Partnership in Practice: Q&A with Tony Hoffman, Executive Director of Christian Care Center
With a history of community service spanning decades, the Christian Care Center has been a cornerstone of hope in Leesburg, growing from a small food pantry inside a church closet into a campus of ministries serving some of Central Florida’s most vulnerable children and families. Today, one of its newest chapters is being written through Together at HOME, a partnership with LSF that provides a safe, stable home where siblings in foster care can remain together.
Executive Director Tony Hoffman has spent much of his life serving others, first as a pastor and now as the leader of an organization dedicated to meeting both practical and spiritual needs. In this conversation, Hoffman reflects on his journey into nonprofit leadership, the shared values that brought Christian Care Center and LSF together, and why partnerships rooted in compassion can accomplish far more than any organization could on its own.
1. Can you tell us about the Christian Care Center and the mission that drives your work in Leesburg?
Tony Hoffman: Christian Care Center started in 1985 as a ministry of First Baptist Church of Leesburg. A group from a Sunday school class saw the needs in our community and wanted to do something to help. They started a small food pantry out of a literal closet and began serving people who needed support.
From those humble beginnings, we’ve grown into eight ministry centers on our campus. Our mission is simple: meeting needs and sharing Christ. We believe those two things go together as we serve “the least of these.” Our goal is to offer hope while sharing the message of the Gospel and the love of Christ.
2. You’ve spent your career in ministry and nonprofit leadership. What first drew you to this work, and what continues to motivate you today?
Tony Hoffman: I’ve served as a pastor for more than 20 years. In the early 2000s, I was serving at a church in Valdosta, Georgia, and we wanted to start a food pantry. As we researched organizations doing it well, we learned about Christian Care Center. We sent a team from our church to Leesburg to learn how they operated their food pantry ministry.
The team came back raving about Christian Care Center and everything they were doing. We modeled our own food pantry after theirs, and I remember thinking, That sounds like a ministry I’d love to be part of someday.
Over the years, I’d read articles and hear stories about Christian Care Center, and I’d tell my wife that someday I’d like to live in Leesburg so we could volunteer here. Eventually, I was asked to move to Central Florida, and we did just that. I began volunteering at Christian Care Center as a teacher, counselor and in several other roles.
About 10 years ago, one of the ministry leaders called my wife about a woman from our Women’s Care Center who was nearly nine months pregnant. She knew she wouldn’t be able to care for her baby and asked whether we would take the child so the baby wouldn’t enter foster care.
We became licensed through the nonrelative caregiver program and welcomed the baby into our home. The child’s mother was never able to reunify, and we eventually adopted our son.
At the time, I was serving on staff at First Baptist Leesburg. Our previous executive director was battling cancer and asked me to come alongside him to help with management and administrative responsibilities. After he passed away, the board asked whether I would consider becoming executive director. After a lot of prayer, I accepted.
3. How did the relationship between Christian Care Center and LSF first come together?
After stepping into the role, I started asking around. I spoke with a few organizations that weren’t able to take it on, but someone recommended I contact Hands of Mercy. I reached out to Mona, and we began talking about what it would look like for LSF to operate the home on our campus.
Tony Hoffman: When I became executive director, we had a children’s home that had been closed for about five years. Another partner had previously operated it but was no longer able to continue. My predecessor had spent years looking for a licensed organization that could operate the home, but they never found the right fit.
4. What did you see in LSF that made you believe we were the right partner for this initiative?
Tony Hoffman: The genuine care LSF shows for serving people and living out the biblical mandate to care for the least of these really stood out to me. I saw a long history of integrity and compassion, and I was impressed by the scope of services LSF provides across Florida.
We were already familiar with LSF because of previous partnerships. LSF had worked with our pregnancy center, led overdose intervention training for our staff, and we’d collaborated in smaller ways over the years.
When I met Mona and Lisa and heard their passion and commitment to children, I knew LSF would be a great partner.
5. From your perspective, what has made this partnership successful?
Tony Hoffman: One of the biggest strengths has been LSF’s expertise, especially the experience that Mona and her team bring to operating group homes. They truly know how to do this work well, and they lead with genuine compassion for children.
LSF has also been incredibly easy to work with. Our cultures fit together naturally because the focus has never been on who’s in charge. It’s always been about doing what’s best for the children.
6. Together at HOME fills a very specific need by providing a home where siblings in foster care can remain together. Why was preserving sibling relationships such an important priority?
Tony Hoffman: These children have already experienced tremendous loss. They’ve been removed from their parents, taken from the only home they’ve known and separated from the stability they once had.
In many cases, siblings become each other’s closest source of comfort and support. When they’re separated from one another, it’s another traumatic loss. Being able to keep siblings together—or reunite them—is a very important part of the mission of Together at HOME.
7. Have there been any moments or stories since opening Together at HOME that affirmed this was exactly what the community needed?
Tony Hoffman: When children arrive and are reunited with their siblings, you can immediately see the joy on their faces. They truly appreciate being together as a family, even in the middle of difficult circumstances. Moments like that remind us why Together at HOME is so important.
8. How have both organizations complemented one another’s strengths throughout this process?
Tony Hoffman: It starts with the people. Everyone I’ve worked with at LSF has been genuinely kind, caring and committed to working together. I’ve never had a negative experience with anyone on the team, regardless of their role.
Beyond that, there’s the expertise. We couldn’t begin to match the experience LSF has in operating group homes. The organization also brings tremendous depth, from counseling services and administrative support to compliance and reporting. All of those resources have been a tremendous advantage in making Together at HOME successful.
9. As you think about the future, what possibilities does this partnership create that may not have been possible working independently?
Tony Hoffman: I absolutely think partnerships like this create opportunities that wouldn’t exist otherwise. Organizations like Christian Care Center, LSF and other faith-based nonprofits need to continue exploring ways to work together. There are things we simply can’t accomplish alone that we can accomplish together.
We each have different strengths, and when we combine those strengths, we can serve more people more effectively.
One area where I see tremendous opportunity is transitional housing. Whether it’s young adults aging out of foster care, graduates of our drug and alcohol recovery programs, or people completing our homeless transitional housing program, there’s a real need for a second phase that helps people move toward full independence. Creating that kind of transitional housing would make a tremendous difference.
10. Looking back, what makes you most proud of what Christian Care Center and LSF have accomplished together so far?
Tony Hoffman: Seeing children arrive frightened after experiencing so much disruption, then watching them settle into a routine where they’re laughing, playing, growing and simply being kids again—that’s what makes me most proud.
Watching children thrive despite everything they’ve been through is incredibly rewarding.
11. Finally, what would you say to someone who is considering supporting organizations like Christian Care Center or LSF, whether through volunteering, advocacy or giving?
Tony Hoffman: I would tell them they have an opportunity to truly change lives. When we give our time, resources or talents, we can make a lasting impact on the next generation.
I’d encourage people to recognize that we all have a responsibility to help those in need and to ask themselves, What can I do to be part of the solution? Instead of simply noticing problems or complaining about them, get involved and make a difference.
Organizations like Christian Care Center and LSF give people the opportunity to do exactly that.
