Dusty Kirk and his wife Laurie, both retired Military Veterans, have been working with the Heart of Texas Homeless Coalition for 5 years, hosting the starting point for Point in Time (PIT) counts and providing the meal for the annual event, Project Homeless Connect. We welcomed Dusty on the board 3 months ago in October. His focus on the board is on helping the unsheltered homeless, those who sleep outside at night.
“My favorite thing about working with HOTHC is the ‘community’ feeling. We work well together and leverage off of each others expertise, with no concern for who gets the credit,” Dusty said.
Dusty received a BS in Workforce Education and served 30 years of active duty in the US Air Force, retiring as Chief Master Sergeant. He and Laurie served at the US Embassy in Israel for 3 years as a family. After retiring, Dusty and Laurie founded the organization The Hangar in 2016 to help and love on those who sleep outside, with the goal of getting them back into social services and off the streets. They also educate on “helping without hurting” for those who want to get involved with the mission of ending homelessness.
“A key to my success in God’s calling is the bond/relationships we have built with those who live and sleep outside. We began this mission with me immersing with the homeless on the streets for 7 days to learn about homelessness in Waco. That helped set us up for success,” he said.
Dusty and Laurie have been able to foster a couple of young children as a result of their mission and the relationships they’ve built with their friends experiencing homelessness. They live on a small family farm, spending their free time raising foster children and their grandkids to enjoy country living and love God.
“Most important to me is showing the love of Christ. It’s not always easy in our mission, but it is always necessary. We came into this thinking we were going to make a difference in the lives of the homeless—turns out, they made a difference in us,” Dusty said.
Dusty said that he would return to Israel again anytime, and if he had to live on one food for the rest of his life, it would be TACOS. His favorite color is “Steak.” He’s been to 49 states, 25 countries and 5 continents! Even though he’s seen Metallica 7 times, his favorite band is Skillet.