Staff
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Dusty Garison
Dusty is an ordained pastor in the Christian Church, with over 25 years experience in ministry, including serving churches in Texas, Oklahoma, Tennessee, and Minnesota. For the last two years, he has worked as Communications Director for the United Way of Abilene. He also has a background in broadcasting, and was the longtime host of the popular radio program, "A.M. Sunday," heard on KVRP in Haskell.
Dusty has a B.A. from Dallas Christian College and a Masters degree from ACU. He is a sixth-generation Native Texan. He enjoys listening to Blues music; he also says that he "loves trains" and is a member of the Abilene Society of Model Railroaders.
His wife Kathy works as an administrative assistant in the College of Business Administration at Abilene Christian University. She is an accomplished musician, and enjoys many types of handcrafts.
The Garisons have four children, two of whom live with them in the Friendship House. Brittany is a senior at Abilene High. She is a Drum Major in the Eagle Band, and is also active in drama and debate. Erin is in the fourth grade at College Heights Elementary. She enjoys reading and playing with her friends. The family attends Beltway Park Church, where Dusty teaches a Bible class.
Dusty and Kathy also have two grown sons: Travis, 27, and Drew, 22. They both live and work in Abilene. Drew is a senior at Hardin-Simmons, majoring in Business.
For his part, Dusty says he is excited to join the CCC family, and looking forward to the challenges ahead. "This is wonderful work," he says, "and I love that the Friendship House is the place in the neighborhood that is safe and open to everyone. I hope we can continue to expand its outreach and influence in the community. We have the opportunity to rebuild our neighborhoods from the inside out, and I am humbled to be chosen as part of this team."
Dusty says he sees his work with CCC as a natural extension of his experience as a minister. "Ministry work is all about people," he notes. "It's about forming relationships and reaching out to others. That's what the Friendship House is - an opportunity to build and grow relationships with those around us, turning neighbors into partners and transforming strangers into friends.
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Laura Herridge
My name is Laura Herridge and I’m thrilled to be the new North Park Community Coordinator!
My husband Bart and I have lived in Abilene for over 20 years and moved to North Park from the Hillcrest neighborhood. We’re both ACU grads and our family attends Highland Church of Christ. My mother, Carol, also lives in town and you’ll probably get to meet her at a Neighbor Lunch– she loves to join us and visit.
I enjoy knitting and reading when I have time; I love good conversation, good coffee and old movies. I’m also working on a Masters’ degree in Social Work from ACU.
Bart currently serves as the Registrar and Director of Academic Records at ACU. He likes basketball and football, video games and being with our family.
Our son Will is 13 years old and in 7th grade at Abilene Christian Schools. He loves skateboarding, hockey, rock music and hanging out with his friends.
Our daughter Annie is 8 and in 3rd grade at ACS. She likes art, playing outside, animals and reading. She really loves Kids’ Club, too!
I’ve had such a great time talking with Danyel Rogers and learning about what makes the North Park neighborhood tick. I know the Herridges have some very big Rogers-shaped shoes to fill– Danyel, Brandon, Mya and Bennett will be greatly missed.
Thanks to all of you who have already made us feel so welcome. I’m looking forward to the years to come in North Park!
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Rob Lilly
Robert Lilly is 40 years of age and has just begun to LIVE his life. As a result of ill-informed and wrongheaded decisions made in his younger years Robert spent time in prison. However, it was through this experience that Robert began to learn what it meant to be a part of a community. He resolved, at some point in his past, to commit to being part of the solution rather than part of the problem.
Today he is a senior at ACU and plans to graduate in May 2012. He is a nonprofit founder of his own initiative for community called Da’Cipher 360 Youth Peer Support Ministries. He sees himself as an advocate for the less fortunate and the marginalized, a group that he knows very well from having been labeled a felon. He is very passionate about his work as a community coordinator and he says that there is no amount of money he could be paid for the daily acts of community work that he is engaged in. He enjoys reading about history and sharing his gained insights with friends through lively discussions. He envisions teaching as a professor one day, but in the meantime plans to continue his work with CCC and other nonprofits.
