Transformational Living (TL) is an opportunity for a family that is at-risk, homeless, or otherwise in a crisis situation to find stability through the resurrection power of Jesus Christ. It is an opportunity to break generational cycles of poverty and offer hand-up, not a handout. For our Network churches and volunteers, it is a connectivity point for constant service and discipleship for vulnerable families. Transformational Living (TL) is a programmatic approach that is intended to assist families in our community with housing, financial, emotional, and spiritual support while they work toward self-sufficiency. This includes a discernment and intake process that connects a family who truly want to change, with the resources, guardrails, and support to make the change, and then provides enough runway to allow them to begin to build new habits and lifestyles. Along the journey, they also connect with a long-term community for future and ongoing love and support (a church body).
Our “Why”?
People need to know the Love of Jesus Christ and the power and freedom that accompanies a relationship with Him. Our backyard (Burnet and Llano County) is a mission field and the sense of urgency to reach the lost has never been greater.
We believe that whenever we are able to meet a physical need in the name of Jesus, we often will encounter an open door for a greater spiritual conversation and relationship to develop. The Greatest Commandment calls us to love God with all our heart, soul, and mind and to Love our neighbor as yourself. Everything we do is with a goal of glorifying God through service to others. We strive to serve and to love unconditionally, as Christ loved us.
We also believe that as we are able to provide opportunities for churches to work together and members to work beside one another, we build high levels of trust with one another and resilience for our community.
The Need
According to 2020 US Census data, there are more than 5,000 children in our two-county region living at or below poverty level (defined as a family of 3 or more making less than $37,000/year). At one point during 2023, we know there were at least 210 children in our area identified and meeting the federal definition of homelessness. Each of these children is representative of a family struggling with poverty – many is generational cycles of poverty.
There are so many more families who live every day life right on the brink of spiraling into chaos. On average, we visit with more than 18 families per month who would be candidates for Transformational Living, should we have the resources (finances, living environments, etc) to meet their needs. The residents selected for Transformational Living are currently experiencing homelessness, are at a very high risk of becoming homeless, or are living in poverty conditions right here in Burnet and Llano counties. Many are currently living in their cars, hotels, couch-surfing, shelters, or on the streets.
Further, the child protection systems in the State of Texas are in extreme crisis. There are consistently not enough foster/adoptive families in the State to serve the number of children who have been removed from dangerous situations – many of these ‘children without placement’ spend their nights in hotels, state office buildings, and other unstable environments.
The need is for more housing solutions and life services to meet these families where they are and help them eventually realize the hope and security that comes from having a safe and adequate living space and a community of support and love around them. The environment is perhaps as important as anything else. Many of these families have never known peace, safety, and security. Introducing them to a property that is tranquil, serene, and immersed in nature is paramount to their ability to be able to rest, know and listen to God, and begin to rebuild a life that is based in reason and hope, instead of fear and instinct-survival. This cannot be simply a free place to live, however. To truly change trajectory, we must deploy training and other related life programs to ensure their lasting and habitual success. The issue is certainly spiritual in nature, and we feel that the need will only compound in the coming years.
The “Program”
The “Program” is an intense level of mentorship, skills training, budgeting, goal-setting, and accountability. Each client family agrees to participate in at least weekly meetings for discipleship and support. These consist of a combination of community building experiences (fellowship, bible study, etc) and/or skills building (budgeting, soft skills like communication, gardening, etc).
As our scope continues to broaden, our same programmatic approach can also be tailored to assist the aged-out (foster) or at-risk teen, individuals in crisis situations, children without parents altogether (Children’s Home), and family preservation (CPS involvement) cases. This program allows us the ability to interact with two generations at one time (child and adult) resulting much greater chances of breaking cycles of poverty. In a worst-case scenario, we feel that the programmatic approach allows a family who might not know or fully understand the love of Jesus to have a repeated exposure to people who know and love Him.
While in the Transformational Living Program, families can stay at an apartment or other living space, free of charge initially, but as the program progresses and their financial accountability and budgeting classes have begun, a ‘suggested donation’ is layered in as a means of building habits of paying rent and to help offset program expenses.
Transformational Living: Southwest Village
In 2022, HLCN established partnerships with The Pregnancy and Life Center, The Texas Housing Foundation, Open Door Recovery, His Joshua House, and other organizations; proving that the churches working together and an overall programmatic, humble approach to ministry can strengthen all involved at the same time. Through extensive research, visiting other similar organizations, and trial and error, we have developed a program that focuses on providing stability, a sense of community, connectivity with a church family, and practical tangible support while they get back on their feet.
