CEO Vision Funding
From John Utley
John Utley
Executive Director / CEO
Adult and Teen Challenge of Dallas
North Texas Adult and Teen Challenge (forming)
1401 Meadow Street | DeSoto, Texas 75115
May 2026
Dear Friend,
I am writing to you today not simply as someone I know, but as someone I trust — someone whose prayers and partnership have always meant more to me than I could ever express. I am reaching out with exciting news, a new vision, and a heartfelt invitation to join me in the most significant chapter of ministry Susan and I have ever stepped into.
One Year In — and God Is Just Getting Started
One year ago, I accepted the role of Executive Director at Adult and Teen Challenge of Dallas. It has been one of the most challenging, rewarding, and faith-stretching years of my life. I have watched men arrive at our doors broken by addiction hollow-eyed, hopeless, carrying years of shame and I have watched those same men walk out transformed by the power of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I have seen families restored. I have seen prodigals come home. I have seen the impossible become possible, over and over again, because we serve a God who specializes in second chances.
That mission — seeing men, women, and families set free from addiction through the power of the Gospel — has never burned more brightly in my heart than it does right now.
A New Assignment: North Texas Adult and Teen Challenge
When I joined the Dallas Men's Center, Lord birthed a longer vision in my heart: to eventually transition into a CEO role focused on planting new centers across our region, and advancing the mission on a larger scale. After a year of serving, leading, and watching God move, that moment has arrived.
I will continue to oversee the day-to-day operations of the Dallas Men's Center; that work is too important to step away from. But I am now being called to simultaneously plant new Adult and Teen Challenge centers across North Texas, expanding our reach so that more lives can be transformed. To accomplish this, our board of directors has asked me to step outside the operational budget of the local center — freeing up those resources for the center itself — and to raise a personal ministry support budget for my role as CEO of a new entity: North Texas Adult and Teen Challenge, currently being formed with our attorney.
This is a significant step of faith. And I would not be writing this letter if I were not fully convinced that God has called Susan and I to this mission.
What Is Ahead
This new outreach begins this month, and I can already see God opening doors I did not even knock on. Within the next several weeks, I will be conducting interviews with influencers across multiple spheres of culture and faith, sharing the story of how the Gospel breaks the chains of addiction. I have also been invited to travel to Washington, D.C., where I will represent Adult and Teen Challenge at a USA 250-year celebratory national prayer breakfast, followed by meetings with various cabinet and congress members and participate in the rededication of our nation to God — an event at which the President of the United States is scheduled to speak.
I share that not to impress you, but to impress upon you the weight of this moment. God is moving. Doors are opening. And we are humbled and, honestly, a little in awe of where He is taking this ministry.
My Ask: Will You Stand With Us?
To do this work well, Susan and I need prayer support and funding for the annual budget—covering my salary and a ministry assistant who will help steward the relationships, communications, and logistics that a role of this scope requires.
I am reaching out specifically to family and friends who do not already support the ATC Dallas Men's Center — people who know me, and who I believe may feel called to support the vision God has placed on my life. This is not a cold ask from an organization. This is a personal invitation from someone who loves you, to partner with something eternal.
If you feel led to contribute financially, you can send your support to:
Adult and Teen Challenge of Dallas
1401 Meadow Street
DeSoto, Texas 75115
(Please note: CEO VISION FUNDING in the memo line)
Online giving is also available at: https://secure.qgiv.com/for/ceofunding
Your gift — at any level — goes directly toward sustaining this work and expanding it to reach men and women across North Texas who are still trapped, still suffering, and still waiting for someone to bring them the hope of the Gospel.
No Pressure. Only Gratitude.
I want to be clear: I know that life is full, and I know that many of you carry your own financial pressures and challenges. Please hear me when I say — there is absolutely no pressure here. Every person I reach out to is someone I love and cherish, regardless of what they can give. If all you can offer is a prayer, that is a treasure I receive with a full heart.
Thank you for prayerfully considering this. Thank you for taking the time to read these words. Also, thank you for being the kind of person who shows up in people's lives in meaningful ways — you already have in ours.
Please feel free to share this letter with your pastor or anyone you wish.
May God bless you and your family abundantly. May His favor rest on your home, health, relationships, and your own calling. And may you always know how deeply you are loved — by Susan and I, and far more importantly, by the God who gave everything to reach you.
With gratitude, faith, and great expectation,
John
John & Susan Utley
Executive Director / CEO
Adult and Teen Challenge of Dallas
North Texas Adult and Teen Challenge (forming)
📞 Office: 214-824-6181 Personal: 574-370-3661
✉️ Ministry: john.utley@atcdallas.org; Personal: utleyjw@msn.com
🌐 Ministry: teenchallengedallas.org; Personal: JohnUtley.com
"The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because He has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free."
— Luke 4:18 (NIV)
All donations to this ministry are tax-deductible to the fullest extent allowed by law. Adult and Teen Life Challenge of Dallas (Teen-Life Challenge of Dallas, Inc.) 1401 Meadow Street, DeSoto, Texas 75115 (EIN: 57-1194048) is recognized as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization by the Internal Revenue Service.