A new four-bedroom safe house for unhoused teens opened Wednesday, July 29, on the Bob's House of Hope property near Justin, bringing Flower Mound-area elected officials and a Lewisville nonprofit together around a gap in youth services that advocates say has gone unaddressed for years.
U.S. Rep. Brandon Gill, R-Flower Mound, and state Sen. Tan Parker, R-Flower Mound, joined Gov. Greg Abbott, Denton County Judge Andy Eads, and state Rep. Mitch Little, R-Lewisville, at the ribbon-cutting for the home, which will shelter teens ages 14–17 for up to 90 days while staff provide case management and life-skills training.
"There's a huge lack of support for youth that are kind of aging out of the child support system," Bob's House of Hope office manager Harrison Lacy told the Denton Record-Chronicle.
The home is the first on the property to serve minors. Teens do not have to be survivors of sex trafficking to qualify. A second home, this one for girls, is expected to open in about a week and a half.
Bob's House of Hope is a program of Ranch Hands Rescue, founded by Bob Williams in 2008. The safe house opened in 2021 as one of the first in the country to provide housing, therapy, and services to adult male survivors of human trafficking. The new teen housing expands both the age range and gender range the organization serves.
Lewisville nonprofit to build youth housing on same property
Journey to Dream, a Lewisville-based nonprofit that runs the Kyle's Place transitional living shelter, has leased 10 acres on the Bob's House of Hope property to build additional youth housing. CEO Nesa Grider attended the ribbon-cutting.
The partnership matters for teens who finish their 90-day stay. Rather than being sent to another temporary shelter, they'll have a next-step housing option on the same property, Lacy said.
Journey to Dream was founded in 2004 and serves teens ages 14–23. The organization says it reaches more than 15,000 North Texas teens annually and has previously held fundraising events at the Shops at Highland Village.
Governor highlights anti-trafficking laws
Abbott, who helped cut the ribbon, highlighted recent Texas laws raising the penalty for all human trafficking offenses to a first-degree felony and eliminating parole for traffickers who target children or disabled individuals. A press release from the governor's office called Bob's House of Hope "the nation's first safe house exclusively for male survivors of human trafficking."
Other attendees included Denton County Sheriff Tracy Murphree, Tarrant County Sheriff Bill Waybourn, former Texas Secretary of State Jane Nelson, and state Reps. Ben Bumgarner, Richard Hayes, and Andy Hopper.
The property sits west of Justin in Denton County, roughly 15 minutes from Flower Mound.
What's ahead
The girls' home on the Bob's House of Hope property is expected to open around mid-August. Journey to Dream has not announced a timeline for construction on its leased 10 acres.
