Meet The Family: Jan Hutchings

Meet Jan Hutchings who is an Administrative Assistant with Family Promise of Greater New Braunfels. She also volunteers as an overnight person when her church hosts families.

Jan started with FPGNB as a volunteer in the summer of 2013 as they prepared for the opening - helping with painting and getting the old day center ready for guests. After the first guests were accepted into the program, she started volunteering as a receptionist, opening/closing the day center and answering phone calls, as well as volunteering with her church when they hosted. At the time, the only paid employee was Stacey Minor, the first Executive Director. Jan was hired in September of 2013 as the part-time Administrative Assistant and has been with FPGNB in this capacity since then.

Right before starting with Family Promise, Jan retired from teaching. It was not unusual for her to have children in her class who were experiencing homelessness (on average one child a year). These children might be living doubled up with extended family, rotating through different relatives’ and friends’ homes, coming in from the Crisis Center, sleeping on couches, or in a car. She saw the tremendous effect homelessness wreaks on children. Their attendance was frequently spotty and in class they had difficulty paying attention and completing assignments, tired from lack of sleep or distracted by problems that their families were coping with. Education simply could not have the same level of priority that children sleeping in a safe, secure, and stable environment enjoyed. Communities in Schools was a great resource for families, but it wasn’t enough. This close-up view of the difficulties of children experiencing homelessness made Jan know that she wanted to be a part of Family Promise when her church began discussing supporting this new nonprofit.

“I loved, and still love, that Family Promise is making a difference in children’s lives and is affecting generational change in the cycles of poverty and homelessness.”

Jan is very excited to see FPGNB expanding its efforts into programs geared toward the prevention of homelessness. The current Executive Director, Sarah, along with Family Services Coordinator, Jill, has continued the program’s shelter and graduate support components, and has implemented initiatives that assist families who are still housed but who are experiencing severe financial hardship and are at serious risk of becoming homeless. Experiencing homelessness is a traumatic event in a family’s journey. While Jan loves that they are able to help families overcome homelessness through the shelter program, she knows that preventing it from happening in the first place will allow FPGNB to have an even greater impact on the lives of families in our communities.

Thank you, Jan Hutchings, for your hard work, dedication, and many contributions (seen and unseen).

Meet The Family: Father David Chalk

St. Francis by the Lake has been an Episcopal presence at Canyon Lake since the 1970s. Fr. David came to St. Francis in 2010. He had been searching for a parish that was highly involved in outreach ministry. When he fo

und St. Francis, he found what he was looking for. Presently, they have 70 different outreach ministries; some are one-person ministries, while others involve a whole team. A few of those ministries are international.

A few of St. Francis’ parishioners first learned about Family Promise through Marie and Pastor Paul Miller of St. Andrew Lutheran Church of Canyon Lake. St. Andrew was hosting families, and upon learning about the program, St. Francis volunteers offered support to St. Andrew during the week they were hosting families. Fr David and the parish felt called to be even more involved. This became a very important detail to factor in as they made plans to build what they call their Ministry and Outreach Center. They’ve continued to support St. Andrew, but they are very glad to be able to host families now.

From a biblical and theological standpoint, Fr. David and his parish believe that caring for those in need is one of the primary tasks of the church. The first leaders of the church directed that some believers be tasked with caring for those who had no one else to care for them. (Acts 6.1-6) This and other mandates have been their inspiration and guidance, and especially:

...Jesus said to them, “They do not need to go away. You give them something to eat.” Matthew 14.16 (NKJV)

This call, however, goes deeper. One of the reasons why Fr David and St. Francis feel so strongly about supporting Family Promise is, they see its ministry implications: Family Promise not only feeds the hungry, but also embraces the families, gives them shelter, walks with them through their hardships, and offers appropriate support to break the cycle of homelessness. Meeting people where they are and helping t

hem in ways that encourage empowerment is something about which Fr. David is passionate.

We are so grateful that Fr. David and the entire St. Francis by the Lake parish have joined the Family Promise family.

Meet the Family: Doy Cole

Simply put, this organization would not be what it is today without the efforts of Doy Cole.

Doy’s work with homeless people started in Houston about 1990 through his Church and also his involvement in the SEARCH homeless project in downtown Houston as well as the Harris County Homeless Coalition.

In 2005, he relocated to New Braunfels. He joined the Comal County Homeless Coalition and became a board member of TIPHER (The Institute for Public Health and Education Research). With the support of his church (New Braunfels Presbyterian), he committed to helping homeless people in New Braunfels.

Through TIPHER, Doy and others enabled the House of Hope free medical clinic, the Westside Community Center, the Soup Kitchen, and other services for the poor and homeless. The Homeless Coalition became the primary advocate for homeless people with agencies throughout the county working together to help homeless people. In the last two years, the Homeless Coalition opened the first-ever Cold Weather Shelter and then first-ever Winter Shelter in early 2020 which closed as COVID19 hit.

“I learned early there are many faces of homelessness. The face the public sees so often is the “chronic homeless person” living in the streets. While these are the most severe and in many ways the most heartbreaking, the stats (look them up) tell us that family homeless people including children are the largest group. Family Promise addresses homeless families with children.”

Family Promise came to Doy’s church and the HCCC in late 2011 to explore the idea of establishing a Family Promise affiliate in our area. Statistics gathered by HCCC and the two local, independent school districts indicated there were a surprising number of homeless children in our community. The abundance of churches provided the service platform to launch an effort to form an affiliate. A pastor at his church asked him to take a leadership role and in February 2012, Family Promise of Greater New Braunfels was launched. Sixteen months later, they opened their doors with Stacey Minor serving as the first Executive Director. Doy served on many committees, was involved in recruiting volunteers, securing host churches, and extremely involved with fundraising. After seven years of board service, including four as Board President and three as Treasurer Doy’s board limit term ended.

Since his retirement, Doy has committed much of his free time to continue his quest to help homeless families through TIPHER, HCCC, NB Housing Partners, and Family Promise.

Doy Cole is still very present at Family Promise. Current Executive Director, Sarah Dixon, keeps him in the loop and consults him on many issues. He maintains his involvement in the fundraising aspect of FPGNB. He started the Family Promise Endowment Fund that can be found through the New Braunfels Community Foundation.

“My heart is still with Family Promise and always will be. Homeless people are real people and deserve dignity.”