The Dallas homeless seva started about 20 years ago. It was initiated after Swami appeared in the dream of a lady devotee from the center. He showed her a place called the “Austin Street Shelter” and told her to go there and start helping them. To her amazement, when she went there, it looked exactly like the one that Swami had shown her in the dream. Since then, a group of about 20 devotees are serving about 350 homeless people on the second Friday of every month. The food is prepared at home and consists of salad, vegetarian spaghetti and sauce, bread, cookies, and juice. The guests at this night shelter say it is the only time in the whole month when they get enough to eat (Swami’s way of feeding the poor).

For 10 to 15 years, the Young Adults of the Dallas Sai Center have conducted what they call “The Bagel Project”. This consisted of serving breakfast to the homeless every Sunday morning. They served bagels with cream cheese, pastries, fruit, and juice and catered to several hundred homeless people. This seva was initially conducted on the streets. Later it was moved to the “Day Resource Center” run by the city.

About 5 years ago, the Dallas Sai Center started serving food to the underprivileged people on the streets of Dallas. About 50 to 100 people were served each night; some on the streets and some under the bridges. A small group of 5 to 7 devotees took homemade soup, bread, bananas, juice, and hot chocolate (in cold weather). Clothing was also taken, from time to time, along with the distribution of some 500 blankets each winter. This seva was conducted 7 days a week, without fail, for about 3 years. No night was missed, no matter how severe the weather. The homeless brethren were amazed to see the Sai devotees show up when the streets were iced over and warnings against driving had been issued by the weather bureau. These underprivileged folks became like family members to those serving them, and vice versa.

When the city imposed restriction on feeding people on the streets, due to health and sanitation concerns, the seva was moved to “The Dallas International Street Church” for about a year. From there it moved to the “Day Resource Center” which the city operated until last May.

On May 20, 2008, “The Bridge” (“bridging the way back home”) opened in Dallas, replacing the “Day Resource Center”. It is a facility for helping the homeless with various areas such as finding jobs, housing, health and mental health assistance, and some limited temporary housing. They also serve three meals a day there and the Dallas Sai Center devotees serve the meals on Saturday nights and Sunday mornings.

On Sunday mornings at “The Bridge”, the Sai devotees conduct a class known as “The SOUL Project” (Sai Outreach to Uplift Lives). The guests at “The Bridge” call it the “Story Circle”. It is loosely patterned after the Sai Center’s “Study Circle”, reading and discussing stories found on RadioSai.Org. It is also conducted as an open forum, for those attending to discuss whatever issues and concerns they may have, or perhaps telling their own personal story. It originated at the “Day Resource Center” 2 years ago and moved to “The Bridge” when it opened in May. Occasionally the homeless guests read a poem or sing a song that is usually composed by them. Those guests attending seem to benefit greatly from just being heard when they have something to say, since they often feel ignored. The Sai devotees feel that they benefit greatly from the warm family type discussion and a feeling of camaraderie with those struggling to put workability back into their lives.