A crowd of employees, community leaders, and ‘neighbors’ gathered at CitySquare in Dallas Tuesday night for a retirement party to say ‘thank you’ to longtime CEO Larry James.
“Larry is the one who sees the pain and who stops to help,” James’ CEO successor John Siburt said.
“Larry James has literally had his hand in many good works in Dallas,” Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins said.
For nearly 3-decades, James has led the charge at CitySquare to fight poverty, hunger, and homelessness through programs to help them better their lives.
“Yeah, it gives me great pleasure to see people doing better, and people can do better,” James said. “They just need a hand up.”
James is still focused on fighting poverty, but he’s focused on his health too.
“So I’m dealing with Parkinson’s, but it’s no big deal because I’ve got what I need,” James said. “But I know people on the street that don’t have that backstop. It’s about investment.”
CitySquare announced on Wednesday that, with the help of donors, the Larry James Center for Poverty Solutions will launch next year. It will focus on advocacy and solutions to poverty.
“We’ve got to get together, and stay together, and open our hearts to each other,” James said. “There’s magic in that togetherness.”
