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Mission
Our mission is to build a network of foster care families and support them in their needs without discrimination.
Vision
To have more foster families than children in need of foster care.
MEET OUR TEAM
Gruba
THERESE + JIM
CO-FOUNDER / BOARD PRESIDENT/ BOARD COMMITTEE MEMBER
Jim, a native Duluthian, serves New Hope as a Spiritual Advisor and foster dad. Foster mom Therese was born in St. Cloud is UMD alumni with a BFA in theater and serves as Director of New Hope. They have eight children, four daughters-in-love, and three granddaughters with #4 due in June 2022, and through foster care have added many more to their family as the Lord blesses them to do so.
Jim and Therese's marriage/life verse is:
"Call to Me and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know." Jeremiah 33:3
Joe+Briar
Fischer
BOARD VICE PRESIDENT / BOARD COMMITTEE MEMBER
Together with Jim and Therese Gruba, Joe and Briar Fischer co-founded New Hope for Families in 2019.
Through Joe's work as an Assistant County Attorney focusing on child protection, Joe and Briar have developed a heart for serving foster families and children in need. Through the love and grace of Jesus Christ, Joe and Briar have been married since 1989, and they have four children.
ANGELA
Torgeson
BOARD MEMBER
DEAN
Matvey
TREASURER
God's Spirit has captured the hearts of Dean's family and led them to participate in children's ministries in Mexico. With wife Alejandra and two daughters, Faith & Grace, they have acted as relief house parents for a children's house in Mexico which has had a profound impact on their lives. Dean looks forward to supporting the mission of New Hope for Families by bringing the board over 20 years of business system experience and private business operation knowledge.
Torgerson
ANGELA
BOARD MEMBER
Ang is so thankful to God for he has done “exceedingly, abundantly, above and beyond all that she has dared to hope, ask, or imagine” (Ephesians 3:20) in her life. She and her husband, Brandon, are passionate about making themselves and their family fully available to God. They are Licensed Foster Parents and have 5 children in their home: some biological, some adopted through foster care, and some foster. They believe God has a call on each one of their children.
Ang comes with a background of various experiences in which the Lord has taught her about children and families. She holds a Bachelor’s in Social Work and was a family advocate and children’s program manager in Minneapolis. Ang also spent time serving as a missionary in Romanian orphanages. Most recently she was a Children’s Pastor. Currently, she serves full-time in her home caring for and Homeschooling her children.
Ang is honored to be on the board as well as helping with the Mom’s Support Group. She loves connecting with other Moms on similar journeys and encouraging others to foster or adopt. She is looking forward to what God is doing through New Hope for Families!
KRISTINA
Linder
KID'S CLOSET
In 2020, the Lord laid it on Kristina's heart to help serve in our community somehow. A week later New Hope for Families asked her to take over the Kid's Closet! Kristina is so thankful to have this opportunity and to be a part of the New Hope team. If you have a specific need that NHFF could help with, please contact her HERE.
JR & MELISSA
Rugg
BOARD MEMBERS &
MEDIA COORDINATOR
Melissa has been with New Hope since 2021 as our Media Coordinator. She and her husband, Pastor JR Rugg, are foster and adoptive parents, and both work in ministry.
TOM
Schaer
NEW HOPE FOSTER DAD
Parent of three. After 13.5 years of serving as a pastor in a small rural church, God began stirring our family into transition mode. At the end of September, Tom stepped into the director position at ProLife Ministries of Duluth. This has its own beautiful story of coming full circle with Tom’s heart for the preborn growing in passion. The Schaers have aligned themselves with New Hope for Families and have cared for over 170 foster kiddos.
STATEMENT OF FAITH
Our standard is the Bible- we believe it is the complete, inspired Word of God and sufficient to guide all decisions with unity around the the gospel of grace as the basis for our ministry.
gospel:
Romans 3:23 Romans 6:23 Ephesians 2:8-9 John 3:16 Romans 5:8
We Believe:
The inerrancy of the scriptures
The Deity of Jesus Christ
The need of every person for Spiritual life having been born dead in sin
The life, ministry, and death of the Lord Jesus Christ on man’s behalf
The bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ
Justification before God by faith alone in Christ alone
The permanent indwelling of the Holy Spirit
The eternal security of all who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior
The imminent return of Jesus Christ
A literal hell
A literal heaven
The sanctity of marriage between one man and one woman
The sanctity of life for the unborn
our key verses:
James 1:27 Jeremiah 33:3 John 3:16-17 I John 5:13 Romans 1:16 Ephesians 2:8-9