Plagued by crime, can this Fort Worth clinic stay on East Lancaster Street?
Earlier this year, Taja Harris arrived at her part-time job as a manager for Extra Care Concerns on East Lancaster Street and found a man waiting outside with a machete.
Harris watched him from her car, pacing around the property with no clear purpose. She called the police but the man had left by the time they arrived.
Harris and her co-workers regularly find evidence of drug use, such as syringes, on the property. There have been break-ins, broken windows, broken security cameras, fires set around the property, thefts of copper from air-conditioning units, people caught having sex in broad daylight on the property and people sleeping on the roof. A dead body was once found on the property.
The problems set the clinic back financially for repairs and raise concerns about the safety of patients and staff. The business had to be repainted at a cost of about $3,000 to cover graffiti. Iron gates were installed at the building’s entrance at a cost of nearly $6,000 to prevent people from sleeping or defecating at the front door. In total, repairs related to crime have cost the clinic about $100,000, Harris said.
The problems have prompted thoughts of moving, even though the area is home to the under-served populations the clinic was designed to help. “It’s getting to the point (where) it’s unbearable,” Harris said.
Medical help for diverse populations
For over a decade, Extra Care Concerns, which is owned by Patricia Roberts-Harris, a physician and Taja Harris’ mother, has been dedicated to providing help to a diverse population affected by social factors that affect people’s health such income, education, and housing. The business itself adds to the diversity.
“For a small Black business, you don’t see a lot of Black doctors, especially female doctors,” says Patricia Roberts-Harris.
Black physicians make up 5.7 percent of all physicians, according to the Association of American Medical Colleges. A study by the JAMA Network Open says mortality and life expectancy among Black people are improved when they are treated by Black primary care physicians, especially in counties with high poverty levels.
Extra Care Concerns, which is funded through insurance and cash pay, prides itself in providing personalized care and forming long-term relationships with patients. Some patients have known Taja Harris, who is studying to be a family nurse practitioner, since she was a child. Patients tell the Harrises they feel like their concerns are not taken seriously when they go to larger clinics.
The clinic’s location on East Lancaster has a poverty level of 23 percent, compared to Fort Worth’s average at 12.9 percent. The per-capita income of the area is $32,902, well below the Fort Worth average at $37,157, according to the Census.
The clinic is a mile from the nonprofit DRC Solutions to End Homelessness and the Salvation Army Fort Worth Mabee Center. People experiencing homelessness and low-income people find resources and services within this stretch of East Lancaster and congregate in the area outside other businesses.
The Harrises say have tried contacting the city, county, and even their state representatives for help addressing the criminal activity they’ve experienced, but they say nothing has been done.
Lack of resources to control crime?
City Councilman Chris Nettles, who represents the district the clinic is in, says there are not enough resources, from surveillance cameras to police patrols, to resolve the issues, many of which happen at night.
“It’s happened all over the city of Fort Worth,” he said. “When businesses close, intruders come around and damage property.”
Fort Worth police have responded to multiple criminal trespass warnings and arrests involving narcotics at Extra Care Concerns, according to a spokesperson. They have conducted preventative patrols in the East Lancaster corridor and suggest that any businesses in the area “call the police anytime they see anything illegal or have a safety concern.”
Nettles suggests that businesses install security cameras to track the criminal activity. He says he has talked in city council work sessions about the need for an increased police presence in the area and to purchase more police surveillance cameras. He said he has also suggested using funding through the East Lancaster Public Improvement District, a development district funded by local property owners, to better address the problems.
Nettles said there are also poorly managed properties on East Lancaster, which contributes to the problem.
Nettles said he has met with Dr. Harris, police, the city’s neighborhood services department, and assistant city managers to try to find solutions.
The Harrises, meanwhile, say they have tried to give back to the community with public events, but they have been difficult to continue due to money diverted to clean up after criminal incidents. They hope the city can do more, possibly setting up a fund for businesses on East Lancaster to subsidize the cost of repairing damages, which would provide an incentive for businesses to stay.
“The cops can only do so much,” Taja Harris said. “But the city of Fort Worth needs to do something, it is getting out of hand.”
This story was originally published May 8, 2025 at 12:10 PM.
