Alyssa Smith (Education Coordinator)

I was raised in east Texas and southern California, both very different places than Omaha, Nebraska, the city I now call home! In 2002, I moved to Omaha to attend Grace University. I graduated with a degree in Elementary Education, with an ESL certification, after student teaching for Omaha Public Schools.

In September of 2006, after volunteering for two years at the Hope Center, joined staff as the Education Coordinator and later took on the additional role of Art Coordinator. I am currently attending the University of Nebraska at Omaha in pursuit of my masters in Reading.

I deeply value living, working, and attending church in the same neighborhood and being involved in my community. Bridge Church is my church home. Reading, running, shopping, baking, art, and spending time with good friends and family are among my favorite things to do.

Pastor Ed King (Youth Development Coordinator)

Edward King (Youth Development)

I graduated from North High in 1983. I attended the University of Nebraska Omaha, Metro Tech and Omaha Bible School.

After accepting Christ in 1985, I became the founder and Pastor of Day Spring Ministries Christian Center in 1994.

I have been involved with the Hope Center for Kids for more than 12 years. I am currently the Youth Development Coordinator.

I married my high school sweetheart and have three children and four grandchildren.

Alysia Coit (Volunteer Coordinator)

Originally from the Portland, Oregon metro area, I moved to Omaha in 2009. I started working at the Hope Center for Kids in May of 2009 as the Volunteer Coordinator. One of my earlier childhood memories is my mother and I visiting an elderly woman each week to bring her groceries. In my role at the Hope Center for Kids, I get to help others experience the joy of serving others.

My husband and I were married in 2008. Our daughter was born in 2010. I love to spend time with my family. We seek out any activity that gives us a chance to be outdoors, weather permitting. I am always looking for a new hiking trail or something to plant in our garden.

Keke Brown

I am a recent graduate of Bellevue University, receiving my B.S. in Behavioral Science in June of 2010. Currently, I am attending school to obtain my master’s degree in Mental Health Counseling/ Forensic Counseling. I have been the Children’s Coordinator at the Hope Center for Kids for over a year and enjoy seeing young people reach their educational and spiritual potential. I am the mother of a 6 year old son & a 7 year old daughter. In my free time, I enjoy spending time with my children, family, & friends. I find time to volunteer at the pregnancy crisis center where I am an advocate for women and families in need.

Nonprofit of the Year!

[Ty receiving our award!]

We are so honored to have won the Nonprofit of the Year award by the Omaha Chamber of Commerce! Thank you so much to everyone who has supported us- we definitely couldn't have done all this without you!!!

Serenity

Life is anything but calm, serene. As a matter of fact, there is less and less margin in our lives. What’s to blame? IPod’s, Smartphones, HDTV, texting, Netflex…you get the idea. But even if we were able to board a plane and head to Hawaii for a dose of serenity, would that be our experience? The beach on the inside and perhaps a storm of stress on the inside. Calm is the cry of every heart, adult, child, man or woman. So how do we get there? Trust in Him, He is big enough to handle any source of stress. He is in charge. He loves us and wants what’s best for us. I hope you experience an increase of peace this month and the months to come. Thanks for giving calm to youth and children in North Omaha.

Much Love,

Ty

How are we living our lives?

Here's an excerpt from the article in the Fremont Tribune about Pastor Ty's speaking at a prayer breakfast before Easter... (The whole article can be viewed here)...

"Ty Schenzel shared stories this morning of three near-death experiences in his life.

The executive director of the Hope Center for Kids in Omaha, Schenzel was the guest speaker at the Seventh Annual Fremont Area Leadership Prayer Breakfast in Midland University's Hopkins Arena.

Approximately 250 people heard Schenzel talk about times as a youth when he could have died; once when his father's car spun out of control in Colorado, coming to rest with its rear wheels hanging over a cliff, and twice when his sister saved him from drowning.

"I am so thankful for God's mercy, because if I would have died that summer (of the second near-drowning). I was not yet a believer," he said.

Later in his teenage years, the Fremont native went with his father to a movie about the rapture where, for the first time, he began to doubt his own goodness and whether he would go to Heaven when he dies. The experience changed his life.

It was, he said, "a head-on collision with faith" that he compared to the Apostle Paul's similar collision with Jesus on Paul's way to Damascus, when Paul was converted from a persecutor of Christians into a follower of Jesus.

"That's what faith looks like," Schenzel said. "Jesus is the immovable object, the rock of salvation."

Over the years, persecutors unable to silence the message of Christianity would instead kill the messenger, Schenzel said. Paul was present when Stephen the Martyr was killed, and Paul himself was eventually persecuted for his Christian beliefs, Schenzel pointed out.

"They killed Jesus because they could not silence his message of love and forgiveness," Schenzel said.

"It makes sense to embrace the collision of faith and embrace Good Friday, take up the cross, dying to self so He can resurrect you into a new man or a new woman," he said.

"We tend to want Easter Sunday resurrection power in our lives, but we tend to not want the cross of Christ that crucifies self and selfishness," he said. "The reality is we can't have Easter Sunday without Good Friday.

"On Good Friday," he continued, "God wants us to invite him into our lives."

"The best way we can thank Jesus for his death on the cross is by the way we live our lives," he said. "