Through an amazing chain of unlikely events, OnRamp was chosen three years ago as a Capstone Research Project by the A&M Bush School. A class of graduate students spent a year studying transportation-related charities throughout the United States to identify best practices for our fledgling ministry. Among the many lessons learned, one particularly stood out to me: there are only about a dozen charities like OnRamp in the entire country, and only one besides us in all of Texas! There have been many attempts to launch others, but few ever got off the ground and grew large enough to show up on public records. Giving away reliable cars is expensive and hard! In other words, for individuals and families in most of the United Stated who are in desperate need of the gift of a reliable vehicle, there are simply no options. This is a MASSIVE opportunity for followers of Jesus to step up and meet this essential need that can bring freedom and transformation to families in need. From that one data-point, a new vision was birthed in my mind. OnRamp must multiply. Everything we build in the Brazos Valley must be created with an eye on transferability and expansion.

Fast-forward three years and God has allowed us to help launch the first expansion to a previously unreached area: Dallas! Imagine trying to navigate employment, healthcare, education, and religious services in DFW without a car! The entire city was designed around personal transportation. For poor families who must live in inexpensive or HUD-supported neighborhoods, a reliable car is their ticket to reach the better-paying jobs found in wealthier parts of town. Likewise, for anyone suffering serious health problems, major hospitals are typically many miles from impoverished neighborhoods. Dallas needs a faith-based ministry like OnRamp to bless residents in need of reliable transportation as a tangible expression of Jesus’ love.

Apparently God agrees because without any effort from me, He raised up a team of believers from Woodcreek Church in North Dallas to found and launch OnRampDFW! While I’ve known a couple of these leaders for decades (one is married to my wife’s best friend!), I had no idea God was placing this need on their hearts. They had covertly followed OnRamp’s story for the last few years, seeing the work God has done in the Brazos Valley. That inspired them to reach out to us almost a year ago to see if we could help them launch a similar ministry in their own city.

I’m a firm believer in multiplication over addition. What I mean is that, whenever possible, I would prefer to help empower the launch of independent OnRamp-like charities rather than just expand the OnRamp charity I currently run. If our OnRamp in the Brazos Valley attempted to run an OnRampDFW and OnRampHouston and OnRampAustin… I would never get any sleep! And worse, the actual charitable work would be limited by the scope of my leadership capacity. I do not ever want to be the bottleneck on God’s work in the world! So we chose a model where new geographic areas will be “opened” through independent 501c3 charities run by their own, local board of directors who can make the best decisions for their own constituents. This empowers creativity, diversity, and local ownership. For example, while most of our ministry in the Brazos Valley has been to families suffering more traditional poverty challenges, OnRampDFW will initially focus on helping refugee families who make up a surprisingly large percentage of the population of north Dallas. These families often already have stable housing and good employment, but due to the heavy costs of fleeing dangerous parts of the world, often lack the capital resources and access to good credit necessary to afford a reliable vehicle. This is a perfect opportunity to share Christ’s love with refugee families by blessing them with a reliable vehicle! OnRampDFW will eventually serve many demographics of need, but refugees presents a uniquely significant starting point.

So who is running OnRampDFW? Not me! I’m their advisor and mentor, not their director. I train and resource them with everything we’ve developed, but actual leadership is in the hands of this stellar local team. Their president is my good friend, David Russell (his wife was Julie’s maid of honor). David brings proven management and leadership experience to their team. Jackie Scott, who leads their Client Care team has worked in the non-profit sector over the last 9 years, both nationally and internationally. Her social-work experience is proving invaluable at screening, choosing, and supporting their applicants and clients. Jon Lilley, another decades-long friend of mine and a pastor at Woodcreek Church, serves as chaplain to OnRampDFW as well as heading up their marketing and promotions. Finally, Aaron Lovelace a local lawyer, serves as OnRampDFW’s secretary and brings his essential legal knowledge to this team to help them serve with excellence for the long haul (trust me, vehicle-related charities need lawyers on every board to keep us out of the ditch!)

If you are in the DFW area or connected to that part of the state, I invite you to consider supporting OnRampDFW financially and/or as a volunteer. You can do either by visiting their website at www.onrampdfw.org or their Facebook page @OnRampDFW

Finally, let me put all my cards on the table. My earnest desire is that OnRampDFW is just the first of many such faith-based transportation charities launched in the coming years, first in Texas, and then throughout the country. We are ready to train, mentor, and serve local teams God raises up in other areas. If they happen to agree with our statement of faith, mission, values, and basic guidelines, we’re happy to share our name, too. Lord willing, when an A&M Capstone Project researches transportation charities in the U.S. twenty years from now, the number will be in the hundreds rather than a dozen!

PS. Fun fact: the professor who led that Capstone class three years ago, Dr Catherine Cole, is now our OnRamp Board Chair and one of her star students in the class, Caroline Wold, is now our Board Member overseeing Grant writing and application! We are truly indebted to A&M’s Bush School Capstone Program!