Karina Moreno is the current president of the Polk-Vernon Neighborhood Association, which was founded in 2016 to engage and keep local neighbors aware of opportunities and concerns. This includes the rapid changes happening in Oak Cliff around development and gentrification. There are approximately 375 homes constructed in the late 1950s & 60s. Polk-Vernon is a diverse working-class neighborhood comprised of long-established families who have lived in the neighborhood well over 30 years, as well as new families joining the neighborhood. Karina has graciously donated her time to discuss the ins and outs of a neighborhood association.

Grayson Mask: Thank you again for taking the time today. I really wanted to first ask about your involvement with the neighborhood association. Before you got involved, did you grow up in the Oak Cliff area?

Karina Moreno: I still live in the same house I grew up in, so the neighborhood association seemed like the next step to be proactive.

Grayson Mask: You mentioned before this interview that you were doing a gig last night. Have you been doing music gigs for a long time?

Karina Moreno: Yes, I started two years ago. Actually, I became the president first, and then I started gigging. So I’ve been the president for about two years now, and maybe three months after that, I started DJing. They’ve been happening simultaneously. I’m almost at two years of DJing as well.

Grayson Mask: I saw that you also do art curation. How often do you do that?

Karina Moreno: Yes, I started that about five years ago. That was more of the first step. My vision and goal are to create a community and reasons for people to interact with each other because I think society is forcing us apart. Community is about engagement and connecting with each other.

I went to Booker T, which is an arts high school, and I’ve always been into art. Music is something I’m really familiar with too. The curation of different pockets and friend groups just felt necessary. I saw some events happening, but it wasn’t enough for the Dallas Metroplex, in my opinion. I hoped that by helping people interact and bringing different social circles together, it would create a melting pot of ideas and culture, connecting resources that people didn’t have access to. It’s like if someone is looking for a videographer, and I know a videographer, I want to create a space where they can meet. Everyone can have access to what they need to make their visions come true. It’s about creating those right rooms to facilitate engagement and help people act on their visions.

Grayson Mask: Were there any venues in Oak Cliff that you really loved to work with? Have there been any favorite events that you put together?

Karina Moreno: Yes. My family actually owns Sunset Crab Shack and El Globo Bar & Cocina. They let me use their shack yard, which is now a sports yard, but it’s a really nice open outdoor space with a patio. I did a lot of my events there in 2019. I did a “Backyard Boogie” back in the day when there weren’t many events happening in Oak Cliff especially on Sunday. At that time, people were really afraid of having Oak Cliff in their establishment because they thought it would cause problems.

At least that’s what I heard. I used to work in the Bishop Arts District as a server. I felt like I was in the heart of Bishop Arts, which is a completely different community compared to Oak Cliff. People were worried, thinking Oak Cliff would bring trouble, like guns and fights. But having grown up in Oak Cliff, I knew that wasn’t true.
So, I asked my family if I could start hosting events in their yard, and they were into it. However, I took a little break after a year. I didn’t expect so much engagement initially.

Two years later, I started a ladies’ night because I didn’t see many female DJs. This was before I started DJing myself. I curated a ladies’ night on Thursdays, booking a lot of female artists and DJs who needed more attention. It was a big hit and helped me become more emotionally equipped for organizing events. The second time around, I was better prepared and understood what to expect. So, the event showcased a variety of female talents across all genres. It was really helpful to the scene.

Grayson Mask: Two years ago, you were already curating events and making an impact in Bishop Arts and Oak Cliff. How did you know the next step was to get involved with the neighborhood association?

Karina Moreno: I didn’t necessarily start the neighborhood association; I just arrived at the perfect time. At that time, I was dating someone who would hear me talk about all the events I was organizing, including house parties. I wanted to do more. The person I was dating knew my neighbor, who was the president of the neighborhood association. He introduced us, and she was finishing law school and planning to move out of town with her husband.
Her name is Astrid, and when we met, she felt I was equipped to be the next president because of my passion and energy. The association nominated me, and that’s how it happened—by chance, opportunity, and being passionate at the right time.

I brought a lot of energy from my previous events to the association. My enthusiasm was infectious. We now have an established website, a logo, and we can now apply for more grants. It took these past two years to set everything up, but now we have a solid foundation to build on, which is really exciting.

Grayson Mask: You’ve grown the neighborhood association from barely 10 people to over 50 members. Do people bring up common issues they want addressed within the community at these events?

Karina Moreno: The Polk Vernon Neighborhood Association meetings people discuss safety concerns like running red lights, speeding, and the need for extra stop signs and sidewalks in certain areas. The neighborhood meetings are more specific and proactive about working together to address issues that help bridge information gaps. Everyone knows the specific steps to take, like calling a certain number for community resources but it is about working together to make something happen.

Grayson Mask: At the neighborhood association, have there been any events with larger attendance? Have you noticed specific types of events that bring more people out?

Karina Moreno: Yes, events with music, dancers, and food trucks tend to attract more people. However, our neighborhood association runs solely on donation money and grant money, which is very budgeted.

The main issue is that we don’t have enough funds to pay artists. While many are willing to donate their time, we believe in compensating them for their work. Venue costs are another challenge. With most of our funding coming from donations and people hesitant to pay even the $15 annual membership fee, it’s tough to cover venue costs, hire a band, and pay for dancers and food. This financial constraint limits our ability to organize large events, keeping our neighborhood association small with low turnout.

Grayson Mask: For anyone curious about starting their own neighborhood association, is the process complicated regarding paperwork and everything?

Karina Moreno: Initially, it can seem complicated, but having access to the correct information is crucial. Yolanda, who has been doing this for a long time, knows a lot about the process and resources. She is also part of our board. The City of Dallas makes things free and relatively easy, but it requires a willingness to navigate through many links and bureaucratic steps. It’s about being unpaid and passionate enough to handle the work. It also involves consistently meeting with your neighborhood to agree and plan. It requires ongoing commitment from everyone involved to keep the organization moving forward.

Grayson Mask: Are there any community partners you’d love to work with in the future or have at your events?

Karina Moreno: Yes. We really want to facilitate a relationship with Elmwood, our neighboring community. It seems like there’s some confusion and overlap between us. We’re situated between Wynnewood North on one side and Elmwood on the other. As someone who values communication and sharing resources, I see Elmwood as a close and solid option for collaboration. However, there have been some boundaries and challenges in establishing a more friendly relationship with them. But right now, our main focus is on securing grant money and improving our own community’s engagement, like getting sidewalks for some of our areas.

Grayson Mask: As a final question, are there any other goals you’re looking forward to this year with the Neighborhood Association or your own curation or gigs?

Karina Moreno: Yes, our Neighborhood Association is planning to organize a block party. Instead of big events that bring more turnout, we’re focusing on smaller block parties. We’re excited about these smaller, community-focused events and hope they will be successful.
As for my own gigs, I will just be going with the flow.