Southside 360 is an immersive experience designed to help participants gain the tools and understanding to work in service with communities like Fort Worth’s Historic Southside in a respectful and collaborative partnership, rather than from a mindset of saviorism. There are three components to Southside 360, each of which can be completed independently or as a collective experience. Participants in Southside 360 may be asked to make a contribution to cover the costs associated with the experiences.

Interested in participating? Email our team to get more details about how you and your group can participate!

Please note: Fortress is a Christian, faith-based organization. However, all components of Southside 360 can be made secular to accommodate corporate or other non-religious groups.

Historic Southside History Tour & Prayer Drive

  • GOAL: To discover the nearness and presentness of racial and economic injustices, and to gain an appreciation for the contributions that communities of color have made to our world.

  • DESCRIPTION: Led by a Fortress staff member, your group will take a guided tour in and around the Fortress neighborhood. Each group will see up close the Historic Southside’s rich history and culture, which is deeply entwined with Fort Worth’s eras of Jim Crow, the Civil Rights Movement, and present-day movements for racial reconciliation. You will make various stops in the neighborhood and surrounding areas and will pray for God’s healing and presence in our community and world. Due to our limited transportation capacity, we may ask your group to drive your vehicle(s) on the prayer drive.

Opportunity Town

  • GOAL: To grow in empathy and understanding as the body of Christ, specifically with a heart for people living with systemic injustices.

  • DESCRIPTION: Developed from a college training course and lauded for its nuance and accessibility, this abstract, on-site simulation will challenge your group’s paradigms, giving them an opportunity to consider the ways that their privileges and disadvantages affect their perceptions of the world around them. Led by an experienced moderator, we will discuss issues of race, socioeconomics, disabilities, gender, and other factors that can pose challenges to individuals and communities.

The Game of Real Life

  • GOAL: To develop an appreciation for community-based ministries and to discover a lifelong calling to participate in those ministries.

  • DESCRIPTION: Using an adapted Game of Life game board, participants will navigate life as a person experiencing generational poverty. As they make difficult decisions about their education and vocation, they will discover that access to community resources really can make or break the well-being of a family in poverty. Once participants have navigated through the game board, it’s time to take the experience into the real world. Using only the resources they have accessed through their decisions made in the game, participants will be tasked with planning, accessing, and providing dinner for themselves and their proverbial family. Led by Fortress staff, this experience will make the abstract concepts of poverty and welfare more concrete.