We give thanks to the visionary community leaders from St. Paul United Methodist Church, a historic church in downtown, Dallas, Texas, for our inception and their infinite support, which has enabled us to fulfill our gracious and loving mission. 

• February 1997

  The Beginning of a Legacy
  An idea with vision became a mission. 

  In February of 1997, Rev. Henry Masters, along with a young intern from SMU Perkins School, DiAngelo Lee, crafted a vision to address the needs of the downtown Dallas homeless community.  Body & Soul Homeless Program was founded and began serving out of St. Paul United Methodist Church (in downtown) to address hunger and provide an safe space to support street artists on the weekends.

  Highland Park Presbyterian Church joined in partnership. HPPC primarily funded the ministry and helped renovate the kithen in St. Paul’s basement to a commercial-grade kitchen, and St. Paul provided the physical location downtown to house the ministry. 

• 1997

  Blessed By Unification
  Common goals helped the mission prevail.

  Initially, there was concern that the different ethnic makeup of the churches would be a problem, but everyone soon realized that they were united in a common goal of caring for the least of these – a meal and spiritual food for the Dallas homeless population. 

• 1997

  Research
  Under-cover experiences led to revelations.

  Although it's almost impossible to understand the increasing homeless epidemic in our community, or the wide range of problems our homeless population faces every day, the leadership team anonymously spent time on the streets and a night in a homeless shelter as under-cover homeless persons. 

  They also visited St John UMC in Houston, TX to conduct more research to shadow them while they carried out their Bread of Life Homeless Ministry.

•                       1997 to Current

  Breakfast & Fellowship Began

  United and inspired to serve together, our Saturday breakfast service began.  

  Body & Soul began providing a good hearty breakfast every weekend: scrambled eggs, hash browns, sausage, biscuits, grits, juice, milk, water, and coffee. Lots of coffee!

  The team would find guest speakers from every denominations to deliver an ecumenical Bible message.  Body & Soul grew to serve around 100 people every Saturday. Our security guard would hand each person a ticket and get them settled in with some coffee before the message started.

•                       1997 to Current

  Branding & Marketing

  Body & Soul's volunteer leaders began branding and marketing efforts in an effort to grow and expand our services.

  Leah Parker, one of our most-dediated volunteer leaders, knew that Body & Soul Homeless Program needed to begin promoting itself through 21st-century marketing channels if we wanted to grow, increase donations, and expand our servcies beyond providing nutirition and essential goods on the weekends.

  Leah worked with one of our homeless guests, a local artist, to create our logo - which posseses a design that dates all the way back to the underground railroad. Our logo has been a symbol that has been used for decades (if not, centuries) by unhoused and transient people seeking a safe place of refuge. Being that we strive for Body & Soul Homeless Program to be a safe space for unhoused guests from all around our comunity, our logo's desgin was perfect.
•    1998 and Beyond

  Blessed by Growth
  Many churches & organizations became united by a common mission of service.

  First UMC of Richardson joined to provide a hot Sunday dinner meal.  More joined over time: West Irving COGIC, Highland Park UMC, West Mesquite Baptist, and First UMC Dallas.

  Many of our guests come to us with an impressive knowledge of scripture and relationships with Jesus. 

  Our guests over the last 28 years represent every tradition.  The Body & Soul organization and guests are ecumenical, in other words, not bound by any denominational differences. 

• 1998 to Current

  A Safe, Loving Place for All
  Providing a safe space became a secret ingredient to our success.

  We saw that people experiencing homelessness have a deep place in their hearts for children; maybe because their childhood was the last time they felt secure, loved, and/or valued.

  When one of the guests was asked, “What is it that you like the most about Body & Soul?”  his response was, “They know my name.” Another replied during that week saying, "I am always having to watch my back, but at Body & Soul, I feel like I can finally relax because it's a safe environment." 

• 2020 through 2021

  Steadfast Through The COVID-19 Pandemic
  Body & Soul's continued its mission through the COVID-19 pandemic.

  Although many organizations, both public sector and private sector, shut their doors during the pandemic, some temporarily, some forever, Body & Soul Homeless Program's volunteers and leaders worked extra hard throughout the pandemic to continue carrying out of mission to serve the downtown homeless community during the biggest time of need of our lifetime. 

  Although our weekend breakfast service "format" changed, Body & Soul rallied to find alternative, yet safe, ways to provide meals, clothing, and essential personal-care items to our homeless guests.
• 2024

   Achieving 501(c)(3) Status

  Body & Soul's volunteer leaders excelled in the process of becoming a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization.

  With the leadership of Jermaine Bouyer, Henri Glover, and a few of our most-dedicated volunteer leaders, Body & Soul Homeless Program completed the lengthy application process of becoming an "official" 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. They did so to ultimately enable our organization to carry out our Christ-led mission of caring for those in need.