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Janet Mendenhall
Janet Mendenhall is married to Doug Mendenhall and is the mother of five beautiful children; four sons and one daughter. She moved to Abilene in the summer of 2008, for her husband to begin a career as a college professor at Abilene Christian University, where he teaches journalism. Both she and Doug are graduates of ACU and are happy to be back on that campus and in this community. Janet graduated with a degree in Secondary Education with a teaching emphasis in Biology and Life/Earth Science.
In her former life, Janet was a revenue officer for the Internal Revenue Service. Most recently she was the office administrator for Christian Homes & Family Services in Abilene. In between she worked on raising her five children; Jake (21), Hart (19), Brooks (17), Cade (13) and Hailey Grace (8), teaching preschool and volunteering for a myriad of organizations.
For Janet it was love at first sight with CCC. One newspaper article led to one phone call and that led to one tour and she was sold on its principles and mission. Never dreaming she would ever be employed by CCC, she and her family through a variety of media began hearing and listening to the call to relocate in a vulnerable neighborhood. Their house was placed on the market and the wait for just where that should be began. Then she was offered the job of a lifetime: a community coordinator with Connecting Caring Communities in the Valley View neighborhood to ultimately lead to a move into a Friendship House sponsored by First Baptist Church. And she couldn’t be any happier. And she couldn’t feel any more at home.
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Lori Thornton
I grew up in the bustling Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex where there is always a lot to see and do. In 1995 I was so ready for college I could hardly stand it, and happily followed my family’s tradition of attending Abilene Christian University… even if it meant moving to boring old Abilene. At ACU I played drums in the Big Purple Band, met and married my wonderful husband Michael (also a drummer), and earned my bachelor’s degree in All- Level Art Education. And…I began to love Abilene.
I had the pleasure of teaching K-12th grade art at Abilene Christian Schools for three years while finishing college. Following graduation, I found myself eagerly employed with the National Center for Children’s Illustrated Literature (NCCIL), a downtown art museum. There I enjoyed six exciting years of working with America’s premier children’s book illustrators and was quickly following my art career dream!
Then the Lord intercepted and led me down a different path. I had not expected it, nor had I been looking for another course to take. But I soon found myself being welcomed into the family of Connecting Caring Communities—the name alone had me at hello. Now, four years later, my eyes have been opened to countless new realities and my life is forever changed. I feel blessed every day that God pointed me in this new direction.
Art will always be my passion. I continue to have fun inventing new projects for myself, playing on my pottery wheel and creating the occasional masterpiece. And I am proud to say that my art career dreams live on as I work to complete illustrations for my third children’s picture book.
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Kayla Weinkauf
Kayla Weinkauf hails from Wichita Falls, Texas where she spent her youth participating in summer musicals at Backdoor Theater. A 2007 graduate of McMurry University, Kayla received her Bachelor of Science degree in Theatre Education after years of acting in dramas, comedies and musicals. At McMurry she won numerous faculty, student, and community acting awards. Kayla is also an accomplished writer. Her original one-act play was produced and performed at Ryan Little Theatre and her poetry is featured in the Galleon Literary Magazine. Most recently, Kayla has published her first book and it is currently being distributed by amazon.com. The book is called Fatherless: A Story of Hope for Darlings Without Dads.
From 2004 to 2007 she was a member of Voices Unmasked, a group that performed skits for the Safe and Drug-Free Schools program sponsored by Region 14 Education Service Center. She has performed, presented workshops, and led drama residencies at area elementary schools through Young Audiences of Abilene for the past six years. From 2010 to 2011 Kayla worked as a VISTA (Volunteer In Service to America) through AmeriCorps. She spent her year of VISTA service in the Resource Development department at FaithWorks of Abilene, a 13 week career development program for the underemployed. Kayla also teaches theatre at Abilene Performing Arts Company. She joins the CCC family as the Haven House Manager.
Kayla is passionate about community ministry, excellence in education, working with children, and all forms of art. She feels the freedom we have to express ourselves through art is one of life's most cherished gifts. In her free time, she enjoys cooking, writing, photography, painting, and reading.
She and her husband Derek met at McMurry. They have been married for 3 years, and are the proud parents of a fun-loving, high energy daughter, Ellis Cate.