Episode description

In the current political environment, it may seem dubious to believe that one day 330 million Americans could wake up and believe that they’re part of a civil society that recognizes their dignity as a human person.

But it’s not impossible. Daron Babcock believes there is hope.

Human dignity ought to be the end-all-be-all that guides us. Restoring self-governance and cultivating human flourishing starts with community. Daron and Kevin address the importance of community in restoring lives and why a focus on independence, rather than dependence on decades of failed public programs, has been both the path to success in Bonton, Texas and a model for poverty-stricken cities across the country.

Bonton, Texas, a small South Dallas neighborhood has long been plagued by crime, drugs, and gang violence. Daron Babcock shares how a Bonton, where 85% of the men have been to prison, has become a beacon of hope and a model for success.

This week’s guest: Moved by his personal beliefs, Daron Babcock couldn’t sit idly by as he witnessed his neighbors in South Dallas be ravaged by institutional inequities. In 2012, he left a successful corporate career and moved from his home in North Dallas to serve inner-city residents of Bonton, Texas with his wife, Theda. Known for crime, violence, and extreme poverty, Bonton needed intervention at the macro-level – something Daron knew was not only necessary but possible.

Daron is referred to as a “social entrepreneur,” having started multiple successful social ventures; Bonton Honey Company, The Market at Bonton Farms, a Coffee House, a Farmers Market, and CityBuild Housing to name a few. Of all his ventures, the most notable, though, is Bonton Farms, one of the largest urban farms in the United States nestled in a once-forgotten neighborhood in South Dallas.

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