About Bob Sweeney
BOB SWEENEY is Executive Director of Dallas LIFE, the largest homeless shelter in North Texas, and he has over 30 years experience working with the disenfranchised. He has seen thousands transformed through his homeless recovery program, which is praised by the National Homeless Caucus as one of the best in the nation for its overwhelming success in addressing the homeless dilemma.
In May of 2010 published “25:35 Main Street.” Bob’s second book “Homeless No More” released in 2015 addresses how to prevent the next generation from becoming homeless as well as issues our homeless Veterans are facing such as PTSD and Traumatic Brain Injury. Bob and his wife, Mary Ann, have been married for 33 years, have 5 grown children, 2 grandchildren and live in Dallas.
Homeless No More
Makes Lasting Recovery A Reality.
Bob Sweeney’s flagship project and heartbeat of his career and dedication has been the Homeless No More recovery program with a 90% rate of lasting recovery. That means that 9 out of 10 graduates from the 10-month long program are not homeless ever again. They completely recover from homelessness. A 90% success rate is groundbreaking! Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee, Tony Evans, and Bishop TD Jakes endorse the program as did the late Congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson, who served as co-chair of the Congressional Homeless Caucus. She called Homeless No More, “The best example of a homeless recovery program I have seen.”
After serving as a pastor early in his life, Bob then became the head chaplain at a maximum security prison before becoming the Executive Director of an Association of Gospel Rescue Mission called Carriage Town Ministries in Flint, Michigan. In 2005, Dallas LIFE hired him as their Executive Director and Dallas is where Homeless No More was created, implemented and fine-tuned to become the life-changing program it is today.
As a pastor, prison chaplain and homeless shelter executive director, Bob has met and ministered to all kinds of people in all types of circumstances. His heart for the plight of homeless children is how the idea for Teddy Cares™ grew from an idea to a book and a tangible teddy bear – all the way to a national ministry. The book begins with a teddy bear waiting to meet a special and new friend. With warm illustrations, the story shares the bear’s anticipation of their arrival. This new friend is told to give him a name as the bear proceeds to tell them what they can expect at the homeless shelter. With gentle and calm language, Teddy presents the shelter as a large temporary place to live with food, a bed and toothbrush for them. Teddy assures them they will be cared for, be able to make new friends and have people who they can share their feelings with – even if they are sad. The heart of Bob is that a bear and book to hold and keep are given to each child as they arrive at each and every homeless shelter. In a time when a child has lost so much, these two items are not just representations of hope and safety but are tangible items of comfort and care.
Bob has been married to his wife for over 40 years. They now have five children and seven precious grandchildren.
The 5 Triggers of
Homelessness
Bob’s experience has helped him become an expert on homeless recovery in the United States partly because he streamlined all the personal stories and issues into five main causes of homelessness: mental illness, alcohol, broken relationships, drugs and poverty. These causes can be singular or overlap for the homeless. Program participants don’t just need a home. They have to overcome addictions and restore relationships as they find permanent housing and jobs (not just seasonal/part-time work) and re-learn or learn to become productive citizens of their communities.
Integral to his approach, the foundation of Bob’s Homeless No More Recovery Program is that the condition of homelessness can be treated and recovered from. Sweeney’s approach to homelessness is founded upon recognizing the issue as a condition that can be treated in recovery. By balancing compassion with accountability and education, the program participants are challenged to become self-sufficient in life (sometimes for the first time ever) and find joy within the journey of recovery. Bob consistently states, ”Homelessness is not a disease we need to cure but a disorder we need to address.”
Besides adults, veterans, families and seniors, Bob has pivoted his recovery expertise to address the children of homeless parents with his new creation, Teddy Cares.™ This book and bear have been designed specifically to bring comfort to children in a homeless shelter – an environment that can be scary to adults, not to mention children!
