The Journey Journal

Special Edition

January 2023

Introducing Patrick Bricker, Journey's New Executive Director

Patrick Joseph Bricker was born in Philadelphia and moved to Dallas with his family in 1979.

Patrick attended high school at Saint Mark’s School of Texas and has a bachelors degree in Advertising and Marketing, along with a Certificate of Nonprofit Leadership, from SMU.

Patrick is a natural entrepreneur and problem solver with over 30 years experience as a successful for-profit and nonprofit CEO. Patrick has developed a "Swiss Army Knife"-like set of skills, which have come in handy as he decided to dedicate his life to helping nonprofits that serve children and adults in at-risk populations.

His first nonprofit leadership role was Executive Director at Citizens Development Center (CDC). CDC was a United Way Agency that featured a 30,000+ sq ft workspace where adults with disabilities earned a paycheck by performing packaging and kitting jobs.

In 2011, Patrick was named CEO of Equest, a nonprofit that provides equine assisted therapies and activities. Under Patrick’s leadership, the organization achieved many firsts, including a grant from The Crystal Charity Ball. Patrick also negotiated Equest’s partnership with the City of Dallas at Texas Horse Park. His stewardship resulted in Equest being named the Nonprofit of the Year in 2015 by the Center for Nonprofit Management.

Patrick joins Journey of Hope Grief Support as Executive Director with the goal of growing the organization so “We can help more families and children begin the healing process after the loss of a loved one.” Read full bio here

Join us in giving Patrick a warm welcome to the Journey Team! With his vast experience and knowledge, we are excited to see what he has in store for Journey's future.

Retiring Board Members

We truly appreciate the time and effort you have dedicated to Journey of Hope as a valued board member. Our growth and success would not have been possible without your contributions.

Gina Hadly

Past Board Chair

"Some of my best memories are the friendships I’ve developed with other board members. With the continuous support of donors and volunteers, the sky’s the limit with what Journey can achieve.”

Kelli Maldonado

Past Board Chair

"It has been an honor and a privilege to serve on Journey of Hope’s board. It was a challenging time navigating through the pandemic and coming out even stronger. Journey will always hold a special place in my heart."

Sherry Stone

Past Board Member

“Getting to be a part of the decision making process that provides such an amazing service for this community was a priceless experience. I will cherish the time I was able to be a part of this generous and hard-working team of leaders.”

Introducing the 2023 Board of Directors

Officers

Anthony Wright

Board Chair

Executive Committee Chair

Anthony has been in the insurance industry for over 13 years; and is currently the owner and managing consultant for Safe Hands Insurance Services, LLC. Anthony learned about Journey of Hope from a former board member. When she told him about JOH’s mission...read full bio here

Sherri Wolfe

VP of Board Development

Committee Chair

Sherri is a Certified Treasury Professional (CTP) and graduated with a Bachelors of Business Administration from University of Texas, Austin. Along with Journey of Hope, Sherri is also a Board Member for Social Venture Partners Dallas, Advisory Board Member for Liftfund Women’s Business Center,...read full bio here

Midge Duncan

Secretary

As an accomplished leader, hiring executive and natural networker/connector of people with over 25 years of experience, Midge is adept at matching organizations and people that share core values, creating relationships with enduring values. Midge brings diverse expertise from working in...read full bio here

Dick Evans

Treasurer

Finance Committee Chair

Dick Evans has a broad background of experience ranging from field representative to corporate management, with a focus on marketing and distribution. Mr. Evans co-founded Proliance in 2004 to assist in helping advisory firms broaden their client offerings through alliance strategies...read full bio here

Members

Jama Ball

Jama‘s extensive professional experience has included: consulting, hotel management, corporate team management/development, individual strengths based coaching, operations leadership, project management, data integrity & quality control.

In addition to being a returning Board member for Journey of Hope...read full bio here

Javier Ball

Javier “Nerf” Ball joined the board of Journey of Hope in December 2022 and currently serves as the Chief of Staff for Military Business at Bell Textron. A former Marine fighter pilot, he is a carrier qualified F/A-18 Instructor Pilot with over 3,500 flight hours in various jet, turboprop, and rotary-winged aircraft. A veteran of OPERATIONS DESERT SHIELD...read full bio here

Candace Barnes

Candace is the Senior Vice President of Human Resources at United Way of Metropolitan Dallas. She has worked in several roles at United way, over a 27-year span, within the Finance and HR departments. Throughout Candace’s career, she has gained experience in all areas of human resources and...read full bio here

Lori Clark

I have been with Insperity since June 2020 as a Business Performance Advisor. As of Jan. 3, 2023, promoted to a District Manager to open the downtown Dallas office later this year. After 30 plus years in the hospitality industry, I guess COVID had different plans for me, and I am very thankful...

read full bio here

Peter Gottlieb

After starting his career in commercial banking, Mr. Gottlieb was named the chief operating officer of the Dallas Medical and Surgical Clinic. As the largest multi-specialty physician group in the Dallas Fort Worth area, Dallas Medical offered a wide range of ancillary services including an ambulatory surgery center...read full bio here

David Kennedy

Currently, I am a partner in a company who primarily does Cloud Computing related projects. I first came to know JOH as a client. My first wife (Jillian’s birth mom) passed away in 2018 of a heart attack brought on by years of substance abuse. Although I am a new Board Member, I jumped in to help on the golf committee...read full bio here

Other Journey News

Golfer?

Limited spots available for this special Early Bird deal that ends February 1st!

Receive all the same perks for $100 less!

Be one of the select few to snag this deal!

Sponsor or Sponsor and Golfer?

We have multiple sponsorship opportunities available to promote your business and play golf while supporting our mission.

View our wide range of sponsorship levels and the many perks they come with!

Learn more and reserve your slot now!

Are you looking for a way to give back this year?

Gather your family, organization, or business to provide a meal for the families we serve on group night.

Learn more about meal providers

Sign-up to provide a meal

Before Journey of Hope, I thought I was the only widow in the world under the age of 35...

"At Journey of Hope I learned, I was not alone. Words cannot express what a welcomed support they were for me and especially for my kids. They were 10, 4, and 1 when their dad died. Some days I struggled just to get through the day. But I always had Tuesday nights at Journey of Hope to look forward to."

Read our our full annual campaign letter here

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