Job Skills Training

Vijay Jacob serves as the Executive Director of River City Hope Street (RCHS), a Christian non-profit established in 1999 and currently located in Cedar Park, TX. River City Hope Street’s mission is to break the cycle of poverty by opening doors to brighter futures through low-cost, faith-based adult education, job skills training, and mentoring for unemployed and underemployed adults in Williamson and Travis County. River City Hope Street (RCHS) is nationally affiliated and certified by CHRISTIAN WOMEN’S JOB CORPS (CWJC®) and CHRISTIAN MEN’S JOB CORPS (CMJC®) ministries which serves thousands of individuals through more than 200 registered sites in 45 states and in five countries. Currently RCHS offers ESL, GED Tutoring, Computer Literacy, and Plumber courses and is looking to restart its Career Clothing Closet, Career Readiness (Job Search, Resume, Interview) and Electrician courses in 2022. Vijay believes everyone deserves the opportunity to build a brighter future for themselves and their family and to have access to excellent low-cost training and a supportive community to help them reach their full potential. Together with his wife, Laura, who serves as the site coordinator, they are passionate about inviting local church and community partners to join them in building the futures of our family, friends and neighbors. Prior to RCHS, Vijay spent over 13 years working with international students both as an International Student Advisor at UT Austin and as an Assistant Director of the International Office at Azusa Pacific University. He excels at developing leaders, teams, and cultivating a transforming community. His life mission is to believe the best, bring out the best, and build the best. Vijay holds a M.Div from Fuller Seminary (2008; Pasadena, CA) and a B.A. in Biology from Southwestern University (2004; Georgetown Texas). His parents are originally from Srilanka, but he was born in Kenya and spent the first 11 years of his life there before his family immigrated to the U.S. and settled in Houston Texas in the 1990’s. He has been married to Laura since 2009 and has two children, Jayden (6) and Julia (4). He plays the drums, relishes the challenge of hills and stairs, is a coffee addict, and loves breakfast. As a curious person, Vijay enjoys learning about people's stories and experiences and meeting people from around the world. He has traveled to over a dozen countries outside the U.S. Most recently, his family has embarked on a mission to explore the various Texas State parks. He loves to share the story of how he got his name, so feel free to ask!