City News

Celebrities help Texas weather storm aftermath in this Dallas news roundup

Matthew McConaughey University of Texas Austin longhorn hook em

Matthew McConaughey donated funds to help feed families in Dallas.

There was really only one thing that happened this week in Dallas: the epically awful winter weather storm. Now we wade through the aftermath, with generous donations from celebrities, politicians, and chefs.

Here's what happened in Dallas this week:

AOC raises a million for TX
While Texas Sen. Ted Cruz was scuttling back from his aborted Cancun getaway, N.Y. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was raising $1 million for Texans. On February 18, she launched a fund-raiser for five Texas organizations including The Bridge Homeless Recovery Center, Ending Community Homeless Coalition (ECHO), Family Eldercare, Houston Food Bank, and Feeding Texas, all of whom have been working around the clock to assist houseless, hungry, and senior Texans in Travis and Dallas County, and beyond. She managed to raise the money in four hours. UPDATE 2-20-2021: AOC has now raised more than $3.2 million and is volunteering on Saturday at the Houston Food Bank.

Dak & McConaughey donate
While Texas Sen. Ted Cruz was making reservations for $309 per night at the Ritz Carlton in Cancun, Dak Prescott and Matthew McConaughey were teaming up with Dallas charity OurCalling, who oversaw the opening of the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center as a warming center for those displaced from their homes. McConaughey and Prescott both donated money to purchase meals for individuals and families.

Trash collection is back
The winter storm delayed trash collection and other basic city services across DFW, but those are all back online or will return by next week. That includes the U.S. mail, which suspended delivery for three days because of the weather and power outages, as well as garbage and recycling.

In Dallas, full operations will restart on Monday on the normal collection schedule.

In Fort Worth, garbage and recycling resumed on February 19. The city has suspended its usual policy requiring that garage cart lids be closed through February 27. Extra garbage can be placed in the cart even if the lid does not close, and up to two additional bags of garbage can be placed next to or behind the cart.

Soup's On! later
The 13th annual Stewpot Alliance Soup's On! Luncheon and Art Sale goes virtual Thursday, March 4 at 12 pm featuring award-winning chef, restaurateur, and humanitarian José Andrés. This is a new date; the event was originally February 25. Robert Wilonsky, Communications Director for Heritage Auctions and op-ed columnist for the Dallas Morning News joins Chef Andrés for a conversation about how his efforts ensure people worldwide are fed in the wake of catastrophe.

Proceeds from the luncheon benefit The Stewpot which now, in its 46th year serves our neighbors who are experiencing and at risk of homelessness by providing meals (over 8,000,000 to date), counseling and case management, medical and dental services via onsite partners, youth and family stabilization programs, as well as therapeutic and vocational activities.

This year, the art sale, featuring original pieces of art from the artists at The Stewpot will take place online in conjunction with the virtual luncheon. Single tickets begin at $250, which includes a gift box with sponsorships opportunities available. Since the 2021 event is virtual, a $35 view-only option will be offered. For more information, sponsorship and tickets, visit estewpot.org/soups-on.

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Coworking News

New-style coworking concept Switchyards from Atlanta to open in Dallas

Switchyards

A new kind of shared workspace is coming to Dallas: Called Switchyards, it's an Atlanta based chain that calls itself "the world’s first neighborhood work club," and it will open in Oak Cliff at 610 N. Tyler St., in the space most previously occupied by Boxwood Hospitality (Cliff House), and Good Shepherd Church, which is moving to Wax Space.

According to a statement, it'll open on August 25.

Switchyards was founded in 2019 by CEO Michael Tavani with a goal of creating “a place in your neighborhood purpose-built to sit with your laptop, grab a coffee, and get some good work done.” There are currently 29 locations including a dozen around Atlanta, plus locations across the southeast. There's also a location in Austin, which opened in mid-June.

They describe themselves as a combination of a coffee shop, college library, and boutique hotel lobby, located in residential neighborhoods. Unlike some other co-working concepts that are in business areas requiring a commute, Switchyards strives to be within 10 minutes of its members' homes.

Each club features a bustling coffee shop look and feel, with quiet areas for focused work, and bookable conference rooms and phone booths for meetings.

Notably, it’s open 24/7, and has free coffee with a cost — $100 a month — that's more like a gym membership. You're given a key and can enter whenever you want. Rather than renting offices, it's a place to go to for a few hours of focused work around others. And members get access to every Switchyards location.

They have some groundrules that include not moving the furniture, no eating full meals (they say the smells and the mess create a negative experience for everyone else in the club), no work stations, and no calls, meetings, speakerphone, or zooms in public spaces.

Memberships are generally limited and supposedly sell out quickly.

They just opened a location in Austin in mid-June; Switchyards Creative Director Brandon Hinman said “It’s almost like a Ritz-Carlton and a dive bar had a baby. It does have that luxe feel, it does feel generous, it does feel dialed in, but it also has a little bit of ‘Cheers’ to it, a little bit of that neighborhood pub to it, and that’s the balance we’re trying to hit.”

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