This Fort Worth prison reform ministry was struggling financially. Then a donor came along

Call it a New Year’s resolution, divine intervention, or even an epiphany, but on what he thought was a typical New Year’s Eve, Fred Mesch’s life changed and with it so did the lives of others.

Mesch was reading an article in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram about the work done by Pastor Chandler Fozard and More Than Redemption Church, which is under the umbrella of Hope Prison Ministries and helps former inmates get reacclimated with society upon release.

After reading, Mesch said he felt moved to do something to help advance their cause. A wealth adviser, Mesch knows a lot about money, but he wanted to do more than just pull out his checkbook — which he also did, by the way.

”I saw this article and said this is exactly what I’ve been wanting to do!” Mesch said excitedly. “I picked up the phone to call Chandler. In fact, he was pretty difficult to get. But I told him I’m not a quack, please listen to what I have to say.”

Mesch has his own background in prison ministry, working with his friend Tom Sheppard in the Turn-Key Outreach program, which is a jail ministry. However, their attempts to help inmates re-enter society had not had much success, which is what urged Mesch to seek out Fozard.

”His mission goals and mine are the same. It just seemed a perfect fit,” Mesch said.

Fozard is the founding and senior pastor at More Than Redemption Church. The church meets at 10 a.m. each Sunday at 1131 Burton Hill Road in Fort Worth. It grew out of the aftercare program of Hope Prison Ministries, which Fozard also founded.

More Than Redemption Church is more than a church for former inmates — which it certainly is, even for those who have committed the harshest crimes. Fozard’s ministry helps people find housing and work, along with counseling and other necessities for rejoining free society.

Finally, Mesch reached Fozard and the two scheduled a meeting. Both left knowing a new and more positive future had been forged for them both.

”When we met, I was brutally honest and told him we were not doing well financially,” Fozard said. “He wrote me a check for $25,000 from his personal family foundation but that wasn’t all. He asked me for access to our books so he could go through them.”

Fozard added, “You might imagine I was only too happy to turn over the keys of the kingdom.”

Mesch ran some reports and called Fozard back.

“He said, ‘Wow! You’re running a business here,” Fozard recalled. “He said, ‘Chandler, much like God told Moses, you need some help.’”

So Mesch hired someone to dig deeper and put together a budget, along with figuring out how much to raise to meet the missionary needs. Fozard said he had the perfect person.

”Michael had been in our program because of his own sins. He had served time, completed parole. He had a background in accounting and finance,” Fozard said.

Michael is out of prison and home with his family, but had not been able to find solid work because of his background. Mesch met with him and funded the position for five months on a trial basis.

”It’s not a popular ministry. It’s a lot of work,” Mesch said. “But he’s got a great program. After you’ve served your time you have a clean record. You deserve a job, you deserve to have a life. Let’s make them productive citizens.

”I see a lot of business people who say ‘My taxes are too high’ and such. I say, ‘Here, write a check.’”

Mesch remembered speaking to an inmate who was on the verge of getting out and returning to society. The inmate, while happy to be getting released, was also concerned about returning to the same crime-ridden community that helped put him behind bars in the first place.

”I said, ‘Raymond, if I had a place to send you when you get out, would you feel better?’ It made him feel so much more positive and ready to do something good upon his release.”

Fozard said a couple of large churches in the area expressed a desire to help but also had concerns regarding their financial situation. He said with Mesch’s support those churches are now evaluating support for the ministry.

”Regardless of what comes, the financial support of this new donor and the help he is paying to help me has already begun to change my life,” Fozard said. “Although I’ve been actively engaged in prison ministry and aftercare for more than 15 years, in the words of one song by one of my favorite artists, Steven Curtis Chapman, ‘And when I start thinking I’m getting close to the end, you just smile at me and say, Hey kid, you ain’t seen nothing yet!’”

This story was originally published February 24, 2023 at 6:00 AM.