About us

A non-profit serving
the Linden community

Our Story

The origin of our name can be found in the New Testament.  It comes from a passage in the Gospel of Matthew, chapter 28, verse 19, which says: “Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” To the team at TwentyEight:19, this means dedicating our lives to serving others, especially those in most need, and to bringing the light of the gospel to them. We believe that a focus on improving the family environment is the critical path to making lasting changes, improving lives, and ultimately making disciples.

Cycle Breaking through Changed Lives

Meet our
founding partners

Jim is the visionary of TwentyEight:19. As a twenty-two-year veteran of the City of Columbus Division of Police, Jim has served over twenty years of it in the underserved Linden community and understood the need for Christian relationships firsthand.  For the past seven years, Jim has lead annual mission trips to Ometepec, Mexico and traveled with missionaries to the inner city of Charlotte, North Carolina.  These trips have provided invaluable training and experience which have been of use to TwentyEight:19.

James Haley, Founding Partner & President,  [email protected]

Tom has invaluable leadership experience from serving in a nine-year role as an Elder at New Albany Presbyterian Church, serving 45-50 hours per month. Tom also was the leader of the Men’s Bible Study at NAPC for five years, which he now continues at 28:19.  He has a passion for mentoring and discipling, and changing lives of men through the development of their relationship with Jesus Christ.

Tom Skoulis, Founding Partner & Treasurer,  [email protected]

Patrick is a passionate community volunteer who has spent the previous five years serving in the Linden area. Patrick currently serves on the Mission Committee at New Albany Presbyterian Church (with a Linden focus), has supported the development of the FCA program at Linden-McKinley, and is a founding member of the Linden McKinley Football Boosters. He was also recently selected to Columbus CEO’s Future 50 for community leadership.

Patrick Smith, Secretary,  [email protected]

Jenna and her family are Linden residents. She and her husband Matt have been involved with Fellowship of Christian Athletes and lead a young adult ministry with graduates and their friends. Jenna’s previous professional experience includes roles at the Reeb Avenue Center, Youth For Christ and Boys & Girls Clubs. She holds a bachlor’s degree from OSU in Human Development and Family Studies with a specialization in at risk youth. She is passionate about seeing young people come to know and love Christ as well and have a thriving walk with Him. She leads the 28:19 Mom&Me ministry as well as oversees the development of the building. She is grateful to be given the opportunity to work alongside Jason and her community in reaching youth. In her spare time Jenna enjoys sporting events, a good thrifting find, and spending time outdoors with her dogs and family. 

Jenna Dascenzo, Director of Development, [email protected]

Jason founded the faith-based nonprofit The Parable Project in 2019 with a vision to optimize and enrich the lives of teens in Linden after the school day. At one time a teacher, Jason received his Master’s in Teaching and Learning from The Ohio State University. On the road to forming the nonprofit, Jason drew from a variety of life and work experiences to generate an organization that uniquely serves the community he lives in. His passion is providing holistic, spiritually-rich care to teens that also helps families and schools and he believes that the future will be brightest when we resource, equip, and develop the leaders of the next generation today. As Director of Operations at TwentyEight:19, Jason is most excited about seeing the body of believers in Columbus working together to share and demonstrate the Gospel through intentional programming and community presence. 

Jason Seiple, Operations Director, [email protected]

A journey of faith...