Weeks of prayer and hard work culminated in our biggest donation ever yesterday (Dec 7) as we gifted a pair of vans to two amazing charities in Brenham, Texas. I struggle to find words that capture the joy I felt crowding in the tiny, yet beautiful confines of the Washington county tax office to gift a massive 15-passenger van to Adult and Teen Challenge and a mint Honda Odyssey to Our Daughters’ House. Add them up, and we were a 36’ long caravan of vans from BCS to Brenham - our biggest donation ever by value (vans are pricey!), tonnage (and heavy!), and impact (they will each serve dozens if not hundreds of clients in the coming years!) Let me share a bit about each of these amazing organizations to help you see why OnRamp invested so much time and treasure to partner with them.
First, Our Daughters’ House. Did you know that when a child ages out of the foster care system, he or she typically enters adult life without a family, without a home, without savings, without a car, or job? No wonder so many fall pray to homelessness and trafficking! Jenny Williams and Laura Chelf could not stand idly by while so many young women in our state fell through the cracks when they turned 18. So they created a residential home where a handful of female clients can find safety, healing, counseling, training, and equipping for the future. As Jenny shared, “It is our mission to provide housing for young women aging out of the foster care system. Our hope is to create opportunity for healthy financial mindset, interdependence, a renewed sense of family, and an experience of God’s love. We have seen what the Lord can do through those determined, prayed over, and given a chance.” Unfortunately, they did not have a vehicle to serve the residents of this house who need to get to work (help finding steady employment is a major part of their program for the girls), school, and appointments. They had to use unreliable personal vehicles whenever possible, but that compromised their ability to provide consistent care to these vulnerable young women. Fortunately, through the generous donations of our supporters, OnRamp was able to purchase, prepare, and gift them a beautiful 2008 Honda Odyssey with only 70k miles!
Second, Adult and Teen Challenge of Texas, Brenham men’s campus. Jonathan Mitchell and Mark Johnson run this amazing ministry that provides dozens of men at any given time with a comprehensive Christian faith-based solution to life-controlling addictions in order to become productive members of society. Residents of this 24/7 program receive room and board, group and individual biblical counseling, parenting classes, spiritual support, relapse prevention, anger management, drug and alcohol education, and social/recreational activities as well as vocational rehabilitation and a sober living for program graduates. Their dream is to put hope within reach of every addict or at-risk youth by offering life transformation through caring, Christ-centered programs. And apparently they are doing a great job of it! According to former president George W. Bush, “Adult and Teen Challenge is one of the most successful programs in our country.” We are blessed to have a proven residential drug-rehab ministry right here in our own community! They even partner with the Nest, another Christian addiction ministry here in College Station, to whom OnRamp donated an SUV a few weeks ago! But just like the Nest, Adult and Teen Challenge found themselves without reliable, large transportation at a critical time in their ministry. The men they serve MUST get to treatment, training, retreats, and new jobs as part of their growth process. But when you have 20-30 men-in-residence at any given time, you need a BIG vehicle! Fortunately, after a few weeks of prayer and fund raising, God provided this excellent, massive 15-passenger Ford E350 in Waco that had only 60k miles on it… and was offered at a discount by a seller who loved OnRamp’s mission! We scooped it up, prepared it, and rejoiced to meet this practical need.
This was a long blog post to read. But I hope you’ve been blessed to learn about two charities God has built in Brenham that are doing phenomenal work among some of the most vulnerable citizens in our community (foster kids and recovering addicts). Your support of OnRamp has allowed us to PARTNER with these charities to bless dozens of men and women in the coming years!
As always, a huge thanks to Christian Brothers Automotive who repaired both vans at a massive discount, Discount Tire Tower Point who put new tires on all 8 wheels for about half price, and George’s Auto Glass who replaced the Odyssey windshield for free. We couldn’t do this work without your help!
Thank you Rami Cerone for helping me get these vans, Stephanie Mason and Ryan Poehl for evaluating each of these charitable partners, and Emily Myers for these great pictures. And huge thanks to Chip and Diane Jennings and Catherine Cole for helping get our caravan-of-vans to Brenham!
