President

Wonda Raymond began her life of giving at the Griffin Temple Church of God in Christ in Ogden, Utah. As a child she volunteered doing outreach and helping out those who were in time of need.

As she grew into adulthood, her calling to the ministry paralleled her calling to help, and her passion for giving found its focus working with the newly homeless—families in crisis were her particular focus. After her stint with Griffin Temple as Outreach Coordinator, she became involved with the Agape Adult School, teaching parenting classes to those who were also in crisis in other areas. The homeless don’t just lack a home, they often arrive at this situation due to a loss of job, and other family stressors add to the challenges they face. Many services and foundations offered a piece of the puzzle, but there was no one place for the recently dispossessed to find all the help they needed.

It was during this work that Wonda had a flash of insight: create everything under one roof. Make it a daycare center & school, an education center for the adults, offer job training and housing resources—both immediate and long term.

From there, Haven of Hope City within a City was born. Taking the holistic approach of addressing the whole person when dealing with homelessness, Wonda and her teammates created a synergistic approach to the problem, as spelled out in the four phases. Businesswoman, cook, entrepreneur, Pastor and, of course, Mother, Wonda Raymond’s work is never done.