WHO WE ARE
We serve anyone in Columbia who is struggling to provide for their basic needs or improve their life and wants help to create a path forward. Many of the people we serve have nowhere else to turn. Often, they are under great stress and facing multiple challenges. Without intervention, many of their situations would become quite dire and result in a negative domino effect such as eviction leading to homelessness or unaffordable car repair leading to job loss.
Everyone needs hope and someone to accompany them on their journey. As one of our program participants said, “You believed in me until I could believe in myself.”
Leadership Team
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Jane Williams
CO-FOUNDER | EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Jane Williams is Love Columbia's Co-Founder and Executive Director, serving with the organization since its inception in 2008. Her 40-year social work career includes hospital social work, foster care, and leading numerous local social justice and relief efforts… -
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Aaron Harris
BUSINESS DIRECTOR
Aaron Harris brings a wealth of experience and commitment to his role as Love Columbia’s Business Director, a position he has held since 2017. He joined the organization first as the Clearinghouse Coordinator in 2015…
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Nathan Hansen
CHEIF DEVELOPMENT OFFICER
Nathan Hansen serves as the Chief Development Officer at Love Columbia. Nathan's expertise lies in fundraising and resource mobilization, ensuring that the organization has the necessary means to… -
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Tim Davis
COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT DIRECTOR
Tim has been a part of Love Columbia since early 2021. He has a heart for helping people discover their God-given purpose to make a difference, and then help them take the next step toward it. In addition to his work at Love Columbia…
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Conrad Hake
PROGRAM DIRECTOR
Conrad Hake has nineteen years of experience in non-profit administration, three of those years in program management at Love Columbia where he currently serves as the Program Director. He is a HUD-certified housing counselor and was instrumental in obtaining HUD approval for Love Columbia…
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Kelli Van Doren
COACHING PROGRAMS MANAGER
Kelli Van Doren is Love Columbia's Coaching Programs Manager. She began volunteering in March of 2015 and 18 months later became the Extra Mile Program Coordinator… -
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Tasha Fisher
PATH FORWARD PROGRAM MANAGER
After obtaining her MSW and five years of social work experience, Tasha Fisher came on staff at Love Columbia in 2017 as a Service Coordinator in the Path Forward program. She became the Path Forward Program Manager in 2020…
Board Of Directors
President | Carson Coffman — President and COO, Socket Telecom, LLC
Vice-President | Brent Beshore — CEO of Permanent Equity
Treasurer | Ryan Lidolph — Permanent Equity
Secretary | Melissa Murphy — Owner of Johnston Paint
Dave Cover
Pat Concannon
Patrick Cox
Greg Deline
Lindsey Drinkwitz
Dan Hlavac
Rhonda Moore
George Norman
Ranita Norwood
Rose Williams
The work of Love Columbia would not be possible without our incredible team of staff, committed to loving our neighbors forward.
Our Mission
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To connect community relationships and resources to love people forward.
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To see individual lives and the community transformed through neighbors helping neighbors. We believe this is best done through a wholistic approach where we serve the whole person and engage the whole community. We are motivated and inspired by the extravagant love and selfless service of Jesus who sought out the most vulnerable and disadvantaged and lifted them up.
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1. Every person is created in the image of God, has intrinsic worth, and should be treated with dignity and respect.
2. A community flourishes best when we love our neighbors as our selves.
3. People trying to improve their lives or escape poverty often face complex barriers and need an individualized, multi-faceted approach that addresses informational, relational, material, and spiritual poverty.
4. Change best occurs in the context of relationship. We need one another in order to grow and must have positive relationships in order to take significant steps forward.
5. People who offer help are enriched and changed just as much, if not more, than those who receive help.
6. We can accomplish more if we work together. We avoid duplication, and everyone’s positive outcomes increase.
7. We have an abundance of time, talent, and resources in our community and, if they are well organized and engaged, everyone in the community will be lifted up.
Our History
Love Columbia opened its doors as Love INC of Columbia in 2008 to coordinate the efforts of churches and volunteers to help our neighbors in need. We established a clearinghouse to assess and verify needs and developed programs to respond with a relational, developmental approach that would promote self-sufficiency and flourishing.
Our founders are Jane Williams, a social worker and community organizer, and Pat McMurry, a local business owner who had worked for years with pastors and large scale multi-church events. They brought together key church and business leaders who were eager to respond strategically and collectively to identified community needs. Since 2008, Love INC has continually developed and grown this wholistic model of love and assistance in Columbia. Our response team has grown from a dozen churches and a few volunteers to a community network of over 80 churches, dozens of business partners, hundreds of volunteers and 40+ staff.
In 2020, we responded to the pandemic by serving more people than ever before and finding ways to engage over 100 volunteers. We particularly responded to the families with children and individuals with disabilities who found themselves newly homeless due to the pandemic.
In 2021, we took several significant steps to plunge our roots deeper into our local community. We became Love Columbia and moved our core services into the Love Columbia Center at 1209 E Walnut. We also moved The Love Seat, our furniture bank and resale store to 2600 Rangeline. Both relocations greatly increased our accessibility and capacity to serve more people and engage more volunteers.
In 2022, we served 2,200 households and engaged over 400 volunteers.
Our Impact
Without The Love Seat, many Columbians would not have a bed for their children to sleep in, a table to eat on or clothing to wear to a job interview. Many others wouldn’t have a “second chance” at employment or a supportive environment to reset their careers.
All of this is made possible because of generous donors, volunteers and shoppers!
