The front door of the third house along the 1100 block of Gardenview Drive in Pleasant Grove finally opened. An elderly resident peered through the door until the canvassers introduced themselves.
Nearby, Demetria Robinson, executive vice president of Workforce Solutions Greater Dallas, smiled. It was the team’s first real conversation of the morning. Bryant Diaz, chief of campaigns at Groundwork Outreach, worried they might have woken the resident.
Candelaria Camargo, a canvasser for Groundwork Outreach, knocks on a door while Demetria Robinson, Workforce Solutions Greater Dallas’ executive VP, waits at the bottom of steps to speak with the home’s occupant about free workforce training, child care, and several other services on Tuesday, Dec. 16, 2025.
Angela Piazza / Staff Photographer
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Diaz switched to Spanish to explain why he was there: to gather neighborhood feedback and connect residents to training and job resources. He handed the senior a flyer with program information. “That’s a start,” Robinson said.
Determined to understand residents’ needs and connect them with workforce and learning opportunities, among other services, Workforce Solutions Greater Dallas and Groundwork Outreach have launched a door-to-door effort in parts of Pleasant Grove, Grand Prairie and the Dallas International District.
Leaders from both groups said the campaign is needed because many residents don’t know the workforce agency or what it offers. Canvassing officially began Dec. 16, though Groundwork has worked with WFSDallas since late August, Diaz said.
“The total impacted families could be up to around 44,660 households in these four key areas: Pleasant Grove, the International District, Irving & Grand Prairie,” said Marie Appel, Groundwork’s CEO and founder.
“We will survey at least 200 of them, but it will likely be much more [and] with multiple rounds,” she said. “For example, we have already contacted 229 households since launch on Tuesday.”
After canvassing ends in late February, the groups will review survey results to develop ways to spread awareness of the agency’s services. The canvass is a data-informed pilot to map where demand is highest and how residents prefer to engage, said Laura Ward, the president and CEO of Workforce Solutions Greater Dallas.
Candelaria Camargo, a canvasser for Groundwork Outreach, uses a tablet to indicate which homes in a Pleasant Grove neighborhood have been visited by the organization on Tuesday, Dec. 16, 2025. Groundwork Outreach staff and Workforce Solutions Greater Dallas volunteers handed out informational flyers in an effort to connect underserved residents with free workforce training, child care, and several other services.
Angela Piazza / Staff Photographer
Groundwork’s canvassers carry an app tracking each attempt and flagging blocks for follow-up. The goal, Ward said, is to meet people where they are, reduce barriers to services and align training programs with real-world needs.
Workforce Solutions relies on a mix of private and government funding to give residents access to free skills training, career counseling and job fairs. It also uses funds to support residents seeking child care and transportation, adult education, disability services, veteran resources and even work-related clothing and tools.
Excluding child care, Workforce Solutions serves over 24,000 residents, according to the organization’s annual report. But some of the biggest barriers to accessing these services stem from a lack of awareness and trust, Ward said.
Candelaria Camargo, a canvasser for Groundwork Outreach, trains Brenda Saldana, Workforce Solutions Greater Dallas’ communications coordinator, how to speak with Pleasant Grove residents about free workforce training, child care, and several other services on Tuesday, Dec. 16, 2025.
Angela Piazza / Staff Photographer
“What we don’t want is for Workforce Solutions to be the best kept secret,” she said, adding many residents don’t know what is available to them or how to access those resources.
“People don’t make decisions based on what strangers tell them. They make decisions based on trusted people in their lives,” Ward said, highlighting the need to engage through churches, community centers, and familiar faces.
Privacy and trust also remained front and center. Prior to the canvassing, workforce agency representatives asked Groundwork about permission before taking photos, avoiding recording sensitive personal details without clear consent, and adjusting their approach based on each resident’s comfort.
One agency representative pointed out how these questions come amid concerns around immigration enforcement in some neighborhoods.
At another stop, Diaz of Groundwork Outreach briefly approached a man working on his car. The man politely declined to speak with canvassers. Those moments, Diaz said, are part of the rhythm of canvassing. Knocking, logging and leaving materials even when most doors stayed shut. But the canvassers kept their enthusiasm.
From left, Workforce Solutions Greater Dallas’ Conika Collins and Demetria Robinson, C2 Global Professional Services’s Allan Chehadi and Groundwork Outreach’s Bryant Diaz, speak while canvassing a neighborhood on Tuesday, Dec. 16, 2025. The organizations handed out informational flyers in an effort to connect underserved Pleasant Grove residents with free workforce training, child care, and several other services.
Angela Piazza / Staff Photographer
By the late morning, the cool breeze pushed red foliage along the curb as dogs barked behind fences. The small group of canvassers had already visited 36 homes within two hours, Diaz said. Including the second group that canvassed elsewhere in the area, the total number of homes was possibly closer to 100, he said.
“We’re still trying to connect with individuals. In today’s day and age, there’s a lot of scams, there’s a lot of people trying to sell you stuff…[But] there are organizations doing good in the community,” Diaz said.
“Hopefully more people trust us at their door.”
Lucero Ortega, a canvasser for Groundwork Outreach, places a flyer on a gate while attempting to reach Pleasant Grove residents about free workforce training, child care, and several other services on Tuesday, Dec. 16, 2025.
Angela Piazza / Staff Photographer
This reporting is part of the Future of North Texas, a community-funded journalism initiative supported by the Commit Partnership, Communities Foundation of Texas, The Dallas Foundation, the Dallas Mavericks, the Dallas Regional Chamber, Deedie Rose, Lisa and Charles Siegel, the McCune-Losinger Family Fund, The Meadows Foundation, the Perot Foundation, the United Way of Metropolitan Dallas and the University of Texas at Dallas. The News retains full editorial control of this coverage.
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