As North Texas continues to grow and attract new businesses and residents, we believe that connecting neighborhoods throughout the city is one of the most important long-term investments we can make for our residents.
CFT has intentionally focused some of our discretionary investments on increasing both public safety and access to green space through the creation and expansion of public parks and trails. We’ve been investing in parks to connect people, places, and opportunity since our founding in the 1950s, including significant investments in Klyde Warren Park.
Since 2019, we’ve awarded more than $15 million in park and trail-related grants in partnership with local nonprofits Halperin Park, Kaleidoscope Park, The Loop Dallas, Texas Trees Foundation, Trinity Park Conservancy, and the Trust for Public Land.
More than $10 million of the grants is supporting parks in South Dallas and Southern Dallas County, with an additional $5 million supporting greenspace efforts in downtown Dallas, Frisco, the Medical District, the Trinity River corridor, and West Dallas.
For many of these investments, we’ve also helped fund aspects of development planning and community-based park design to ensure residents are involved in the planning process of these new shared amenities. Through our investments in access to green space, we’re creating a safer and more connected city for generations to come.
“The Loop Dallas is dedicated to uniting neighborhoods in the heart of Dallas and transforming the city into a hub of walkable green spaces. Through strategic investment in our work, CFT is helping build the infrastructure that expands connectivity and infrastructure across our city — changing how Dallas moves, links communities, and activates spaces for everyone.”
DID YOU KNOW? A large portion of CFT’s investments comes from CFT’s W. W. Caruth, Jr. Fund, which continues to carry forward the late Will Caruth’s giving priorities long beyond his lifetime. Mr. Caruth understood that the factors that shape our quality of life are deeply interconnected. When Mr. Caruth died in 1990, he left $400 million — the bulk of his estate — to CFT to support his passions of public safety, health, and education. Currently the largest fund at CFT, grants from our W.W. Caruth, Jr. Fund have provided $300 million for bold, visionary, large-scale, and transformational efforts across North Texas.
“The Loop Dallas is dedicated to uniting neighborhoods in the heart of Dallas and transforming the city into a hub of walkable green spaces. Through strategic investment in our work, CFT is helping build the infrastructure that expands connectivity and infrastructure across our city — changing how Dallas moves, links communities, and activates spaces for everyone.”- Philip Hiatt Haigh, Executive Director, The Loop Dallas
This story was originally featured in our 2025 annual report. For additional details and content, click here.
