Our Staff

Julie Abel

The Board of Directors appointed Julie Abel as the Executive Director of Family Life Services in 2009. Prior to this appointment, Julie served on the FLS Board of Directors for almost a year. Her working career has been dedicated to serving in ministry positions that utilize her gifts and impact local communities. Julie is a small-business owner and speaker on various topics such as non-profit management and best practices, social media, marketing and branding.

Julie brings over eighteen years of non-profit organizational experience to the Family Life Services executive leadership team. She and her husband Jeff reside in Colorado Springs with their two children Jacob and Jessa. When she isn’t on a back trail in Colorado with her family in their Jeep Rubicon, you can find her online connecting for social good. You can follow her on Twitter at @julieabel.

Ron Bennett AM, ACSW, LCSW

Ron serves as the Program Director at Family Life Services. He received his BA degree from Wheaton College and his AM degree from the University of Chicago. He joined the staff as Executive Director in 1969. In subsequent years he directed the transition from a Children’s Home, to a family program, to a single parent program. He is passionate about ministering to families through counseling and the resident program.

Family Life Services offers daily opportunities to live out the instruction from Ezekiel 16:49, “…to strengthen the hand of the poor and needy.”

Ron enjoys hiking, fishing and travel. He and his wife, Sharon, have one son, David.

Darlene Harris

Darlene joined the Family Life Services team in 2012 as the Outreach Director— merging Women of Courage, Inc., a ministry she founded in 1993, for single-moms and their children. She and her husband, Fred, have 4 grown children and 7 grandchildren. Darlene was raised in Southeast Alaska, the daughter of a commercial fishing family. She graduated from Kings High School in Seattle, which is now Christa Ministries. She attended Pikes Peak Community College for two years. She has served in various churches in women and children’s ministry and as a local officer for 10 years with Women’s Aglow Fellowship. God has given her a passion for single mom families and serves as a mentor, trainer and advocate for families in her program. Darlene also makes herself available as a resource to local churches that feel called to start their own Single Mom Family Outreach programs.

Betty Martinez

Betty Martinez serves as the Women of Courage Outreach Coordinator. She is a native of Colorado Springs, CO, fourth generation.

Betty has been married to Al for 51 years. She has 3 grandchildren, Brittni 16, Chase 13, and Sophia 6 years of age. She was on the board of Christian Women’s Club North for 28 years. Betty was a business owner from 1988-2002. She volunteered at Memorial Hospital in the Gift Shop from 2003-2004. She played on the Colorado Springs Tennis Team for 10 years. Her hobbies are walking, reading and tennis. She has been on staff with Women of Courage since 2003. Betty has a passion for single mom’s ministry.

Peg Wiederholt

Serves as Office Manager at the Family Life Services Administrative Office. Once the administrator of a group practice for physicians, she felt called out of “retirement” to bring her administrative skills to FLS. Formerly a single mother, Peg says God has given her a heart for women and their families. She has been married to her husband Mike for over 30 years and they have two married children and six grandchildren.

Rhonda Wolf, MS, LPC

Rhonda serves as a Counselor at Family Life Services. She has been working as a counselor since 1995. Originally from Arkansas, she is a Colorado resident since 2000. She received her Master’s degree from the University of Central Arkansas. She has experience working with children, youth and families in residential and outpatient settings; she has also provided in-home therapy. Her love for helping families led her to the counseling field.

Believing that healing comes from the Lord, she is pleased to be part of the Family Life Services team and to be able to help families find healing through faith. She has experience in Dialectical Behavioral Therapy and Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing (EMDR). She is licensed as a Professional Counselor in the state of Colorado.

She and her husband Thomas love living in Colorado Springs and enjoy trips into the mountains and travel across the US. They enjoy being involved in their church and time with friends. Rhonda enjoys music, especially the piano and guitar and loves to read when she gets the chance.

Kris Waterhouse

Kris serves as Controller for FLS. Kris has been associated with Family Life Services through her father, Herb Stelzer, since the early 70′s. Alongside her father, Kris assisted with the Financial Review for FLS from the early 90′s until shortly after her father’s death in 1996. She returned to Family Life Services in the Spring of 2009 and is now serving on a part-time basis.

Kris also serves at Eskew Accounting as a QB Proadvisor and consults with businesses to help them streamline procedures, and maximize their efficiency and accuracy throughout the accounting process. She brings over 20 years of experience with non-profit bookkeeping, financial reporting and tax preparation.

She and her husband Chris reside in Colorado Springs with their four children, Becca, Eli, Micah, and Isaac.

Stephanie Ganyard

Stephanie is delighted to be the Receptionist for the Women of Courage Outreach team.  She participated for 6 ½ years as one of the first members of WOC.  Her passion for single moms led her to volunteer at  monthly meetings and then at the office.  She is grateful for the opportunity to now be on staff for it is always a blessing to be able to serve those who are on the journey that you once walked. She spends her most precious moments with her husband of 13 years, Jim , her daughter Kim, son Tim and two grandchildren Cameron and Aubree. Oh Yes- and can’t forget the Pugs Debo and Delilah!

Katie Stedman

Serves as Volunteer and Facilities Coordinator.  Katie received her BA degree from the University of Texas at Austin and her Certificate in Non-profit Leadership and Management from the Center for Community-Based and Non-profit Organizations, also in Austin.  She has spent the last 12 years serving in various roles throughout the nonprofit sector, focusing specifically on volunteer management and organizational development.

Katie is passionate about connecting volunteers to the mission of FLS.
She enjoys watching college football and eating chocolate.  She moved to Colorado Springs in June of 2011 with her husband, Edward, daughter, Rhys, and her dog, Chevy.

Isaac and Stephanie Hamilton

The Hamiltons live on site at Family Life Services and serve as the Resident Host Couple. They are recently returned from 6 years serving as volunteer staff with Youth With a Mission. They met as co-leaders of a missionary team to Indonesia in 2007 and were married in 2010. Stephanie is pursuing her degree in social work while Isaac is studying business. They have a passion for worship, community, justice, and intimacy with the Lord. Stephanie and Isaac enjoy hiking, backpacking, rock-climbing, and just about anything adventurous.