Meet Jeff Fitzgerald, Edgewood Children's Ranch's new executive director

It all began in June, when Winter Garden resident Jeff Fitzgerald’s sister-in-law, who works at Edgewood Children’s Ranch, told him the position for executive director at the faith-based nonprofit was open. 

At first he was hesitant because of the word “executive.” 

“That’s just not me, because I’m thinking they just need somebody to run numbers and run the business and analyze and all of that stuff,” Fitzgerald said. “And there are parts of that role here but that’s not the heartbeat of the role.”

However, despite his qualifications of 20 years in ministry leadership, at first Fitzgerald said “no” to the opportunity.

But God had other plans.

A few weeks later, his wife, Crystal, returned from a prayer walk.

I believe I heard the Lord say you need to apply for Edgewood, she told him.

He sent in his application.

Less than two months later, Jeff Fitzgerald arrived Aug. 5 for his first day at the helm of the Ranch.

‘A Florida guy’
Jeff Fitzgerald was born in Tampa, moved to Polk County when he was 1 and stayed there until he was 18. He went down to Lake Worth for college, where he met Crystal.

The two been married for 25 years and have two children, Josiah, 19, and Eden, 15. They moved to the Orlando area in 2000 and haven’t looked back. His wife has been teaching at The First Academy for 13 years, and her involvement has helped the family develop strong relationships with the parents, families and athletic programs there. 

“We love the people, and I’m a Florida guy, so I love living here,” Jeff Fitzgerald said. “I wouldn’t want to live anywhere else.”

It’s been great for him and his wife to raise their family in West Orange with the abundance of activities to do. He said they take the kids to state parks frequently and enjoy the beaches, but most of their free time is spent in Clearwater. Jeff Fitzgerald’s mother owns a place in Clearwater and they frequently go to get away, refresh and relax. 

“That’s like a second home to us,” he said of Clearwater.

But it’s not just the activities that keep him here. Jeff Fitzgerald also loves the amount of diversity in Central Florida. It’s filled with people who don’t look, talk and dress the same. 

“You don’t find very many people (who) are born here and (who) live here in Central Florida,” he said. “It’s a special place in the sense that you do get a lot of cultures here, which I love. I love diversity.”

Jeff Fitzgerald admitted he doesn’t miss living in South Florida because of the traffic and year-round heat, but living down there shaped the trajectory of his life. 

Injury to blessings
Growing up, Jeff Fitzgerald had one dream: to play professional baseball. 

However, in high school, he tore his rotator cuff and went through personal training to allow him to play again. He went to Warner Southern College for two more years to continue his pitching journey, but his arm never returned to its full potential. 

“I wanted to play baseball and nothing was going to stop me from doing that until I got hurt and then it’s like, ‘OK, what do I do now?’” Jeff Fitzgerald said. “My whole identity was in sports and athletics, and when that ended, I had to reevaluate. ‘What is my purpose? What am I supposed to do?’” 

That’s where his wife came in. They met in college, and that’s where his path led him to the Lord. 

“I met my wife, and I knew I needed to get my life on track,” Jeff Fitzgerald said. 

Although he attended church as a child, he didn’t have a real relationship with God. He simply just believed there was a creator of the world. 

But, that all changed from the guidance of his wife. She showed him who the real God was and His grace. 

“That’s where I took a turn towards ministry,” Jeff Fitzgerald said. “I’m a people person, I love hearing people’s stories and what makes their heart beat, and so that kind of led me into ministry.”

His journey to finding God was difficult at first. 

“I was very hard on myself,” Jeff Fitzgerald said. “I was a perfectionist — especially when I first started walking with the Lord. I felt like I had to get it right all the time, and I couldn’t mess up.”

But God is forgiving and Crystal Fitzgerald helped Jeff Fitzgerald realize that. He had to realize I was OK not to be perfect all the time; messing up is part of the journey. 

