Mexico Staff
Mexico Team
Jesús Gómez Castro
Jesús is the Director of Eli House in Mexico and a teacher at Eli House. He is also the pastor at the local church (Ismaschias) Eli House partners with for the before/after school program. A fun-loving person with a heart for kids, he can often be found playing soccer with them! He has worked with Eli House since its founding and has been an essential part of our growth.
Director
Jovita López López
Jovita is the school principal, as well as a teacher at Eli House. She has worked with Eli House since its founding and is instrumental in keeping the day-to-day happenings of the school running smooth. Oftentimes she can be found helping in the kitchen, playing hide-and-seek with the students at recess, or working in her office. She loves to work with kids, and she impacts their lives daily.
School Principal
Myrna Solano
Myrna is our English teacher at Eli House. She also assists the children with homework, prepares devotionals, and she helps drive the children to and from Eli House. She is the wife to Pastor Jesús who also works at the school, and she is a mother of three. In August 2019 she started working for Eli House.
English Teacher
Julietta Reynosa
Julietta handles a variety of tasks for Eli House. A few of the tasks she does are: takes pictures and videos for social media, sends and receives mail/gifts for the children. In addition, she also helps out with cooking, homework, driving students to and from their houses, and any other need that arises at the school. When she was younger, she was in our high school program! Since September 2019, she has been employed by Eli House.
Administrative Assistant
Leticia Pérez
Leticia or "Lety" is the cook for Eli House! She has been with us since the start of the 2022-2023 school year. The food she prepares is delicious and made from scratch. She has a sweet personality and enjoys playing games with the children during their free time at Eli House. All four of her children attend Eli House.
Before/After School Cook
Emma Lerma Fuentes
Emma is a very valuable asset for Eli House! She crosses the border every week and goes to the post office, picking up packages and letters that sponsors have sent and then mails outgoing thank you cards. Before teams come to stay at our dorms, she cleans them and helps make the beds as well. In addition, whenever we have a medical or dental clinic, she serves as an interpreter.
Interpreter/Mail Assistant/Cleaner
Betina Ramírez
Betina is the cook for all of our mission teams! Before mission teams arrive in Mexico, she also helps clean the dormitories. Betina is known for making incredible food and aguas frescas, such as chimichangas, tostadas, and horchata. Her hard-working attitude and desire to do things with excellence is something Eli House Mission is grateful for!
Mission Team Cook/Cleaner
Alex Benitez
Alex is a huge help to us in Mexico! He and his crew do many construction projects for us at Eli House, like building the new clinic, the new dormitories, etc. He also is in charge of getting the concrete slab poured for our casita builds. If we have any maintenance needs that arise, Alex is the first phone call we make. One of his favorite sayings is "No problems, only solutions!"
General Contractor/Maintenance
USA Team
Megan Reedy
Child Sponsorship Director
John Hershberger
John is a lifelong resident of Hartville, Ohio where he lives with his wife, Jody. They have three married children and nine grandchildren. They have been active members of Evermore Community Church for over 25 years. Now retired, John has been in construction all of his life, with experience ranging from being a framing contractor to general contracting to drawing plans. As he has always had a heart for missions, he enjoys being involved with Eli House and overseeing construction of the casitas. In his free time, John enjoys motorcycling, watching sports, tinkering in his garage, and spending time with family.
Construction Manager
Jody Hershberger
Jody is a lifelong resident of Hartville, Ohio where she lives with her husband, John, and is an active member of Evermore Community Church. They are blessed with three married children and nine grandchildren. Jody is a recently retired RN who has led several teams to Eli House to do medical clinics for the community. In addition to her nursing experience, Jody served as church treasurer for 15 years and was involved with managing the financial aspects of her husband's general contracting business. Now that she is retired, she is happy to become more involved with Eli House as bookkeeper. In her free time, Jody enjoys reading, bicycling, camping, motorcycling, and spending time with family and friends.
Bookkeeper
Melodie Sommers
Melodie is from Hartville, Ohio. She has been involved with facilitating short-term teams to Eli House for over ten years and also helps with administrative duties. She enjoys reading, cooking and being outdoors.
Trip Coordinator & Administrative Assistant
Brianna Sommers
Brianna is from Hartville, Ohio and a 2018 graduate from Lake Center Christian School. She helps with communication, translation, and child sponsorship. She also helps facilitate short-term mission teams, among various other duties. Brianna enjoys reading, playing ultimate frisbee, and baking.
Administrative & Sponsorship Assistant
Zachary Reinhart
Zach lives in Uniontown, Ohio and is a 2023 graduate from Lake High School. He is a freelance photographer who is also attending college for a degree in Spanish. In his free time, he enjoys auto mechanics, music, and Christian Theology. He comes on as many mission trips with us as he can, taking incredible photos for trip participants to remember their trip by!