lobbying the Texas Legislature to improve tenants’ rights to installation of locks protecting against intruders.
“I decided early on that I didn’t want to be part of the status quo but wanted to be a part of social change,” says Rollins, who came to Dallas on a one-year enlistment with VISTA (Volunteers in Service to America, the domestic equivalent of the Peace Corps).
“In housing, I saw a real challenge that needed to be dealt with.”
Meanwhile, Fullinwider helped Common Ground expand its scope beyond saving, repairing and leasing inner-city houses. In 1985, the group started an employment service called Community Jobs that helped nearly 1,000 people find work.
And, in 1988, Common Ground opened the federally chartered and insured Common Ground Community Federal Credit Union to serve financial needs of low-income clients. The original West Dallas credit union was so successful that a second branch was opened in South Dallas. Together, the branches have more than 1,700 members.
“The movement in our organization was from more conventional charity to economic justice and fairness,” Fullinwider says. “When we opened the credit union, we were the only bank in West Dallas, and we’re still the only bank in West Dallas.”
“The establishment voices in this City have never understood that grass-roots organizing can be a powerful tool for positive change,” says Ralph Cousins, executive director of the Center for Housing Resources, a non-profit housing consultant in Dallas.
“John and Sandy are very consistent in what they say and do. And when they approach what appears to be an immovable object, they go around it.”
