This Is Where It All Began
I'm Lisa Goodbrake, founder of The Promised Land Community.
For more than 30 years, I've worked in real estate and business, and I've watched affordable housing become harder and harder to find.
But The Promised Land Community is about more than affordable housing.
It's about something I've learned the importance of throughout my entire life: community.
Life can put us in chapters we never expected. We can find ourselves on our own, but that doesn't mean we have to live life alone. Sometimes you simply need a place to belong.
Community Has Always Been Part of My Story
When I was growing up, my parents owned a small cottage colony on Cape Cod. They bought
it run down and rebuilt it with their own hands.
I went to work with my dad every Saturday from the time I was about five. My parents taught
me about hard work, ownership and believing you could build something better. I bought my
first house at 18 and have been self-employed throughout my life.
The cottage colony was also where I first fell in love with community.
There were families, children, cookouts, games and activities. I was always organizing
something and telling my parents that someday I was going to own an RV park with a
community center and be the activities director.
But my childhood also taught me why community matters.
My dad became very sick when I was seven and battled cancer for years before he died when
I was 15.
During those years, our family didn't make it through alone. Family, friends and
community surrounded us.
They showed me very early in life what it means to show up for one another.
And some of my most precious memories with my dad are much simpler. We went
fishing.
It was something the two of us shared, and I loved every minute of it.
Maybe that's one reason it means so much to me today to imagine a child coming to The
Promised Land Community and having someone take them fishing. Sometimes the smallest
moments become the ones we carry for a lifetime.
Bringing Light Back to Five Forgotten Acres
Years later, after a lifetime in real estate and building businesses, I went to look at an old, rundown five-acre mobile-home property in East Texas.
I thought I was looking at a real estate investment. God showed me something entirely different.
He gave me a vision to bring light back to a place that had become dark and forgotten, and to give that land purpose again. But not just the land. The people who would someday live there, too.
A place for affordable living. A place for faith. A place where people could belong, love one another, serve one another and still have purpose.
For the past year, I've rolled up my sleeves and worked right alongside everyone else to bring that vision to life.
I've mowed lawns, washed windows, worked on houses, designed rooms and spaces, and poured myself into nearly every corner of this property.
And God has continued opening doors and bringing people with the gifts and knowledge needed for the next step.
Because none of us were created to do life alone.
The Greatest of These Is Love
My own life has taught me that lesson again in recent years.
Through seasons of waiting, trials and change, God continually reminded me that even when I
felt alone, I never was.
He was there. And He continued putting people around me.
I've come to believe more deeply than ever that one of our greatest purposes is simply
to love one another.
To show up. To serve. To pray. To laugh. To notice when somebody is having a hard day. To
help when somebody needs a hand. And sometimes just to sit beside someone so they know
they're not alone.
That's the kind of community I believe God has called me to help create.
Why Veterans Are Part of My Heart My father served in the United States Air Force. My stepfather was a prisoner of war, and my
son is a disabled veteran.
So our commitment to veterans is personal.
I want veterans at The Promised Land Community to know that their story isn't finished. Their
knowledge, experience and gifts still matter, and there are generations coming behind them
who can benefit from what they have to share.
For My Mom and Dad
My dad taught me to work hard and believe that I could build whatever I was willing to work for.
My mom and dad taught me about family, ownership, perseverance and pride in what you
build. And my mom has continued believing in me and helping me make this vision possible.
I dedicate The Promised Land Community to both of them.
Today, I'm a mother of three grown children and grandmother of six. Someday, I hope my
children and grandchildren come here and enjoy everything God put on my heart to build.
I hope they see people laughing, families gathering, vegetables growing, friendships forming
and children fishing at the pond.
And maybe one of those children will be fishing with someone they love and creating a
memory they'll carry for the rest of their life.
What began as five forgotten acres is becoming a place of light, love, belonging and
purpose.
And I am humbled and honored that God called me to be His hands and feet in helping create
The Promised Land Community.
Lisa Goodbrake
Founder
The Promised Land Community
Contact Details
(903) 214-8303
3160 Farm To Market 16 East, Tyler TX 75706