Our History

Beth Kidd founded Place of Promise and serves as Founding Director providing clinical and spiritual direction for residents, children, and staff, as well as training for the next generation of ministry leadership.

As a young girl, growing up outside of Philadelphia, she was inspired by the many Missionaries that frequently visited her church. As a teenager, she volunteered at Philadelphia General Hospital and saw first-hand the devastation of despair, hate, poverty, drug and alcohol addiction, loneliness, disease, and spiritual death. She knew that she was being called to a life of ministry.

Beth attended University of Delaware and received a Bachelor’s degree in Nursing. Moving to Boston with her husband Jeff, she accepted a nursing position at Boston City Hospital while Jeff pursued a Master of Divinity in Urban Ministry at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. They chose to live in a poor, inner city section of Boston.

Three years later, Beth started a neighborhood missionary ministry modeled after what she had seen in third world countries. She cared for the sick in the streets, in their homes, as well as bringing the more severely sick and injured into her own home. Additionally, Beth and Jeff hosted a home church and started a children’s bible program and a coffee house to serve their local neighborhood.

During a time of fasting and prayer, Beth received a vision from God, prompting her to open Place of Promise, a dedicated home to show God’s love to the multiply-injured, hurting, and suffering. Place of Promise opened their first residential home in 1994 in Dorchester. In order to meet growing needs, Place of Promise moved to Lowell in 2000.

Today, Place of Promise operates four long-term residential homes, offers programming for children elementary through high school, and provides training and internships for churches, ministries, and the next generation of ministry leadership.

Over the last twenty four years, Place of Promise has continued to focus on building a new life centered on Jesus Christ. While the challenges have changed – alcohol and drug use starting at 10 years of age, polysubstance abuse, multi-generational separation from God, and dual- and tri-diagnosis (mental, physical, and substance abuse) – the focus on Christ has not.

Beth and Jeff have been married for 46 years, have 4 grown children, and 6 grandchildren. Beth has mothered and grand-mothered countless more.

Jeff joined Place of Promise as Executive Director in January 2018. Previously, Jeff was the Director of Strategic Initiatives at Straight Ahead Ministries in Worcester, MA, for over 5 years. Prior to joining Straight Ahead, Jeff has held executive level positions in Marketing, Product Management, and Engineering in the telecommunications industry.

Jeff holds a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in Electrical Engineering from Lehigh University and Cornell University. Additionally, he holds a Management Certificate from Georgia Institute of Technology.

Jeff and his wife, Carolyn, have 2 grown children and are very active in their church. Jeff has designed and led Men’s Bible Studies for over 14 years, including in-prison ministry programs.

Terry was the first employee of Place of Promise. Having met Beth in her Roxbury neighborhood, Terry started volunteering in the Coffee House and Home Church that Beth and her husband Jeff hosted.

As a Massachusetts Certified Alcohol and Drug Counselor, Terry works closely with the Residents to show them that there is “Life After Addictions”. Additionally, for every Resident, she provides case management and advocacy for navigating the social, legal, and health care systems.

Susan joined Place of Promise in 2020 and serves part-time on the Residential Staff.

Susan has worked in several industries, including manufacturing accounting and restaurant management. However, having grown up in a dysfunctional home surrounded by addiction, her own addictions ultimately began to dominate her life and she sought help. Finding Place of Promise, she entered the program in 2017 and completed it in 2019.

Place of Promise changed Susan’s life, and now she feels called to help others struggling with addictions. Susan holds an associate degree in Human Services and an Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Counseling Certificate. She is currently working on her LADC II license.

Scott joined Place of Promise in 2021 and serves part-time on the Residential Staff.

Scott spent most of his professional life working in the music and book industry; however, his 30 years of addiction finally caught up with him and he lost everything and became homeless. Scott came to Place of Promise in 2018 and completed the program in 2020. Scott remained a part of Place of Promise by volunteering and leading groups and joined the staff in 2021.

Scott holds an associate degree in Christian Ministry and Leadership from City Vision University and is currently working on his Christian Ministry and Leadership Bachelor degree with a Non-Profit Management and Addiction Ministry focus.

Scott feels blessed to be a part of Place of Promise and be able to come alongside others and share his experience and enthusiasm of Christ’s transforming love and power.

Wendy Ludwig has been working at Place of Promise since 2014. She is a registered nurse with a Bachelor of Science from The University of Pennsylvania and a Master’s Degree in Nursing from Boston College. Wendy worked at St Louis Children’s Hospital as a staff nurse, Boston Children’s Hospital as an Emergency Department nurse, Brockton Hospital as a Nurse Manager and Pediatric Nurse Practitioner and Boston Children’s Hospital as the Manager of Nursing Staff Development. In 1993 she accepted a job as the Director of Youth Ministries at the United Church of Christ in Medfield, Massachusetts. As she was preparing to leave her role at UCC Medfield in 2014, she brought a group of middle school students and their parents to Place of Promise to work for the day.

“It was one of those moments that you know you’re witnessing God at work. I was so deeply moved by what I heard as the resident’s shared their stories and through all that I saw. As I was sitting there, God did this amazing thing in my heart! I’d always hoped that I’d have an opportunity for my role as a nurse and as a minister to cross but I didn’t see this coming! I kept asking God: “Really? Is this what you want me to do? I’m a PEDIATRIC nurse!” Wendy came on staff later that year.

Wendy has been married to her husband, Bill, for 41 years. She has two adult children and one adorable grandson.

Thysan joined Place of Promise in 2016 and serves on the Residential Staff.

Growing up in a Buddhist family during the brutal civil war in Cambodia, Thysan survived 4 years in a Khmer Rouge slave labor camp. Thysan then spent the next 10 years in a refugee camp where he encountered Jesus Christ and dedicated his life to serving Him. Resettled to the United States, Thysan worked as a Social Worker for the Massachusetts Department of Children and Families for 12 years.

Thysan holds an MDiv from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary and DMin from Andover-Newton Theological School. His thesis focused on the impact of prolonged psychological trauma, the transmission of trauma from first to second generation, and the four essential elements of healing. Additionally, Thysan is a Pastor at the Eliot Presbyterian Church in Lowell.

Matt joined the staff of Place of Promise in October 2023 as the Director of Ministry.

Matt grew up in the suburbs of Boston and earned a B.M. in Music Education from Ithaca College where he was active in the Ithaca College Protestant Community and his local church. After undergrad, Matt attended Dallas Theological Seminary and received a Master of Theology (ThM) with a concentration in Pastoral Care and Counseling. He volunteered at his local church and served as a chaplain at three hospitals in the Dallas area, including Parkland Health & Hospital System: a large Trauma Level 1 and Burn center that serves as the county hospital of Dallas. It was in these hospitals that he had the honor to come alongside and provide spiritual/emotional care to patients, families, and staff in some of their most grave and distressful moments.

Matt has served in various ministry roles at churches/ministries in Massachusetts, New York, New Hampshire, and Texas. He enjoys creative teaching and coming alongside another to meet them where they are at, provide spiritual/emotional care, and share the transformational hope and love of Jesus Christ.

Outside of ministry, Matt is an avid Boston sports fan (Red Sox and Patriots), and enjoys spending time with family and friends talking about life, theology, and music. He is currently pursuing a Graduate Certificate in Addiction Counseling.