This Is What Happens When a Community Decides to Show Up

The Christian Resource Center didn't happen by accident. It was born from years of frustration, a shared faith, and an unshakeable belief that Cedar Park's most vulnerable families deserved better than a referral and a phone number.

In 2015, a group of visionary church and nonprofit leaders came together with a shared frustration — they had been meeting for years to brainstorm ways to better serve families in need, but something kept getting in the way of real, lasting change. Two problems kept surfacing over and over again: service providers struggling with accountability and limited resources, and families facing barrier after barrier just trying to access help — transportation issues, time constraints, lack of childcare, and the exhausting fear of facing yet another rejection.
They knew something had to change. Not another meeting. Not another referral list. Something real.

The solution they landed on was bold: build a centralized campus where churches, nonprofits, and community organizations could work side by side under one roof — sharing resources, sharing accountability, and sharing the load so that families never had to navigate it alone.

The pieces came together almost organically. Hill Country Bible Church was already collaborating with Mission Possible in East Austin and the Grace Family Resource Center in St. John's. Bethany United Methodist Church had been dreaming of a "Circle of Care" in Cedar Park. Then at a Baptist Convention in Dallas, Pastor Nathan of Twin Lakes Fellowship met Chris Rowley from Women's Job Corp — and that single conversation became the spark that lit everything.

The Christian Resource Center was born — and Cedar Park has never been the same.

Every decision made at CRC, from the way we welcome a family through the front door to the way we partner with local churches, flows directly from a set of deeply held beliefs about what community should look like.

Michelle Johnson didn’t set out to become the Executive Director of the Christian Resource Center, she set out to help people, and that calling shaped everything that followed. After years of volunteering across multiple ministries, balancing a full-time job, leading a women’s business network, and launching the Diaper Ministry in 2020, Michelle made the bold decision to step away from her career and started her own business to serve full time.

She began by supporting nonprofits with social media, stepping in wherever there was a need, often volunteering countless additional hours. When the opportunity came to lead CRC, she hesitated, because she had never seen herself as an executive director, but as a helper. That heart for service is exactly what makes her leadership so impactful. Today, Michelle oversees a thriving campus which provides a space for ministries to fulfill their missions, connects with church partners, and while still personally connecting with those who walk through the doors. 

There are over 200 churches in our area and more than enough need to go around — join the 18 congregations already making a difference in Cedar Park by becoming a CRC partner church today.