Bonton Enterprises

For more than two generations, Bonton has been cut off from opportunities for success, causing a state of sustained and entrenched poverty. According to acclaimed statistician, professor and author W. Edwards Deming, "Every system is perfectly designed to achieve exactly the results it gets." So, what were systems such as highways and redlining eff orts, which were intended to promote segregation and disinvestment in places like Bonton, designed to achieve? Consider:

• Only 10.6 percent of Bonton residents have a bachelor's degree or higher, compared to 38.1 percent of Dallas County residents (U.S. Census, 2023).

• Bonton has a median household income of $39,486, considerably lower than the $65,400 median household income for Dallas County (U.S. Census, 2023).

• About 28 percent of residents live below the federal poverty line, which is 56percent higher than the overall county rate of 17.8 percent (U.S. Census, 2023).

• Residents in the 75215-zip code, which includes Bonton, face more than double the rate of cancer, stroke, heart disease, diabetes and childhood obesity than the rest of the county (Dallas County Community Heath Needs Assessment [DCCHNA], 2022).

• Bonton's zip code has the lowest life expectancy of any zip code in Dallas County (DCCHNA, 2022).

Bonton Farms focuses on place-based interventions to build community capacity for long-term change. As the ecosystem of community resources improves, the neighbors in Bonton use these resources to build success, self-sufficient lives, ultimately interrupting the impact of decades of disenfranchisement. Bonton Farms' programs focus on seven human essentials: transportation, education, access to financial tools, community, health and wellness, economic stability, and safe and affordable housing.

Through Bonton Farms' T.E.A.C.H.E.S philosophy, the Apprenticeship Program focuses on its curriculum and structure on addressing the seven human essentials. In curriculum, mentorship and community, apprentices are engaged throughout the eight-month program to acquire new skills that lead to greater self-actualization and experience their own individualized journey.

Bonton Farms believes that people are capable of extraordinary things, but that barriers and systemic injustices hold them back. The place-based model is designed to break those barriers so that residents can realize their unique potential and contribute to the lives of others. Bonton Farms has grown to attract visitors from around the world who want to learn about community models and principles that improve community systems and outcomes.

Bonton Farms is proud to share the following community successes:

• Bonton Farms is one of the largest urban farms in America.

-The Bonton Farms Act gives returning citizens the opportunity to wipe fines from their records so that when they're released, they get a blank slate financially.

-Through partnerships with Brinker International, ClubCorp and Borden's Dairy, Bonton Farms' apprentices can get jobs post program.

-Bonton Farms has opened up access to healthy food, which was once very limited; getting to the nearest grocery store required residents to travel three hours roundtrip by bus.

-Project Gamechanger: Bonton Farms is building sober living workforce housing, a health and wellness center, a community financial resource center (to eliminate predatory lending) and more than 40 affordable housing units aligned with available wages in the community.

-Bonton has six social enterprises that have employed 38 people from the neighborhood. Some individuals have opened additional small businesses. This money stays within the community and builds neighborhood wealth.

-Bonton Farms has established safe community spaces where people can gather for social connection.