Last year, HOPE Farm celebrated its 20th year serving fatherless boys in the inner city of Fort Worth under the leadership of founders Gary Randle and Noble Crawford. Last June when Gary announced his retirement, the search for the right leader began. It was only fitting that Sacher Dawson, who had volunteered at HOPE Farm for almost 20 years, stepped in and the baton was passed.
Sacher spent his early years in Tampa, Florida and moved to Dallas in 1984 where he worked in the mortgage industry for over 30 years retiring early from Fannie Mae in June 2017. With his wife, Ritha of 31 years, he has been a member of Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship Church for over 25 years. Sacher and Ritha have one daughter, Ebonee.
Sacher has come to HOPE Farm at an exciting time. Construction on the new facility in Como has made significant progress. The doors are scheduled to open in January 2019 and boys will arrive during the Fall of 2019. The Morningside Campus is thriving with a staff ready to dive into the new year. Excited about becoming a part of the HOPE Farm family as the ministry moves to the next phase, Mr. Dawson talked about his thoughts for HOPE Farm’s next steps:
My first vision is to see us increase our enrollment so we can have a bigger impact in the community. I am passionate about creating an advanced leadership program for the boys, with the hopes of producing college graduates that come back to work for and lead HOPE Farm into the next generation.
This past summer, Sacher spent time with retired Executive Director Gary Randle. Sacher and Gary spent time talking about the history of HOPE Farm and the important work that still needs to be done. Sacher reflected that “the most insightful but simple thing [Gary] told me was to remember it’s always about the boys. Secondly, and most importantly, he said just keep God first and everything else will fall into place.”
With support from the former executive director, the current board and staff, Sacher Dawson is ready for the challenges that lay ahead. As a new chapter in leadership begins for HOPE Farm, we all remember that the Lord has plans for all of us to prosper, plans to give us HOPE and a future (Jeremiah 29:11).
