The creative vision and legacy of a founder

If you were to say to the five founders of Unbound that being a Christian meant serving others, they might have looked at you as if you’d just told them water was wet or the sky was blue. For Catholics of their generation, service wasn’t something you talked about, it was just something you did. So, while the notion of starting an outreach that would connect people in the U.S. with the struggles of poor and marginalized families around the world was ambitious, it was entirely consistent with who these people were.

The outreach they started in 1981 has now grown to the point that it recently celebrated its millionth sponsorship of a child or elder. That’s a tribute to the resilience of the individuals and families building their paths out of poverty, the generosity of sponsors and other benefactors, and the dedication of Unbound staff throughout the world. But it all started with what the founders brought to the table — trust in divine providence, love for the poor and old-fashioned Midwestern tenacity.

The last of the founders, Unbound’s president, Bob Hentzen, died on Oct. 8, 2013. His passing marked a significant moment in the life of the organization not only because he was the last surviving founder but also because of the extraordinary person he was. The 10th anniversary of Hentzen’s death affords an opportunity to reflect on his life and legacy, as well as the ongoing development of the organization to which he dedicated his life.

The teacher becomes the student

Bob Hentzen was born in 1936 into a large family whose Catholic faith, especially that of his mother, Ora, had a lasting influence on him.

Laney Haake, Hentzen’s niece and the daughter of Unbound co-founder Nadine Pearce, recalls family stories about how her grandmother, despite having 12 children of her own, reached out to others in need.

“She was a force, and a force for good,” said Haake, who served in several leadership roles at Unbound and is now retired. “She would tell [her children], ‘There's always somebody worse off than us.’ No matter how little they had or thought they had, there was always somebody that needed help. … Bob was a very observant child and I guarantee you those [things] did not go unnoticed by him.”

As a young man, Hentzen joined the De La Salle Brothers, commonly called the Christian Brothers. Though he later left the order, it was while he was with them that he first went to Latin America to “teach the poor.” As he would later share in his song, “The Journey From Power to Love,” he had a conversion experience while he was there, discovering that he was more a student than a teacher.

“He was teaching all week long, and then he'd go out to the community on the weekends,” Haake said. “That was what really impacted him … meeting the families in their own homes and in their own communities. And it really broadened his view of the work, and that he wanted to do more than just be in the school teaching.”

That desire to do more eventually found its fulfillment in the organization that would become Unbound. Along with his brothers Bud and Jim, sister Nadine and friend Jerry Tolle, Hentzen started an outreach that would connect sponsors (people of goodwill) in the U.S. and elsewhere with children in need in economically developing countries. Elder sponsorship was added later. After a slow beginning, the organization eventually found traction and grew to where it is today, having partnered with more than a million children, elders and families on their paths out of poverty.

The real walk

Hentzen and Tolle, a former Jesuit priest, had experience working in the developing world and were the principal founders. After Tolle’s death in an automobile accident in Spain in 1995, Hentzen was clearly the voice and face of Unbound. By the time of his death, he’d contributed a large collection of songs and writings that still carry influence within the organization. He’d also undertaken two historic and well-publicized solidarity walks that, together, had taken him from Kansas City to Chile. Thousands of people joined him at various points along those walks.

Paul Pearce, Hentzen’s nephew and the brother of Laney Haake, served as director of international programs and in other roles at Unbound before retiring. With the exception of Hentzen’s wife, Cristina, Pearce probably traveled with Hentzen more than any other person. The two solidarity walks, Pearce said, were to emphasize for sponsors, staff and others the importance of staying connected with the families in the program.

“The big walks were really symbolic for getting up early in the morning and making that bus ride across the country and getting up into that small neighborhood on the side of the mountain to visit those families,” he said. “That's really ‘The Walk.’”

Going the extra mile

After his first walk in 1996, Hentzen chose to live in Guatemala rather than Kansas City where Unbound’s international headquarters is located. He had seen how easy it was for NGOs to become disconnected from their mission because of distance, and he was determined that it wouldn’t happen to Unbound. That was also why he kept the relentless travel schedule that took him on nearly every Unbound Awareness Trip the world over. These he saw as invaluable opportunities to connect with sponsors, local program staff, and sponsored persons and their families.

After one particularly grueling travel blitz in early October 2013, Hentzen visited Unbound’s Kansas City headquarters before returning home. Scott Wasserman, who recently retired as president and CEO of Unbound but at the time was the chairperson of its governing board, recalls Hentzen telling him he didn’t feel well.

