About Us

Education is a right, not a privilege.

Research consistently shows that women, the poor and racial minorities face an abundance of obstacles in their pursuit of education.

The challenge of bringing economically disadvantaged youth into the mainstream of American life is without question one of the most pressing, most important challenges in America at this time.

Here at the Dickerson Center for Civic Responsibility (DCCR), we are committed to eradicating some of those barriers faced by young children living in underserved areas in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.

Since launching in 2008 as a 501 (c)(3) organization, DCCR has helped improve the quality of life in minority communities by closing the gap in academic achievement. We work with corporate sponsors to deliver educational support services and unique learning opportunities, which are designed to prepare young people ages 5-16 for successful academic and professional careers.

We train them to be engaged leaders, as well as men and women of great character.

Our goal is take people where they haven’t been and teach them what they don’t know.

Anticipated Outcomes

Literacy
Political participation
Civic virtues
Standard of living

Core Values

Integrity: we establish and foster trust, loyalty, honor and fairness.
Accountability: personally and professionally responsible in standards of economic ethics.
Excellence: committed to excellence in all areas – customer service and in achieving full potential.
Respect: we respect the dignity of all persons.
Partnerships: through collaboration, we strengthen relationships with all partners.
Compassion: we are passionate about our work and are committed to empowering others.
Diversity: we believe diversity makes us stronger, empowering our community to achieve common goals.

Please click here to submit an application.

Dickerson Center for Civic Responsibility is a 501(c)(3) Educational Non Profit Organization.Our mission is to “Dickerson Center for Civic Responsibility provides children with education support and skills they need to become responsible, self-sufficient adults.”

Dickerson Center for Civic Responsibility is exempt from federal income tax under 26 U.S.C. Section 501(c)(3), and is a non-profit organization eligible to receive tax-deductible donations. Each donation to Dickerson Center for Civic Responsibility is tax-deductible to the extent allowed under applicable law.

Our Founder

Linda Dickerson Lamar

Leads our effort to promote and expand our transformational work to engage more young people in leadership and civic engagement with schools and communities across Southwest Dallas County.

Linda founded the Dickerson Center in 2009. Inspired by her late father’s (Reverend H. L. Dickerson) decades of servant leadership, her goal is to continue his legacy. His life was spared after being beaten after voting in his Louisiana hometown in 1952. He dared to educate citizens about their rights and responsibilities of citizenship, including voting. She was also inspired by Barack Obama’s slogan “Yes We Can.”

She has 30 years of experience in federal government, corporate, non-profit, and academic arenas. She has served as Grant Manager for the African American/Latino Male Initiative at Dallas County Community College (Dallas College), Health Careers Promotions Coordinator/Health Careers Promotion for the University of North Texas (Denton), Career Manager and Workforce Development Coordinator for Gulf Coast Community College (Gulf Coast College), Panama City, Florida as well as served in other non-profit roles, including United Way of Metropolitan Dallas.

As the previous chair of the DeSoto Public Library Board, Lamar helped to implement a community-wide initiative – DeSoto Reads. She served on American Cancer Society boards in Florida and the Community Council of Greater Dallas.

She earned a bachelor’s degree in Sociology from Bishop College, Dallas, and a master’s in Urban Affairs from UT Arlington (Texas).

Our work is essential in investing in our future democracy.

She is married to Louis Lamar, Sr., and has one son, Louis, Jr., and one grandson.

Our Board of Directors

DCCR features an active and responsible board that is the governing and policy-making body, which holds regular meetings and whose members serve without compensation except in the case of the president/CEO. The Board has members who bring the passion, expertise and resources we need to get things done.

President – Linda Dickerson Lamar

Secretary – Nikki James, Educator

Treasurer – Billy Allen, Entrepreneur

Director – Lorita Davis, Educator

Director – Danny Robinson, Realtor

What is Service Learning?

Dickerson Civic Center is an organization whose mission is to promote “service learning”, which we believe is a building block of a healthy, vibrant community and caring society.

But what is “service learning” exactly?

Service-learning is a method by which people learn and develop through active participation in thoughtfully organized experience.

Service-learning includes four critical components:

Preparation
Action
Reflection
Celebration

The benefits are numerous, as outlined below.

The varied programs we develop and take into our community are centered around this mission and purpose – to teach students to become involved in their communities in meaningful and productive, needs-based activities.

You can read more about our service-learning programming and initiatives here.

This entry was posted in Service Learning by vision14. Bookmark the permalink.

Educate! Engage! Empower!

Dickerson Center for Civic Responsibility provides children with education support and skills they need to become responsible, self-sufficient adults. Serving students in southern Dallas County resulting in:

Better attendance
Improved test scores,
Higher graduation rates, and
More students headed for colleges

Apply

Please print and complete DCCR’s Student Application by printing or typing all responses. All information will be kept strictly confidential. Dickerson Center for Civic Responsibility does not rent or sell information collected for this application. If you have any questions, please email [email protected]

Please click here to access the Student Application.

Frequently Asked Questions

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Get in touch with us

(214) 773-0522

[email protected]

3662 W. Camp Wisdom, Suite 2024

Monday - Friday, 8:00 am - 5:00 pm

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Our Mission:

To educate, empower, and motivate the next generation of servant leaders. Provide youth with authentic and transformative democratic experiences. Provide youth with skills and knowledge to be influential citizens.

Investing in Dickerson Center makes a real impact on youth now and seeds a generation of thoughtful, engaged, ethical citizens and community leaders for the future in Southwest Dallas County and beyond.