Tarrant and Dallas counties are side-by-side blocks comprising 1,772 square miles. They are home to the region's big economic centers, Fort Worth and Dallas, respectively. If you look only at the Texas Federal Reserve Banks' data on regional economic growth, the picture here is rosy. But if you look below the surface, the story is different. It was obvious to college leaders in both Tarrant and Dallas counties that they had a powerful role to play in correcting inequities. But neither Dallas County Community College District (DCCCD) or the Tarrant County College District (TCCD) took the traditional approach of simply recruiting more students or forming partnerships with industry. Indeed, for both of them, guided pathways alone wasn't even enough. What had to happen was that not only did the college's response to the crisis have to change, but the questions they were asking had to change, too. This article describes how community college leaders revised their goals and programs to meet the needs of their communities.