ART HEATHCOCK
Founder & Executive Director
Art retired in 2016 from a 34-year career as a paramedic to found New Hope. He has leadership experience in small business, the public sector, ministry, missions, and youth programs; however, none of those experiences were really the catalyst for a calling to serve trafficked youth.
“When the Lord first called me,” Art says, “I honestly knew nothing about trafficked kids. I’ve joked in fact that He probably chose me for that very reason, I was a blank slate. Trafficked kids weren’t even on my radar, but they were on His!
Art is proud of what this organization is actively learning and accomplishing, as well as the opportunity to be part of such a caring community of people. His passion is to see children that have been deeply harmed restored to the purpose God created in them. His ideology for change is summed up in the words:
“Just one person, pouring time and love into a child, can change that child’s future and their children’s future, on and on, for generations to come.”
CHRISTIE MOORE
Financial Officer & Marketing Director
Christie is a founding board member with New Hope. She graduated Summa Cum Laude from Arkansas Tech University with a bachelor’s degree in International Studies and emphasis in Political Science. She has used that knowledge to serve in her community, working with children and youth in a volunteer capacity at her church. While earning a certificate in Medellín, Colombia at the Seminario Bíblico De Colombia, Christie was able to work one on one with displaced people groups in rural Colombia. She worked closely with a small group of teenage girls from an impoverished neighborhood in Medellín as well as with a team on weekly outreaches to young children in many neighborhoods in the city of Medellín.
Christie’s journey of compassion for those that had been trafficked began early in her life. Her care for this issue found an outlet when she heard about New Hope.
“I started hearing about human trafficking in college. I knew it was an important issue but it seemed so far away. No one wants to know how close to home an issue like this is. When I heard the vision behind New Hope, I was excited to get involved. There is such a need in our state for after care for youth who have survived the trauma of sex trafficking.”
LAURA BRINKER
Program Director
Laura is a Licensed Professional Counselor in the state of Arkansas and leads our program development. She has experience working in a variety of settings including a women’s shelter, adolescent in-patient treatment, and out-patient community mental health. Laura is currently working as an adult out-patient therapist with Counseling Associates Inc. in Russellville, AR.
Laura grew up and graduated high school in Russellville. She attended Hendrix College and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in psychology and a minor in theatre/dance. Afterwards, Laura completed a Masters of Science in Community Counseling from the University of Central Arkansas.
Finding ways of volunteering to serve the community and children specifically, has been a top priority for Laura. She has served as president of Arkansas Mental Health Counselors Association for 2018-2019. She was involved for many years with Big Brothers Big Sisters while living in Conway, AR. Laura feels called to help women and children who have been victims of sexual violence. This has been a focus of her work as a therapist and a volunteer. She sees her service on New Hope’s board of directors as another opportunity to support that community.
CARL HUDSON
Pastor
Having been called by God to live by faith and go where God opened doors, Carl entered full time ministry in 2009 and left behind a construction career of 36 years. He studied at Central Bible College in Springfield, Missouri, and over the past eleven years, He and his wife, Becky, have spoken hope and encouragement to hundreds of college students as well as adults.
His passion is to help people see themselves as God sees them through inner healing and encouragement. This has led him to many countries, including several trips to the UK and France, Ireland, and a month long stay in Mongolia. In Mongolia’s capital, Carl was able to minister to adult women who had been trafficked. This experience gave him a glimpse into that world and a desire to bring the love of God into it.
Carl has been present throughout New Hope’s journey to create a safe place for trafficked kids. He played a major role in New Hope’s development by guiding and praying with New Hope’s founders about leaving what had been normal life, and stepping into the Kingdom of God.
Carl serves as the Pastor of New Hope Youth Ministries, and joined its Board of Directors in 2019 to steward the Biblical foundations of our ministry. He shares spiritual gifts with our volunteers and looks forward to being a safe place for, and speaking life and hope to, child survivors of trafficking.