Elizabeth Peznell heard God’s voice in a strip club locker room 11 years ago in Austin. It helped her overcome addiction.
“I heard this voice deep in my heart that said, ‘If you don’t stop now, you will perish,’” Peznell recalled, sitting in a coffee shop in Fort Worth’s Near Southside, where she now lives.
Today, Peznell, 38, is six years sober from alcohol, pills, cocaine and meth, she said.
Along her journey to sobriety, she founded Birdie’s Helping Hands, a nonprofit offering free resources to those struggling with addiction and homelessness in Fort Worth.
“Whenever I was out helping people is when I was healing,” Peznell said, adding that relationships with God and her unsheltered friends were key to her own recovery.
During the day, Peznell works full time as a street outreach worker with DRC Solutions, an east Fort Worth nonprofit that offers housing and support services to people experiencing homelessness. For Birdie’s Helping Hands, she spends nights and weekends following up with people facing addiction.
Peznell’s work to launch what she calls a “free rehabilitation movement” earned her recognition in 52 Faces of Community, Fort Worth Report’s weekly series spotlighting unsung heroes making a difference in Tarrant County.
“She’s such a success story for people to see that they can come out of the other side and really just have such a positive impact on others,” said Tony Wilson, executive director of DRC Solutions, who nominated Peznell for the recognition.
DRC Solutions outreach teams typically encounter an average of 300 individuals experiencing homelessness each month, Wilson said, adding that about a fifth of those people have some form of addiction.
Birdie’s Helping Hands complements the other nonprofit’s work by connecting people with addiction recovery resources and free supplies — such as condoms and Narcan, the over-the-counter nasal spray used to reverse opioid overdoses. Peznell also distributes bags filled with practical items: bug repellent, waterproof ponchos, socks, gloves and even brand-new Vans, donated by the shoe retailer.
Elizabeth Peznell, founder of Birdie’s Helping Hands, gives Communion to a person experiencing homelessness in Fort Worth. (Courtesy | Elizabeth Peznell)
Elizabeth Peznell gives free Narcan and shoes, among other resources, to people experiencing homelessness in Fort Worth. (Courtesy | Elizabeth Peznell)
So far, Birdie’s Helping Hands is funded through donations and partnerships with other charitable organizations.
The small nonprofit isn’t constrained by the grant requirements and red tape that larger operations face, Wilson noted, meaning Peznell can work quickly to “do what she sees fit whenever she comes across people.”
Her advocacy focuses on “rebuilding people’s worth, reminding them that they’re a person — not their addiction — truly meeting people where they’re at and loving them where they are,” Peznell said. “That’s what I needed whenever I was in addiction.”
Peznell’s approach starts with stopping and talking. She learns a person’s name and builds trust by sharing her own story. Sometimes, if they’re open to it, she’ll pray over an individual or give them Communion.
The nonprofit’s name merged an old-fashioned nickname for Elizabeth — “Birdie” — with Peznell’s goal of serving others as the “hands and feet of Jesus,” she said.
“It’s just so genuine with her. She just truly cares about each and every one that she serves.That’s the kind of thing that inspires me to do what I do, people like Elizabeth, people that just have the heart for it and really want to do good in their community.”
Tony Wilson, nominator
In her early 20s, Peznell fell into a “downward spiral” after losing a friend to suicide and getting an abortion that she later regretted. She began using pain pills and whiskey to cope with the loss, which eventually led to addiction to harder substances.
After her revelation in Austin, Peznell quit her job at the strip club and moved to Fort Worth, where she got a job at a 7-Eleven. She never attended addiction treatment classes or therapy.
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Working at the gas station six days a week and embracing the Christian faith she was raised in gave her the structure and resolve she needed to recover, Peznell said. Her advocacy through Birdie’s helps her stay sober.
Peznell makes countless friends through her work.
Wilson recalled the day he met Peznell in early 2022. The two were serving Lancaster Avenue’s homeless population, and Wilson was shocked to learn that Peznell was “like a celebrity down here.” She knew everyone’s names.
Four years later, there’s nothing else Peznell would rather be doing. While serving her neighbors, she said, she gets “a glimpse of heaven.”
Cecilia Lenzen is a government accountability reporter for the Fort Worth Report. Contact her at cecilia.lenzen@fortworthreport.org.
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