Our History

For over 30 years, Hillcrest has continued its original grass-roots approach to tackling the issue 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 in Liberty, MO and after months of planning and fundraising,the first three families moved into the original Hillcrest housing facility in 1976.

Hillcrest purchased a second Liberty 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 hired its first full-time director.

On June 23, 1995, Hillcrest purchased a third Liberty facility and the program doubled the amount of families it served.

In 2007, the Clay County affiliate expanded its housing to include a 12-plex in Avondale, MO.  Currently, Hillcrest of Clay County has the capacity to annually serve up to 54 families at its Liberty & Avondale facilities for transitional & after care housing.

Hillcrest replicated the program in Eastern Jackson County, in December 1998, by purchasing a ten-plex in Independence, Missouri.  Hillcrest of EJC purchased a 5-plex in Sugar Creek in 2006, and a 16-plex facility in 2007.  Once renovations are complete, the EJC affiliate will have the capacity to annually serve up to 75 families in transitional and aftercare housing.

Hillcrest of Platte County opened in 2002, with 6 transitional units.  In 2007, the Platte County site expanded to Platte City, MO, adding 6 transitional units.  Currently, Platte County has 12 transitional housing units, and 8 aftercare units.

The fourth Hillcrest site opened in Wyandotte County in 2005, with 3 units. An additional housing site in Wyandotte County was purchased in 2007, adding 5 units.  The newest housing site in Kansas was purchased in 2009, and will expand the Kansas transitional & aftercare program to a total of 35.

Each affiliate is supported locally by their own service area.

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.