GREETINGS FROM CRISIS RESPONSE CARE

A Word From Dr. Kevin Ellers, President/CEO of Crisis Response Care

Welcome! I am Dr. Kevin Ellers, the new president/CEO of Crisis Response Care (CRC). While CRC started in 2011 as a ministry of K-LOVE radio, in May of 2025 it transitioned to be an independent 501(c)(3) with the continued support of K-LOVE. 

I am not new to CRC. In the early 2000s, some of the K-LOVE team attended Critical Incident Stress Management (CISM) classes that my wife, Jennifer, and I were teaching with other organizations. I was curious about why a radio station was sending staff to these trainings. They explained that their pastoral care team serves listeners who call for support in times of loss and crisis. They wanted their people to be better trained to minister to hurting callers. I was impressed that the leadership of a radio station cared so much about their listeners and wanted to provide emotional and spiritual support to their constituents.  

I suggested that it might be more cost effective and practical for me to travel to California, where K-LOVE was based at that time, and train their pastoral care team.  We did that, then followed up with several other trainings that were opened to the community. The need for training was great and so was the response.  As of 2024, the CRC team had facilitated over 677 classes with over 35,000 attendees.  

Thanks to the K-LOVE team and their vision, CRC was birthed. It has been a blessing to see the amazing outcomes of the CRC ministry over the past 15 years. A move of the K-LOVE headquarters from Rocklin, CA to Nashville, TN prompted a change in leadership and restructuring the program. After 30 years of disaster and crisis response ministry with The Salvation Army, I retired from my leadership position there to focus full-time on writing, training and direct care for those experiencing trauma and loss. A few months after my retirement from The Salvation Army, I was surprised when the K-LOVE leadership approached me about taking over the CRC ministry. While that was not a part of my original plan, God made it very clear I was supposed to take this opportunity to continue the great ministry of CRC. My love for training and helping those in crisis is perfect mission alignment with this critical ministry. 

CRC is a program developed to train people to provide effective and compassionate emotional and spiritual care following critical incidents. Critical incidents are life altering events that have potential to create a state of crisis.  These events may include disasters; loss and death; mass casualty; crime; violence; assault and many other things. While critical incidents can cause distress and disruption, they can also be a catalyst for growth and transformation. Additionally, a key focus of CRC is helping people build resilience and coping skills to not only recover from life’s stressors, but to grow from these experiences. 

We hope you will support this amazing ministry of CRC to train people like you to go into a hurting world to be the hands and feet of Christ. The ultimate goal is to bring help, hope and healing to people so they do not have to face these dark times alone and can grow both emotionally and spiritually.