Five years ago, I thought I knew what I was saying yes to (see My Ministry Journey: Another BIG Step).
After decades serving in congregational ministry, higher education, healthcare, and an earlier faith-based nonprofit role, becoming CEO of White Rock Center of Hope seemed like the natural next step in my vocational journey. What I could not have anticipated was how deeply this work would resonate with my sense of calling.
At Hope, I have been able to bring together the best of my previous experiences. My background in congregational ministry now helps connect dozens of churches to meaningful opportunities for service. My experience in education informs our empowerment programs. My healthcare work shapes my commitment to addressing both immediate needs and long-term well-being. What once felt like several distinct chapters of a career have come together in one place.
Five years later, this has become the longest role of my professional life and one of the most meaningful.
Reimaging What Hope Can Be
When I arrived at Hope in 2021, we began by asking fundamental questions. What are the greatest needs in East Dallas? What gaps exist in the community? How could Hope make the greatest difference?
The answers led us to reimagine the organization.
During the first two years, we clarified our mission, expanded our vision, and adopted core values to guide our future. Most importantly, we embraced a more holistic understanding of what it means to help neighbors thrive (see Starting Year 3 at White Rock Center of Hope).
For decades, Hope had faithfully met immediate needs through food and clothing assistance. We continue that work today, but we also recognized that many neighbors needed more than short-term support. They needed pathways toward greater stability and opportunity.
As a result, Hope evolved from an organization focused primarily on basic needs into one that combines immediate compassionate assistance with longer-term personalized empowerment. Today, neighbors can access food and clothing while also pursuing educational opportunities, workforce development, financial stability, and other long-term goals. This is possible thanks to numerous partnerships.
What began as a vision has become a reality.
Growth That Serves East Dallas Neighbors in Need
Over the last three years, Hope has taken bold steps forward guided by our first-ever multi-year strategic plan and our vision of an East Dallas where all thrive.
The transformation is visible across Hope’s campus. New landscaping, fresh exterior paint, updated signage, expanded storage capacity, a walk-in refrigerator and freezer, a covered donation drop-off area, redesigned interior spaces, and improved wayfinding have all enhanced the experience for neighbors, shoppers, volunteers, donors, and partners.
Behind the scenes, Hope strengthened governance, adopted new policies, standardized procedures, and invested in deeper community relationships.
We recognize that buildings and systems are only valuable if they help people. The true measure of Hope’s growth is found in the lives touched by our ministry.
Over the last five years, the number of unique neighbors served annually has nearly tripled, reaching 14,664 people last fiscal year.
That growth includes:
- Feeding More Families. Hope has tripled the amount of food distributed, surpassing one million pounds in a single fiscal year for the first time while expanding opportunities for neighbor choice.
- Clothing More Neighbors. The number of clothing items distributed has more than tripled and is on pace to exceed 100,000 items this fiscal year, again with a greater emphasis on dignity and choice.
- Empowering Long-Term Success. What began as a new initiative has grown into a robust empowerment program that now serves more than 500 neighbors annually with classes and coaching.
A Community Effort
None of this growth happened alone. It has been fueled by
- Shopping. Our award-winning Thrift Store has expanded operating hours, improved merchandising, enhanced customer loyalty programs, and now generates more than $550,000 annually to support Hope’s mission.
- Donating. Food, clothing, household goods, and financial contributions have more than doubled over the last five years thanks to the generosity of individuals, congregations, businesses, grocery partners, and community organizations who believe in Hope’s mission and invest in helping East Dallas neighbors thrive.
- Volunteering. Perhaps most remarkably, the number of people volunteering at Hope each year has grown from fewer than 200 to more than 1,500.
Hope has always been about neighbors serving neighbors. That spirit remains at the heart of everything we do.
Challenges Along the Way
Growth stories are rarely linear.
Like many nonprofit organizations, Hope faced significant setbacks when federal funding was eliminated through changing government priorities.
We have also experienced challenges closer to home. I was hospitalized after being assaulted at Hope (see Surviving an Attack & Living a Hope-Filled Recovery). Our campus has endured vandalism, break-ins, and other disruptions.
Each challenge has revealed something important about Hope. Time and again, volunteers, donors, church partners, staff members, and community supporters have stepped forward. Every obstacle has been met with resilience, generosity, and determination.
Hope is stronger today because of the people who refuse to give up on one another.
Rooted in Ministry
While much has changed, Hope remains grounded in the same vision that inspired its founding in 1988.
A coalition of thirteen churches came together because they believed they could accomplish more together than separately. They understood that caring for neighbors in need was not the responsibility of any one congregation. This conviction continues to guide Hope today.
Although Hope does not offer religious programming, it was born as a Christian ministry and remains deeply shaped by the Way of Jesus. I understand my role as CEO to be a ministry calling, and I remain grateful for the Board’s support of both my ordination in the United Church of Christ and my installation as CEO (see My Ordination and Installation).
Most of Hope’s supporters are connected to one of our church partners. Those congregations provide prayer, volunteers, financial support, food and clothing drives, and countless other forms of encouragement that make our ministry possible.
Hope exists because a community of faith continues to believe that love is most powerful when put into action.
Coming Full Circle
One unexpected gift of these five years has been the opportunity to reconnect with congregational ministry.
Before Hope, congregational ministry was the focus of most of my professional life. Through Hope, I have been privileged to preach, teach, and share the ministry of Hope with many partner congregations.
I have also been blessed to serve as Interim Senior Pastor of Advent Lutheran Church and now as Interim Senior Minister of First Christian Church (Disciples of Christ).
Rather than competing with one another, these roles have deepened one another. My congregational ministry strengthens my leadership at Hope, and my experience at Hope enriches my ministry in the church.
Grateful for the Past. Hopeful for the Future
Five years ago, I thought I was taking the next logical step in my career. Instead, I found a calling that drew together everything that had come before.
I found a ministry that allows me to connect churches, volunteers, donors, community partners, and neighbors in ways that transform lives. I found a community committed not merely to helping people get by, but to helping people thrive.
Most importantly, I found renewed confidence that when people come together around a shared purpose, remarkable things are possible.
Thank you to everyone who has been part of Hope’s journey over these last five years. Whether you have volunteered, donated, prayed, shopped, partnered, or simply shared our story, you have helped make this ministry possible.
Together, we have served more neighbors than ever before. And together, we are just getting started.