Homeless find human bond playing bingo in the park with Fort Worth TCU students

John Turner counts down the days until Friday every week. Turner can’t wait to see his “P and J,” his “pride and joy.”

For years, he has hiked down to a church on Hemphill Street in Fort Worth’s southside, rarely missing a fellowship with a committed group of students from nearby Texas Christian University. The gathering used to be called “Bingo and Bagels” back in 2010, long before the TCU-funded group took over. It is now known as “Bingo in the Park.”

“They are not my biological kids, but for 45 minutes they are,” Turner tells the Star-Telegram.

Sure, a game of bingo is played on the grounds of the Southside Church of Christ. But breakfast is also served, which on most Fridays consists of coffee, tacos and doughnuts. But what really drew most of the nearly 20 individuals — who are either homeless, trying to get free from addiction or simply struggling — on a recent winter morning was the uplifting sense of community, a human connection.

“They have access to local housing communities and job resources, but one of the things they feel like they do not have access to is relationships with people in stable situations,” said Kate Marshall, the student group’s leader.

TCU student outreach ‘Bingo in the Park’ creates personal connection with homeless

Many have been coming to the park for years knowing the warmth of personal connections would be available, Marshall explained, looking around at the recent gathering under live oaks on the grassy grounds of the stone church on 2101 Hemphill St.

Without this fellowship, Turner said, he’d still be wallowing in his misfortunes — crediting the group for pulling him out of hard times.

He said he watched his family fight, breaking blood bonds. His two sisters fought constantly, until one recently died, he added.

Times were tough for Turner. The stress of it all dragged him into a cycle of addiction, he said.

He wrestled to find equilibrium in his life. But he loved the rush of whatever gave it to him at the moment. He thought he was addicted to dopamine, but he just wanted out of all of life’s hassles.

And he is not alone.

Grace, who did not want her last name to be used, quietly told the group how grateful she was for their support.

“We’re family, and [the students] prove it by them all coming to [her friend’s] memorial. Blessed people bless us.” she said, remembering her friend, Dean, who recently died.

She said she met him on a bus in 2015, and from that meeting on their friendship blossomed. The only memento Grace has of Dean is a scooter a church gifted to him.

“He rode that thing all over the place,” she said.

These stories simply spilled out from the people gathered around picnic tables next to the church.

“If it weren’t for these kids I don’t know where I’d be,” said a grateful Ruby Turner, John’s sister whom he guided to the fellowship in the park. The group led Ruby to want to be baptized.

“We acknowledge that we are a family and then we pray,” Marshall, the student leader, said of the period of reflection they have each week.

Why was ‘Bingo in the Park’ started by TCU students?

This outreach by TCU students was started to “provide some sort of emotional and mental service, and we do that by creating a community that allows for empowering relationships to take place,” said Charlie Newsome, who helped get the ball rolling back in 2021.

The group’s mission dovetails nicely with the university’s Christian ethos — as a partner of The Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) — that pushes its campus community “to become a force for the greater good.”

“As a senior, I have been involved with ‘Bingo in the Park’ for three years and I can truly say the butterfly effect is real,” Marshall said. “Not only has it impacted my life, and those that come, but it has introduced the topic of homelessness further into TCU’s community, creating opportunity for discussion, initiative, and change.”