Our Story
Open Loving Arms began with a simple belief: we need one another.
Too many people go through difficult seasons of life without the support of a true community around them.
A mother facing an unexpected pregnancy may need stability, encouragement, and people who believe in her future.
A family newly arrived in the United States may need a safe place to begin again, along with help navigating a new community, finding work, and creating a stable future.
An independent senior may have a lifetime of experience, wisdom, and love to give, but may be missing the connection and sense of purpose that comes from being truly needed.
Open Loving Arms brings these lives together.
Rather than creating separate programs for separate groups of people, we are working to create communities where people from different walks and stages of life can live alongside one another, build relationships, and help each other move forward.
It is a simple idea, but one we believe can make a meaningful difference.
Everyone has something to give. And everyone has something they need.
Our Leadership
Open Loving Arms is being built by people who believe that lasting change happens when a community comes together around a shared purpose.
Our leadership and advisory team brings together people with different experiences, skills, and perspectives who share a desire to serve others and help turn the Open Loving Arms vision into a lasting and sustainable community.
As OLA grows, we hope this circle will continue to grow with it.
Volunteer Leadership
John helps guide the development of Open Loving Arms alongside its advisory team, volunteers, and community partners.
His connection to service and community has developed over many years. John studied gerontology as an undergraduate and began his career working with seniors in independent and assisted living settings. That early experience gave him an appreciation for the wisdom, experience, and sense of purpose older adults can bring to a community, an idea that continues to influence the Open Loving Arms model today.
John's belief in the power of community was also shaped by the year he and his wife, Tina, spent volunteering in Guatemala, where they experienced firsthand how much can happen when people come together in service to others.
Throughout his professional career, John has helped organizations develop ideas, build partnerships, and bring new initiatives to life. That experience has included helping a small mission-driven nonprofit grow substantially, expanding both its organizational capacity and the number of people it was able to reach and serve.
He now hopes to bring those experiences to Open Loving Arms while helping build an organization that belongs not to one person, but to the many people who will contribute to its mission.