By Mackenzie Grizzard | Staff Writer
The hit television show “Fixer Upper” created a brand for the city of Waco as the hosts revitalized old, rundown houses. Fixer Uppers are now a hot commodity, but that housing is out of reach for Waco’s impoverished.
Jimmy Dorrell is the co-founder and president of Mission Waco, a local organization dedicated to ending homelessness. He works with organizations such as The Salvation Army and the Heart of Texas Homeless Coalition.
Despite the revenue brought in by the Magnolia empire, Waco is a poor city by background, Dorrell said. The Texas Demographic Center reports that statewide, the average poverty rate is 14%. In Waco, that rate is nearly 25%, according to World Population Review.
“Our poverty rate is almost double the average city,” said Dorrell. “There always has been homelessness, but there was only the small Salvation Army shelter.”
The local Salvation Army homeless shelter is located just two streets down from the iconic Magnolia Silos, which are worth $750 million, according to Yahoo Finance. When “Fixer Upper” bought up old properties to revitalize them, gentrification began, said Dorrell.
Dorrell said a gentrified Waco contributes to the housing crisis facing the poor community.
“As the forces of economics take on, they can buy three houses here for nothing, then fix them up and make them rent houses,” Dorrell said. “But those three houses are where some of my folks stayed, and now they can’t afford a house.”
Affordable housing is the biggest issue facing the homeless population right now, according to Dorrell. The average price for a single-unit residential home in Waco is $295,998, according to a 2024 Norada Investments report. The report charts a steady increase over the last several years, undoubtedly due to the new growth in Waco.
“Gentrification is a force,” Dorrell said. “Things are going to be economically better than we’ve ever seen, but for the poor, there’s still a gap in services.”
One of these services is Mission Waco’s Church Under the Bridge, held every Sunday underneath the I-35 and Jack Kultgen Expressway intersection. Beginning as a small Bible study for the homeless, Church Under the Bridge provides a number of faith-based services for its community.
“We just want to fix something,” Dorrell said. “I can’t fix all the problems, but I can be their friend.”
Church Under the Bridge is celebrating its 32nd anniversary this month and will continue to be a place of belonging, Dorrell said.
“That’s the part I don’t think people understand,” Dorrell said. “It’s not a church for the poor, its a church with the poor.”
With generous donations from benefactors and grants from the City of Waco, Mission Waco is on track to construct what Dorrell is calling “Tiny Village.” These small homes will house up to 35 homeless people during the first funding cycle and up to 240 when construction is finished, according to Dorrell.
Director of Baylor Student Ministries Will Bowden said Baylor has its own role in combatting homelessness in conjunction with Church Under the Bridge.
“A number of years back, BSM students felt an unquenchable desire to do something to bridge the gap between wealth and poverty in Waco,” Bowden said. “Instead of starting something new, they simply joined what Mission Waco was already doing.”
BSM and Mission Waco have worked closely with each other for a number of years.
“There is a larger gap between poverty and wealth in Waco than most people realize,” Bowden said. “It’s a hard gulp of reality when you stop and examine the bold lines between [the] lifestyle of Baylor students compared to the other side of I-35.”
