Volume 1 Number 4 | pdb2b.com

“In 2022 I was in the insurance business, living a very prideful, arrogant, feeding-my-addiction lifestyle,” says Jon Weiss Jr. “I was failing as a husband, I was failing as a son, I was failing as a brother and, for the first time, I started praying and asking God what my purpose was in life. I can tell you with 100% transparency, it wasn't insurance.”

He says his business had been flourishing and “from the outside I really looked like I had it all going on, but deep down I couldn't stand who I was.”

Weiss, 33, is CEO of House of Hope of the Pee Dee, a Christ-centered 501(c)(3) nonprofit that serves the needs of men, women and children facing homelessness. He recounts how childhood trauma had set him upon a road toward “dark vices.”

He says, "I lived with a chip on my shoulder for a long time, and I can say that God saved not just my life, but also the relationships around me, and I'm so grateful for that. I'm a perfect example of what the House of Hope does not only for our staff members, but what He has done for the people of this community."

He recalls his own epiphany having come when a friend had given him the book The Purpose Driven Life by Rick Warren. “The first line in that book says, ‘It’s not all about you,’” Weiss says, "and for the first time in my life, I was like, ‘Dang, nobody’s ever told me that.’ I had thought it was all about me.”

Weiss says that he had believed in God before 2022, “but I was not walking in relationship with Jesus ... I lived to please me above everybody else, and I think a lot of men do that nowadays. They live for instant satisfaction. They live for quick bursts and feeding their addictions, whether it be food, money, image, clothing ... all these different things.

“When I understood that it wasn't about Jon Weiss, that it was about making a difference and walking in a relationship with Jesus, my life completely changed, and it has changed not only in 2022, but it continues to get better every single year. I continue to grow more as a human ... as a leader, and I’m here to tell you it’s freeing. It’s very freeing having that relationship with Him and what He’s able to do in your life.”

Weiss has attended Cornerstone Baptist Church in Darlington, since 2022.

In 1990, a couple named Bill and Jean Fryar had seen their town’s community shelter turn away homeless families and, according to Weiss, “God put it on their hearts to sell everything they owned and move to Florence.” They bought Elim High School in Effingham and converted it to a men’s shelter under the name New Life Rescue Ministry.

“In 2006 we became House of Hope, and since then we’ve seen tremendous growth,” Weiss said.

The House of Hope provides housing and recovery programs. They typically see more than 120 people at its various shelters, and it prepares more than 100,000 meals a year.

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