The Texas Housing Foundation learned about our programmatic approach and heart for breaking generational cycles of poverty and decided to donate The Southwest Village apartments to help provide housing for this program. These apartments consist of a total of 24 units, each 3 bedroom, 2 bath. Many generous local churches, foundations and individuals have contributed funds and time volunteering in order to rebuild and renovate the heavily used and abused apartments. Since 2022, more than $350,000 in donations has been contributed for renovation alone and dozens of churches have engaged in “adopting” part or all of a unit renovation.
Transformational Living: Southwest Village has solidified our programmatic concepts and proven that the model we have can work for elevating a family out of generational poverty and toward self-sufficiency. We have constant opportunities for service in and around the property, renovation of units, mentorship with families, and so much more.
Transformational Living: Valley View Village
The future expansion of the TL Program is dependent upon acquiring more property so that additional services not yet offered can be developed and deployed. Through various meetings, discussions and prayer, a tract of land just beyond Marble Falls ETJ to the North and along Highway 281 has been identified. It is an ideal 211 acre parcel with all needed utilities within close proximity, strategically placed to unify surrounding governing jurisdictions, and owned by Kingdom-minded individuals who are helping to develop the scalability plan for HLCN and offering the property for purchase at more than $1million off market value.
We hope to create a “village” where impoverished children, families in crisis situations, or otherwise without a stable living environment can be safe, have their essential needs met, and understand their value in Christ while building a community of support and love with one another that will ensure a long-term, positive, and lasting change in the trajectory of their lives. It will be a place of peace and healing that will restore hope and provide the opportunity for consistent ministry by the local churches. There is no other ministry or similar community service offering in our region that meets the needs of the people we seek to help in this comprehensive way. HLCN has a proven and operational model, and we seek to rapidly expand this model in order to reach the most vulnerable for the Kingdom of God.
The TL: Valley View project strives to be a self-sustainable ministry, not dependent upon government programs or ongoing donations to meet the program needs. We believe this can be accomplished through a layering in of income-producing aspects and community services support provided by clients as part of their program. This would look like strategically developing on site services that could produce a respectable wage and skills development for clients while also serving the needs of the established village and larger community and producing an income stream for the organization. Currently, our Warehouse is an example of this type of service model – it has the potential to employ a client with a paid role, allows the community to contribute donated clothing, furniture, and appliances, is a space that will serve during a disaster as the designated donation collection/redistribution point for emergency management, allows us to meet physical needs of those in crisis at no cost to us or them, and the excess items are able to be sold to the community for a revenue stream back into the organization.
The services of the village will include components like a market, livestock/agriculture, mechanical/automotive, storage space, warehouse space, service venues for events and gatherings, living spaces, construction trades for tiny homes to supply to the village and to the larger community. All of these opportunities can serve multiple needs at one time and allow the HLCN organization to become self-sufficient over time. We will always leave room for people to share their generosity with projects and ongoing operations, but if we can get these aspects layered into the village, we will utilize the revenue generated to exponentially impact the region in ways that God has yet to reveal for generations to come.
Every part of this plan includes opportunities for people of local churches to serve regularly and on an ongoing basis. This is perhaps the most valuable part of the plan. It is our ambition that this place becomes woven into the everyday fabric of each of the Network church’s structure and “DNA”. This will be a place where new generations of servant leaders will develop and hone their craft; a place where a pastor could send the people he has discipled to make new disciples; an environment that serves not only the people living there, but also the entire community of people in this region who are working to do good (other Christ-centered non- profits, churches, youth, etc). This constant engagement of volunteers and churches will expand HLCN’s disaster preparedness and readiness, strengthen overall community trust, and develop a level of resilience that can be utilized to continue to respond to other major community-wide needs. We will seek and need the participation of businesses and individuals to invest time, talent, and treasure to achieve cost savings and efficiencies, provide ongoing opportunity for people to share their generosity, and strengthen bonds of community through their contribution and participation.
We believe that the solutions presented herein are a grand opportunity to break generational cycles of poverty and begin to impact the entire region in a revolutionary way. It is not lost on us that this is both a God-sized ask, but we also know that we serve a God that has always been in the miracle business. We hope that you will be part of the miracle.
Our vision meets people where they are, provides them the tools, resources, and connectivity to pull themselves up and establish a new footing in life, all while encountering the Love of Christ at every step of the way. This type of transformation is a long-term commitment and requires significant resources and energy. The approach is both transformative for the client, while also providing an opportunity for the churches in our community to strengthen one another and have very clear lanes to make a Kingdom-level impact that we hope might revitalize and transform the way we do church together. We are inviting you to participate and invest with us into a project that will have ripples throughout eternity.
