ABOUT US
House of Hope Kansas City is a Christian-based nonprofit organization providing a two-fold mission that includes
1) a comprehensive residential treatment program for hurting teens, and
2) a Family Counseling Center that serves teenage boys and girls and their families.
Affiliated with the National House of Hope, our licensed residential group home for teens aged 13
through 17 includes an onsite school, accredited through the Basehor-Linwood (KS) School District, and intentional parent support from trained social workers.
Throughout the program, our residents experience the transforming power of love and are equipped with tools to overcome negative influences and past trauma as they rebuild relationships with their parents.
We serve families all over the Kansas City area and the Midwest region through our residential program.
Our Counseling Center is equipped with Clinically-trained, Biblically-informed licensed counselors who provide services to teenage boys, teenage girls, and their families in the Kansas City area.
House of Hope Kansas City is unique, because we work with teens and their parents to find solutions, and ultimately, restoration of healthy family relationships.
We believe all teens are God's beloved masterpiece created for a purpose.
Our Core Values
Gospel-Saturated
We seek to saturate everything with the gospel of Jesus Christ, understanding that if God doesn’t show up, we are unable to heal or transform anyone in our own strength.
Compassionate +
Consistent
HOPEFUL
Excellence
Our Campus
Our residential campus is located in Overland Park, Kansas. House of Hope KC is a 24 hour staffed, family-style environment within a residential area. We have capacity for 23 residents and are committed to individual, customized care.
Virtual Tour
Marilyn Thomas, Founder
Marilyn Thomas founded House of Hope Kansas City in 2003. As a young girl, God planted a seed in Marilyn’s heart- a lifelong desire to help hurting children. She always had a dream of starting an orphanage. She went to college and received a Bachelor of Science in Nursing, a profession she cherished until she became a homemaker. She was married 33 years before her husband passed of cancer. through those years together, they raised four children, and she is now blessed with thirteen grandchildren.
When her husband passed away, the seeds that were rooted as a little girl to start an orphanage began to blossom into reality.
In recent years, Marilyn has retired, but remains an active and intrical part of the organization. She has entrusted the ministry to the new executive director, Tim Overby
Through his leadership and dedication, House of Hope continues to serve the Kansas City area “by restoring teenagers back to their families and parents back to their children.”
House of Hope Kansas City has reached thousands of parents and teenagers, helping many girls returning home happier, healthier, and transformed through the love of Christ.
Marilyn reported that many girls come in hating themselves, as well as their parents. She commented, “it is a joy when you see a life changed and the disrespect and rebellion against the family disappear… When you see their life turn around and they start to walk with the Lord, they are literally changed and know they have a purpose in the future.”
Marilyn Thomas
Founder, House of Hope Kansas City
Tim Overby, Executive Director
Tim was born and raised in central Arkansas. An only child of a single parent household, Tim came into a relationship with Jesus at 11 years old and grew in his faith until surrendering to a call to full-time ministry at age 21. A graduate of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas, Tim has spent the last 15 years serving two of the largest congregations in the Kansas City Metro Area as discipleship and executive pastor roles.
Tim’s life mission is to help people grow in their knowledge of God, so that they live out the life God has called them to in the gospel of Christ. He is passionate about advancing God’s mission in Kansas City through transformed lives, and sees incredible potential in the House of Hope KC to bring healing and restoration to families in KC and the surrounding Midwest region. Tim has a track record of bringing organizational health and increased collaboration among churches toward a common mission.
Please welcome Tim and his family as he seeks to shepherd the House of Hope KC in this next season of “healing teens, restoring families, and transforming communities.”
Pamela Rodriguez, Business Adminstrator
Pamela has decades of experience working in non-profit association management administrative roles. Prior to coming to HOHKC, she was the Health Programs Manager at American Academy of Family Physicians, working with volunteer leaders and managing grants. Pamela is married to John, has two sons and a daughter in-law. She loves to go to the lake, decorate their old historic house, volunteer with her church and enjoys being around teenagers.
Amy Burgess, Program Coordinator
Before moving to Kansas City in 2017 Amy spent nearly 20 years in healthcare. Understanding that teen girls need to feel heard, seen, and understood she sees every day as an opportunity to point the girls she works with to Jesus. Amy has been with House of Hope since June of 2020. She has three grown children and two granddaughters. In her time off, she enjoys hiking, camping in her home state of Oregon, and hanging out with friends and family.
Jennifer Stenson, Residential
Lead Care Coordinator
Cheryl Johnson-Lee, Residential Care Manager
Alexis Obermueller, Residential
Lead Care Coordinator
Esther Spies, Residential
Lead Care Coordinator
Roxanne McConnell, Program Coordinator
Jadwin Rowles, Academic Support Staff
Photo Coming Soon
Our Counseling Staff
Vicki Bartholomew, LSCSW
Laurie White, LSCSW
Phoebe Finley, LMSW
Tony Puckett, LMFT