Author Hugh Halter

Hugh & Cheryl began starting things from scratch in Portland, Oregon. Hugh started a painting company, then a Youth For Christ ministry in metro Portland, then a church, and eventually a national leadership training network called Missio. Missio’s growth propelled them to Denver where Hugh pioneered another church, an online training platform for missionary leaders called MCAP, a publishing company, and a successful series of eight books. Cheryl also began a hockey program for children with disabilities.   The uniqueness of Hugh & Cheryl’s life and story moved Hugh into a leadership consulting focus for business and church leaders as well as volunteering as the national director for Forge America, a training network across 20 cities. In 2016 Hugh & Cheryl, their two daughters and son-in-laws, all moved to Alton, IL, to be closer to their adult son Ryan, who was in an assisted living center.   This was the first time they moved without knowing what they would do, but Cheryl thought they could do something to help a small struggling town become a little better. Within a year, Hugh was given a 12,000 square foot federal post office, and with the help of his family turned it into “Post Commons” which the locals call the “living room for Alton.”   Under Hugh’s non-profit “Lantern Network” Hugh facilitates a coffee house, brunch kitchen, events center, whiskey society, and co-working space to birth and nurture small ventures that make a collectively large ripple.