“The reason I remember him making that comment about his health is because that was so unusual for him,” Wasserman said. “I'd never heard him comment on his health before.”

It was just a few days later that the news came from Guatemala that Hentzen had died. The outpouring of condolences both in the U.S. and throughout the Unbound world were a testament to how much people cared for Hentzen, and his funeral in Guatemala saw thousands of mourners. Hentzen’s son, Jake, now part of the finance team at Unbound, said the experience was overwhelming.

“I mean, it was 24 hours for I don't know, it was like six or seven days,” he said. “Just constantly, busloads of people coming through at all hours of the day and night. And then the day of [the funeral] just the whole town was shut down.”

Following the path of the founders

Hentzen’s passing came at a pivotal moment for the organization, which was preparing to launch a major rebranding for which Hentzen helped lay the groundwork.

Because he was the last of the founders, his death also represented, in a sense, a passing of the torch.

A skilled communicator, Hentzen had always best articulated Unbound’s commitment to serve the poor and marginalized, and to partner with people of all faiths. That commitment has been institutionalized in such things as Unbound’s core values, which emphasize accountability, human dignity, respectful relationships and the Gospel call to serve the poor.

Ideas expressed in Hentzen’s writings, and especially in his music, continue to inform how Unbound understands itself and how it communicates with the world. His disarmingly simple folk songs express profound, and often countercultural, beliefs.

“One of the core themes that I saw in his music is about power management,” Pearce said. “His faith was that real power belongs to God, the Lord of Life. And there are lines in [the songs] that power can injure or free, and I can learn to use it well. So, especially in an international context, how do you responsibly guide the organization and how do you responsibly use these funds and how are decisions made?”

Jake Hentzen believes these ideas reflect the desire of all the founders.

“I think what they taught us was to not be afraid to [act] for the greater good of the organization and also listen more [rather] than come in [convinced] that your idea is the best,” he said. “You know, collaborate with not only your employees but also the people that you're working with, the families.”

Scott Wasserman echoes that sentiment.

“I realized early on [after becoming president-CEO] that we were not going to succeed by changing who we are,” he said. “So, it was critically important to be who we are, but to be better at being Unbound, and [that] meant updating our methods. … There was a lot of innovation that was needed, but it all needed to be for the purpose of achieving the same goals and values that our founders taught us.”

Guided by the vision, committed to the future

In the 10 years since Bob Hentzen’s passing, Unbound has indeed evolved in its methods. Some of that innovation, like using digital communication and technology more effectively, was accelerated by the pandemic, but Unbound had already been moving in that direction, which proved invaluable during COVID-19.

Among other advancements are:

• • Conversion to electronic fund transfers. Nearly every family in the Unbound program receives their benefit funds electronically now. This was vital during the pandemic when program staff and sponsored persons were unable to meet in person.


• • Digital communication between sponsors and sponsored friends. This reduces the need for “snail mail,” which was often impractical because of inadequate postal systems in many of the countries where Unbound works. Now sponsors can conveniently go online and send secure correspondence that local program staff make sure is properly delivered.


• • Agents of Change. This platform, an alternative way to support the work of Unbound, allows individuals and groups to donate to much-needed community improvement projects initiated by Unbound parent groups. It’s been used to make infrastructure improvements, repair wells and bridges, create safer environments through the installation of streetlights, and many other community enhancements.


• • Poverty Stoplight. This is a self-assessment survey and intervention model developed by Dr. Martin Burt that Unbound is using to help families identify what poverty means for them and form their individual plans to improve their situations.

The walk continues

Perhaps the most important development over the past 10 years is the continued decentralization of Unbound programs.

Paul Pearce said Hentzen laid the groundwork for the principle around which Unbound programs are built, that those on the margins should be at the center of decisions affecting their lives. Hentzen believed that the poor and marginalized are capable of creating their own solutions and that what they need from those with means is support, not control.

Decentralization allows that to happen more holistically. The goal is to continually develop less of a hierarchical relationship — and more of a loving and respectful partnership — between the Kansas City headquarters, the local Unbound programs, and the individuals and families participating in those programs.

"Bob created an organizational culture where families, project [local program] teams and Kansas City staff could truly work and walk together to creatively envision how the program could be the most accountable and personalized for each family and person in the program," Pearce said.

This movement, Pearce said, reflects Hentzen’s true legacy, which not only continues in organizational structures and programs, but especially in the people who work closely with the families.

“I would say that if we can keep that spirit, then Bob continues on in those home visits with those social workers, with those community leaders and with the project teams,” Pearce said. “That's the continuation of Bob's walk and the continuation of his life.”