Our History

For over 25 years, Hillcrest Ministries has continued its original grass-roots approach to tackling the problem of homelessness.

In the early 1970’s, Ben and Patsy Belzer owned a very prosperous business that quickly suffered from huge losses and forced them into 14 months of unemployment. Through the concern of the local Christian community, they were able to return to a productive life.

The Belzers were moved to action from their own personal experience and wanted to start an organization to offer a long-term solution to the growing number of homeless families in our communities. They established Hillcrest Ministries and after months of planning and fundraising,the first three families moved into the original Hillcrest housing facility in 1976.

Hillcrest purchased a second facility in 1985, which allowed the program to serve 15 families annually. That same year, Ben and Patsy were called to develop a homeless ministry in Dallas, Texas and Hillcrest Ministries hired its first full-time director.

On June 23, 1995, Hillcrest purchased a third facility and the program doubled the amount of families it served. With the three houses combined, Clay County now serves 27 families a year.

Hillcrest replicated the program in Eastern Jackson County, in December 1998, by purchasing a ten-plex in Independence, Missouri. It was renovated in 1999 and now serves 24 families.

Hillcrest Ministries of Platte County opened its doors on January 1, 2003, Hillcrest. The two four-plexes house six families, a resident manager and the Platte County office. This translates into 18 families being served annually.

The fourth Hillcrest site opened in Wyandotte County in 2004 and began serving families in April of that year. The site currently serves nine families annually and continues looking for opportunities to grow.

Each affiliate is supported locally by their own service area and cumulatively all four sites are able to serve 78 families a year through the transitional housing program.

I thought the organization was Hillcrest Transitional Housing? Hillcrest Ministries changed its name to Hillcrest Transitional Housing in 2005 as part of a rebranding effort that included a new logo and Web site. However, the organization’s mission and services remain unchanged.