Dallas / Fort Worth Local News

FORT WORTH (CBS 11 / TXA 21) ― East Lancaster Street in Fort Worth provides a home for the homeless, the drug addicts, the prostitutes and the mentally ill. "I call them the invisible people," said Sgt. Richard Morris, formerly a Methodist minister now working as an officer with the Fort Worth Police Department. "The people we don't acknowledge. We try to look the other way and not see them."

CBS 11 News rode along with Morris to witness the area first-hand. "I'm going to show you where a lot of the prostitution problems we have are," he said during the trip, "close enough to the shelters where they can go and eat, but still far enough away from the neighborhoods where they don't get called in as often."

Click here to see Morris discuss his efforts to clean up the streets of Fort Worth.

Morris encountered a mentally ill homeless man. "I just want to see how things are going with you," Morris said.

Then, he met a homeless couple. "This is my girlfriend, Cathy," the man said. "Nice to meet you. I wish it could be under better circumstances."

Morris believes that he has a mission. "What I try to do," he said, "is let some people know there is a hope for them, even if it means sometimes we need to take them into custody to help them."

He found Chris and Serena more than a year ago. Their problem? "It started with painkillers," Serena said. "One thing led to another and the next thing you know, we were on heroin. We were spending $300 a day, everyday."

Click here to see Serena discuss the couple's drug addiction and life living on the streets.

With a habit costing them $9,000 each month, the couple fell far. "We've done everything but steal," Chris said.

"I always said this place is like a pit," Serena said as she started to cry. "You can try like Hell to climb up that side of the wall, but you're going to keep sliding back down."

That's when Morris found them. "He came to give us a burger for Thanksgiving," Serena explained. He did a lot more than that, giving them a boost by paying for methadone treatments and even buying them a $300 car.

"Eventually, somebody's going to come along and give you that one bit of help you've been begging for," said Chris.

Click here to see Chris talk about the couple's road to recovery.

But there was one stipulation. "You need to get out of here," Chris said, explaining what Morris told them. "And if I see you over here on Lancaster again, you're going to jail, cash bond."

This strategy would not work for everyone, however. Needing the cash to help others, Morris joined forces with a familiar friend, Pastor Jim Chandler. "It touches us to think that, for $9, that we might play a small part in helping someone or to keep them from drowning," Chandler said.

With an aging congregation and a newborn desire to help urban renewal, Meadowbrook Methodist Church picked up Morris' program. Since October, they have helped over a dozen people remove the symptoms of withdrawal.

The church only wants to help those who actually want to get off of drugs. They have a "tough love" policy. Anyone who is discovered using again is cut off from funding.

To Morris, "loving thy neighbor" means helping them escape the streets, and he has spread word about this program to other officers.

Chris and Serena now have a baby daughter, born on December 15 with a hole in her diaphragm. It was not caused by drugs, according to doctors.

Click here to see a follow-up interview with Serena, conducted three weeks after the couple first met with CBS 11 News.

While the couple prepares for their girl to come home, Morris is working a new area of town, spreading the same message. "Are you interested in getting away from smoking crack?" he asks. "Have you tried to quit it? Go there when you get out of jail, if you're serious, alright? And I'll help pay for it."

It costs $9 each day for a "methadone treatment," which is a certain liquid that patients drink from a cup. That adds up to $63 each week, $270 each month and $3,240 for a group of 12 people.

Those who would like to sponsor someone can contact:

The Hemphill Treatment Center
700 Hemphill Street, Suite A
Fort Worth, TX 76104
817-334-0111

Those who wish to sponsor someone through the church can contact:

Meadowbrook Methodist Church
3900 Meadowbrook Drive
Fort Worth, TX 76103
817-534-1741

(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)