About The Founder

Dan Beard was born 1956 in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. He was raised in Mantua, Ohio until age 12, when his family moved to Oklahoma City. Until this time, Dan had basically been a model student, but, at age 13, he began to make some poor choices. Not knowing until approximately thirty years later that he had bipolar disorder, which includes symptoms of drastic mood changes and risk-taking behavior, he experimented with alcohol, marijuana and other drugs, gambling and other delinquent behavior. Although he was raised in a Christian home, by age 14 Dan was an avowed atheist, and believed that his luck was so bad that, if God did exist, He must be unfair. Through his mother's prayers, however, at age 17, December 23rd, 1973 Dan simply asked "If there is a God, show me what You want me to do." The next day, Dan became ill and, instead of going out with his friends, he saw Billy Graham on television, and went to bed. That night, the answer came, as Dan sensed God’s presence very strongly, calling him to Himself, and to a ministry. At that moment, the addictions were broken and he was a changed young man.

The next seven years, Dan finished high school with honors that would have seemed impossible prior to his experience with God, and attended three colleges, earning a bachelor's degree in missions and a master's in religion; again earning several honors and multiple scholarships. While in school, he worked at a variety of jobs, mostly in the area of construction. Times were tough as companies he worked for collapsed or took wage cuts, he began to experience depression and back pain, real estate investments he tried lost money, and typical ministry options were few. Dan cried to God and asked for more guidance.

Shortly afterward, Dan's closest friend at the time, Dr. Stephen Robinson came by and asked, "are you going to keep driving nails the rest of your life" and invited him to come with him to speak to a career counselor at the University of Central Oklahoma. Having always been interested in Psychology, and having no clear direction from God, Dan did enroll, and earned a second master's degree in Community Counseling. He finally found his niche, and worked in a variety of positions at a community agency and a hospital, mostly with families and children with a variety of challenges, similar to those he had experienced, from 1993 through the present.