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.”

Lessons from the Crisis

Many of us are new to this level of crisis. The sudden presence of coronavirus has given all of us some sense of life being disrupted, feeling off-kilter, and generally inconvenienced. Our usual schedule is altered or gone as are many of the systems that we previously relied on to get us through each day.

Grocery shopping is different. Work is different. Routines are different. Even school is different. Sometimes we lose track of the time of day or the day altogether. How many times since this crisis began have you asked yourself, “Is it Tuesday or Wednesday or Friday?” We feel a loss of control over our lives. The future is uncertain. We are at the mercy of the situation. Some of us have lost work or wages which means we are sometimes making hard choices between food and bills. Most of us are unable to see loved ones. For many of us, these changes are accompanied by a lost sense of purpose. The best we can do is hold on to hope, pray for grace, and have faith that it will all work out somehow. The thing that is so striking to all of us at Family Promise is that although this level of crisis is new to many of us, this is very similar to the kind of crisis that we have seen most (if not all) of our families go through since we opened our doors in 2013. This insight into what our families are experiencing when they enter the Family Promise program has already proven to be valuable. It takes trust that the program will work for them, just like we must have faith that we will be able to recoup the funding we've lost from having to cancel two fundraisers. Already our empathy for our families is growing. During this pandemic we are told to be gentle with ourselves, and to give ourselves a break because it is going to be hard for a while. That messaging is accurate - we should be gentle with ourselves and it is going to be hard for a while. For most of us, though, this crisis will pass. We will return to our jobs and our wages will be restored. When it does pass for us and life goes back to “normal,” it is so very important that we remember what this feels like. There will still be people in crisis even when our lives get back to what they were before we ever heard of COVID-19. If we can all remember how it felt and if that memory can lead to a little more compassion, then at least one positive thing will have come from this. Adjusting to the Crisis At Family Promise, we have adjusted like everyone. We are still doing case management and individualized attention using distance/video/conferencing, etc. Our volunteers and donors are still very involved in making sure the families have what they need during this time. Our graduate families are going through the same thing as everyone else. They are homeschooling the kids and they are hoping to hang on to their jobs. They are a little uneasy, uncertain, and very glad they have Family Promise as a safety net. We are keeping them informed about local resources and encouraging their continued contact with us. One of the biggest impacts we’ve personally seen from this crisis is that we have had to cancel our two largest fundraisers of the year. We have pivoted, responded, and replaced them with two virtual events. Opportunities For You to Help No-Show Gala, April 18-25 Most Galas require you to get all dolled up and show up. But not this one! The No-Show Gala is designed for you to eat a fabulous meal in the comfort of your own home (sequins are optional). Each ticket will get you a gourmet dinner courtesy of Sylver Spoon delivered right to your door. All funds raised will go toward emergency funding for our homeless families. Meal deliveries will go on through the week, but the live Gala event itself will be on Saturday, April 18 at 7 PM. Sarah Dixon, our Executive Director, will open with an address and then Jessica Melott will be hosting a live jewelry show featuring fair trade accessories around 7:30 PM. 20% of the profits from the jewelry sales will go to support Family Promise and the rest will go to vulnerable artisan communities. Click here for tickets and more information. We thank you for your support as it is more important than ever. Don’t forget to post a picture of your No Show Gala and tag us at #NoShowGalaNB. Big Give Emergency Relief Fund, Ongoing To donate to our Big Give Emergency Relief Fund, please visit the Family Promise website and click on the red button at the top of the screen. ​As of writing this, we have met our first $4K matching goal (total is now $19K) so now the updated goal is $25K by 4/25. Exciting! We still have a long way to go to reach our next goal, so please consider making a donation. Every bit counts. For every $5 you donate to the Big Give Emergency Relief Fund, you will have a chance to win a raffle prize and for $20 increments you will get 5 chances to win. The winners will be announced on May 6th. Stay tuned for more information on how to claim your prizes. Family Promise is a Community Response to Homelessness and we will need the help of the community working together to pull through in the coming months. We are grateful for your support.