How One Dallas Volunteer Is Equipping Her City to Be Good Neighbors

Meet Daily Point of Light Award honoree Sarah Steinmann. Read her story, and nominate an outstanding volunteer or family as a Daily Point of Light.

Sarah Steinmann wants to empower others to be good neighbors. As a college student, she became involved with an organization called Mercy Street, which mentors at-risk youth. It was there that Sarah learned to view volunteerism through the lens of being a good neighbor to those in her Dallas community. Years later, Sarah understood that many residents in Dallas want the best for their communities, but don’t know how to go about it. If there was no guidebook written to empower Dallas residents to be the best neighbors they could be, Sarah would have to write one herself.

In 2024, Sarah launched the Dallas Good Neighbor Guide, a booklet packed with over 50 practical and community-forward tips that range from checking in on seniors and supporting local businesses to hosting a block party or simply introducing yourself to a stranger. Each accessible suggestion is tagged with time and cost commitments, ranging from minutes to hours. The options allow engagement for everyone, including busy professionals.

Sarah’s volunteer work doesn’t end with the Dallas Good Neighbor Guide, however. She’s a volunteer with OnRamp, an organization that provides cars to individuals in need, and actively gives her time to work with organizations supporting immigrants, asylum seekers, and refugees. And 11 years later, she’s also still active with Mercy Street, the organization that laid the groundwork for her understanding of being a good neighbor.

Looking toward the future, Sarah has big goals for the Dallas Good Neighbor Guide. She aims to reach 13,000 Dallas residents, or roughly 1% of the city. It’s all rooted in her belief that small, widespread acts of neighborliness can make a difference in the world. Her goals should serve as inspiration to the rest of us.

What inspired you to get started with this initiative?

When I was in college, I had the chance to intern at a nonprofit, Mercy Street. Everyone who is on staff lives in the community where they’re focused on serving the community members, and the purpose of that is to really approach the work and service from a position of neighboring. It’s from the perspective that we are here as your neighbors; you are our community. That philosophy really shaped my perspective of neighboring because I was just so blessed and loved and cared for by the people in the community of West Dallas. A few years ago, I started gathering ideas of what it could look like to be intentional about the actions you can take to understand more of the history of our city, or building skills to connect to people who are different than you, and being really intentional about that. I was able to turn that into a booklet related to Dallas.

What inspires you to volunteer?

A huge aspect for me is my faith. The words of Jesus, and the biggest commandments being to love God and love people. I really believe that this is where flourishing happens. We were made to be in relationship with other people. There’s a framework from a book that’s called When Helping Hurts. And it’s kind of about what not to do in serving people, but a lot of it is focused around how human flourishing really happens when we are in right relationship with ourselves, with our neighbors, with God, and with our environment, with the world. And if any of those things aren’t in alignment, there’s not going to be flourishing. I think that kind of has really shaped my view. Whenever I think of people who have inspired me in my life, I think everyone who has really lived a rich life on Earth has been involved in a significant cultural moment and chosen sacrificial generosity. Those are the type of people that I find inspiring and a lot of why I want to know and be known by other people.

Tell us about your volunteer role with the Dallas Good Neighbor Guide.

The work of the Dallas Good Neighbor Guide is designed to help other people be equipped to be good neighbors. It is volunteering, but it’s more than volunteering to encourage other people to volunteer. I work for Southwest Airlines, and one of the things that a friend and I developed was a map of every location that Southwest Airlines flies to, and a social impact restaurant or cafe that you can visit in all of those cities. If you’re traveling, you could go and eat anywhere. What would it look like for you to be intentional with how you’re getting to know the community where you’re spending your money, and supporting a cafe that employs youth aging out of foster care, or single moms, or people coming out of prison? It’s really a lot of education. We have a section related to the history of Dallas and how it impacts the way the city operates today, specifically in terms of some of the injustices that abound.

What are your long-term plans or goals for the organization?

I made the Dallas Good Neighbor Guide for Dallas specifically. Last year we published a version in Spanish since it’s such a primary language in Dallas. I’m working to publish a generic version of the Good Neighbor Guide that’s not Dallas-specific. As I’ve mentioned, there’s a section for the history of Dallas, but we could have workshops in other cities. That’s definitely a goal that I have. So far, the workshops that I’ve hosted have been through churches in Dallas, and I’ve found that to be a really good avenue to bring together a community of people who can focus and carry out the idea with a lot more education and awareness. I’d love to keep partnering with other groups to serve in that way with the workshop.

What’s been the most rewarding part of your work?

Getting to be with people through their journey of life and have people alongside me has been extremely rewarding. As a single woman, it can be a temptation to be like, ‘oh, my life hasn’t started yet.’ Being in relationships with so many other wonderful people has allowed me to experience so many significant life moments in a way that has felt so fulfilling and meaningful. That has been a big blessing of the whole experience.

What have you learned through your experiences as a volunteer?

If we look at the pages of history, the richest, fullest lives are the lives of people who have chosen to love deeply, or have chosen to sacrifice for important causes. I think we’re at our best when we’re living for things that are bigger than us. In an age and time when there’s a lot of loneliness and isolation, volunteering and serving others can really put you in a position to be in community and be connected to other people.

What do you want people to learn from your story?

To not be afraid to take a small step towards volunteering or caring for someone or seeing someone or letting yourself be seen.15 minutes a day can totally change your rhythms of life. Don’t let feeling like you have to do some big crazy thing stop you from doing something small that matters.

Do you want to make a difference in your community like Sarah? Find local volunteer opportunities.