Current board chair and long-term supporter of Mission Centers of Houston since the 80s, Marc Schwartz reminisced recently over his first experience volunteering at one of our centers. “I was standing back in the kitchen in Gano,” he related wryly, “boiling hot dogs.” Schwartz’s initial connection with Mission Centers came through his church, Memorial Drive Baptist, and an end-of-the-year school party that they helped to provide for some of our youth. Over time, Schwartz and his wife became more and more involved with volunteer work at Mission Centers: from tutoring to fundraising expertise to board membership, their investment in the community is truly an invaluable one.

Schwartz is a self-described “Airforce brat,” born in California and living in a variety of states and countries before finally settling down in Texas where his career in forensic accounting landed him over 25 years ago. His family’s vocational interests are as interesting as his own: a son involved with pastoral ministry, a daughter whose background is in nuclear engineering, his wife’s long-term administrative work in the medical profession and — perhaps most importantly of all — the full-time occupation of curiosity and energy displayed by his 2 1/2 year old grandson. In addition to his familiarity with litigation and accounting-related work, Schwartz also holds an avid interest in both scuba diving and international travel.

With a personal history in which his own great-great-grandparents immigrated from Mexico to the US due to political instability and aslyum-seeking, Schwartz mentioned that he feels a significant affinity with our community members and many of the issues that face them today. “I believe there is no reason why children shouldn’t have a choice in experiencing a successful life in their future,” he shared. Schwartz’s main commitment with Mission Centers revolves around his position as board chair. He presides over board meetings, oversees strategic moves, focuses on creating and stabilizing fundraising initiatives, pursues partnerships with other key organizations, and seeks to aid executive director, Ginger Smith, in a shared vision for the Center’s role as a Christ-centered, proactive change agent in the community. “Christ told us — as often as we do for the least of these, we do it for Him. That’s always been close to me,” Schwartz stated with conviction.

To follow in Schwartz’s foosteps and learn more about the many volunteer opportunities we have at Mission Centers of Houston, look here: http://www.missioncenters.org/volunteer.html.

Despite her petite stature and calm speech, Tomasa “Tommie” Mendez — director of Joy Fellowship Center — is no shy wallflower. In the words of a co-worker, Tommie’s “tough love” approach in both her leadership style and her community interactions is a trademark feature testifying to her deep-seated commitment towards training others in responsibility, ownership and sustainable self-provision. “We’re here to tell you about the Lord, not just to give you food,” Tommie noted. “I never want to spoil our community with things that are too easy or too much. Instead, I want to teach them and help them to take care of their own families themselves.”

Originally from a small town outside of San Antonio, Tommie first felt the calling towards a lifetime of ministry when she was 18. Her parents, however, had different plans for their youngest daughter and so Tommie invested the first major portion of her life providing for her family in a characteristically hard-working and servant-like fashion. Once both of her parents passed away in the mid-70s, Tommie then stepped into the next season of service — one that she has remained faithful in for over the past 35 years.

After finishing seminary in 1976 (a remarkable accomplishment for someone without a high school degree), the spunky Tommie spent the following decade exploring summer missions, working as a relief house parent with Buckner Benevolences and getting married to a fellow seminary grad. “I was going downstairs to buy a Coke when I was on vacation,” Tommie reminisced with a bit of mischief in her eye when I pressed her on further details regarding her marriage to an equally hard-working, cheerful and godly man from Panama. “Roy was doing some cleaning or something and after he saw me, he asked a house parent for my address. We wrote letters for the next 2 and a half years and then — we married and it was — how do they say it? Happily ever after. I was 50 years old then, almost 51. God is faithful.”

Tommie came to Houston in 1984 by herself before getting married to Roy in 1987. When I asked her why, she laughed and then responded simply, “Why? Because Jesus brought me here, of course.” The Joy Fellowship director celebrated 28 years of service with Mission Centers of Houston on January 2nd of this year. In addition to her current position at Joy, Tommie also cycled through a variety of responsibilities at both Fletcher and Gano before settling in at our Magnolia Park location in 1995 where she and her husband have remained in faithful service ever since. “I can work with everybody, even if I don’t like them in the beginning,” Tommie shared with me. “I just give them a chance and then… that’s it. We get along.” While Tommie does provide a good deal of direction for the staff and volunteers at Joy as well in supervising the programs the center offers to the community (including food and clothing distribution, senior citizen ministry, after-school programming and tutoring), she emphasizes the personal importance of modeling a servant-like leadership style. “We are all the same. Since we as a body here need to have a head, that’s me. But I always remember what I was before and, you know, nobody is perfect. So I tell them, even though yes, I am the director here — we are all the same. We all work together.” In this way, she is able to constantly keep her favorite verse from 1 John 4:4 before her: little children, you belong to God and have overcome the world, because He Who lives in you is greater than he who is in the world.

When she’s not participating in the daily activities going on at Joy, Tommie can often be found enjoying her favorite dish of refried beans with wheat tortillas or reading.