City of Dallas Celebrates Welcoming Week! 

Stories We Share: The Courage to Connect 

From September 10^th-19^th, 2026, the City of Dallas joins communities around the world in celebrating Welcoming Week. This year’s theme, “Stories We Share: The Courage to Connect,” recognizes the importance of building connections across communities and creating welcoming spaces where residents can thrive.  

In Dallas, being welcoming means helping people access services, connect with their community, and participate in city life. That includes newcomers, military veterans, people with disabilities, and visitors from around the world. Welcoming Week provides an opportunity to highlight the continued efforts happening across Dallas to build stronger, more connected communities. Throughout the year, the Office of Housing and Community Empowerment (OHCE) works with City departments and community partners to make Dallas more accessible, connected, and welcoming for everyone. 

Throughout Welcoming Week, organizations across Dallas are hosting events that bring people together through culture, arts, health, community resources, and shared experiences. 

For a complete listing of programs to celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month click HERE. 

Charreria is a solo exhibition by photographer Brent Kollock that offers an intimate exploration of the Mexican equestrian tradition, highlighting the cultural significance and identity embedded within the sport of charrería. Click HERE for more information. 

Enjoy live musical performances, food, and interactive activities. The City of Dallas Office of Housing and Community Empowerment and CCX/311 are excited to be present and participate in this celebration! Click HERE for more information. 

This solo exhibition by artist David Hanes-Gonzalez explores the cultural and spiritual dimensions of the Mexican boxing community through photography and sculptural installation. Designed to evoke a devotional atmosphere, the work merges the sacred language of religious altars with the raw textures of boxing gyms across Mexico. Click HERE for more information. 

AFRIMMA Music Fest is the ultimate celebration of African music, fashion, and culture: one unforgettable weekend in Dallas, Texas at the AT&T Performing Arts Center’s Annette Strauss Square. Click HERE for more information.  

Connect through music, art, and cultural traditions at this community celebration. 

Click HERE for more information.  

The health fair will focus on both mental and physical well-being for men, offering valuable information, health screenings, and resources to support a healthy lifestyle for the entire family. See FLYER for more information. 

This free community event brings together residents, neighborhood associations, churches, schools, nonprofits, businesses, and healthcare organizations to promote health, wellness, and unity across South Dallas. See BILINGUAL FLYER for more information and click HERE to register. 

Led by artist and art educator Erica Con, teens explore futurism, identity, and worldbuilding through collaborative artmaking! Join us for hands‑on painting and collage sessions where we imagine the futures we want to build together. Click HERE for more information. 

This is a day of connection, care, and community spirit. There will be free health screenings, resources, and more. See FLYER for more information.  

History isn’t just about famous names and old dates—it’s about real people making choices that shaped our world. In the America250 Junior Book Club, we’ll explore stories from America’s past to better understand how we got here today and how we can help build a better future. Click HERE for more information. 

Join the Latino Cultural Center (LCC) for a night of line dancing. Don’t know how to line dance?! Don’t worry because we’ll have an instructor showing you all the steps you need to know. Click HERE for more information. 

This is an 8-week program for children 0-3 years old and their parents. The weekly in-person sessions include activities that promote learning through play, information on strategies for positive parenting, and promoting children’s development.  Click HERE for more information. 

Dallas Fire-Rescue Community Outreach is excited to announce our next Seniors on the Move (SOTM) event. See BILINGUAL FLYER for more information.  

Executive functioning (EF) is the brain’s management system that helps students turn good intentions into consistent action. In this practical workshop, parents and caregivers will learn EF strategies to implement at home to improve organization, time management, homework habits, routines, and independence. Click HERE for more information. 

The 7th Annual Veterans Mental Health Summit at Dallas College honors the resilience of our military-connected community, celebrates the courage it takes to seek support, and works to break down mental health stigma. Click HERE to register.   

Participate in a bilingual art workshop that brings people together through creativity and shared experiences. Click HERE for more information.  

Welcoming Week is also an opportunity to highlight work taking place throughout the year to make Dallas more accessible, connected, and easier to navigate. 

Dallas welcomed the world this past summer as one of the 16 host cities of the 2026 FIFA Men’s World Cup. With Dallas on the world stage, the City of Dallas recognized the importance of providing a welcoming experience for international fans and visitors alike, including ensuring that City staff were prepared to recognize and respond to human rights concerns associated with hosting a major international event.  

In collaboration with the North Texas FIFA World Cup Organizing Committee and City of Dallas Human Resources, the Office of Housing and Community Empowerment (OHCE) provided trainings to help City employees learn how to recognize and respond to human trafficking as well as how to advance accessibility for people with disabilities. The trainings helped City staff recognize indicators of human trafficking, understand how to call the National Human Trafficking Hotline. Additionally, City staff were able to learn about disability etiquette and creating welcoming spaces in alignment with the Americans with Disabilities Act.  

Over 1,300 staff members completed the trainings. OHCE staff also led three human rights trainings for over 150 FIFA volunteers assigned to Fair Park, the location of the FIFA Fan Festival. 

Making City Information More Accessible 

OHCE’s welcoming work also extends access to digital spaces, a key component of being a welcoming city. The City of Dallas is preparing to be aligned with new federal standards that help make digital content more accessible to people with disabilities. This will help ensure people with disabilities can: 

• Perceive web content, such as by having alternative text with images; 

• Use assistive technology to navigate web content; 

• Readily understand web content through consistent structuring; 

• Interact with web content using a wide range of devices, browsers, and applications. 

OHCE, in collaboration with ITS, reached over 400 unique City staff led by expert ADA consultants covering accessibility standards, accessible documents, and accessibility in social media and videos led by the City’s CCX/311 team. The City of Dallas main website is currently 99% complaint with the standard, helping advance equal access to programs, services, and activities highlighted on the website. 

Connecting with Dallas Communities 

Dallas Public Library in collaboration with Human Rights Dallas held the city’s first-ever Human Rights Fair on August 15, 2026, at the Central Library, where over 500 attendees engaged with local human rights agencies and learned how to create a culture of human rights at the city-level. Chair John Kalkanli of OHCE’s Commission on Disabilities led one of the many workshops on how the Commission advises the Mayor, City Council, and City departments on policy recommendations and best practices in serving residents with disabilities.