Born in Chicago, Dr. Patricia Van Pelt is an evangelist, author, entrepreneur, overcomer, and an Illinois State Senator.
Patricia grew up in Chicagos notorious Cabrini Green Projects in a single-...view moreBorn in Chicago, Dr. Patricia Van Pelt is an evangelist, author, entrepreneur, overcomer, and an Illinois State Senator.
Patricia grew up in Chicagos notorious Cabrini Green Projects in a single-parent home, along with her six siblings. At age ten, being influenced by her mothers civil rights work and the tumultuous unrest of the 1960s, Patricia felt a calling to help people overcome struggles associated with discrimination and marginalization. However, by age fifteen, she had dropped out of school, and her life began to take a downward spiral into drugs, despair, and delinquency.
In 1978, Patricia answered the call of God. Within a few short years, it was clear that God had given her a heart for the people and an anointed gift for speaking. Subsequently, she was ordained an evangelist. Since then, Patricia has traveled around the world, preaching the Gospel, helping to establish churches under the leadership of her pastor.
Later she went back to school, studied the philosophy of social movements, and continued until she completed a doctorate degree. After that, Dr. Van Pelt traveled around the world, helping parishioners, public officials, and other leaders learn how to organize and mobilize people to overcome challenges associated with unfairness and injustice.
That journey led Dr. Patricia Van Pelt into the political arena. Currently, Patricia Van Pelt, PhD, is an Illinois State Senator. Thus far, she has served two terms. Notwithstanding, she remains active in the ministry of Jesus Christ and continues to work toward helping people overcome the challenges of living for God in a secular-based world.view less