“A lot of that (perfectionism) came from my sports background, because I saw God as a coach, and I had to perform for Him, like coaches say you have to practice perfectly if you want to play and I just carried that into my relationship with the Lord,” Jeff Fitzgerald said.

Through Crystal Fitzgerlad’s guidance, he discovered who the real Jesus was, not the cultural one but the one from the gospels, he said. He slowly learned how to have grace for himself and to accept not being perfect. 

“She really steered me into showing me that this is actually who God is and her family was super loving, super accepting and just really welcomed me,” he said. “I love her family. Her family is incredible and just amazing in every way.” 

Finding God transformed his life, and it’s what led him on his journey to Edgewood. 

Courtesy photo

Road to Edgewood
Once Jeff Fitzgerald made up his mind to apply for Edgewood, he started the waiting game. 

After submitting everything, he received an email from Indiana Jordan, who runs Edgewood’s business office, saying he made it past the first cut. Then, he had a meeting with some of the board members and later was invited to tour the ranch. 

As soon as he stepped foot on the ranch, he felt a sense of awe. He met again with the board members for another interview and began the waiting game for their decision. 

Fitzgerald already had left his previous position at Crossroads Impact Church and needed a job to land for his finances. 

“We’re literally walking on faith,” he said. “We thought it went well, but we’re also at the point of our lease being renewed for our house so do we sign the lease on faith or do we go start looking for somewhere else and try to move to a different house?”

They put their faith in God’s vision and decided to extend their lease, hopeful for positive news to come. 

It did. 

Jeff Fitzgerald was hired for the role; his first day was Aug. 5. 

In just two weeks, he already has begun to pick up the responsibilities, including building relationships and the culture, that come with being the ranch’s executive director.

“My favorite moment is connecting with the kids,” he said. “There’s two kids that I’ve connected with — they’ve hit me (emotionally), and that helps with me knowing that this is where I’m supposed to be.”

Jeff Fitzgerald also said he admires the Edgewood staff. He has met the cottage parents and witnessed how they give up their lives to stay there. He feels honored to come to the ranch and be able to play a part in a larger mission. 

It is also extra special to Jeff Fitzgerald that his kids are able to help at the ranch. 

“(Eden) loves serving and she has a heart for kids,” he said. “That was a part of my interview process, like my family is bought in. They’re going to be a part of this in whatever capacity they can.”

As he takes over the role and brings his family into the mix, Jeff Fitzgerald wants to continue to change the lives of kids and families that go through the program. He said Edgewood has a great system already set up and his goal is to bring in even more funding so their mission can blossom. 

Looking into the future, he dreams of opening another Edgewood location to help more in the Greater Orlando area. 

“What goes on here needs to be multiplied so more kids can experience it, more families can be healed and that’s what I mean,” Jeff Fitzgerald said. “I’m just an impact guy. I want to make an impact on the world.”

Outgoing Executive Director Bruce Jordan 
Bruce Jordan has a deeply rooted history with Edgewood Children’s Ranch. He was a child in the program from 1985-87, and he returned to Edgewood in 2013 with his wife to become a house parent for three years. 

After stepping away to turn toward the business world, Stewart Eldridge, former executive director, died suddenly, and Edgewood wasn’t prepared. Jordan said there had been discussions about him taking over the role for a decade, but after Eldridge’s passing, he stepped in as the interim director in February 2020. 

When COVID-19 hit in March, Jordan officially became the executive director. He described it as a “mental shift” from working for a for-profit business to a nonprofit. 

“I scraped my knees so many times, because I’ve never worked in a nonprofit before, whereas Jeff has two decades of experience in nonprofit, so that’s going to serve him really well and he’s really more qualified than I was to do this,” Jordan said. 

Jordan served as the executive director for five years and he now feels it’s built up and prepared for a leadership transition. He credits a lot of the success at Edgewood to the staff and their dedication to making a difference in children’s and families’ lives. 

“I feel like we’ve accomplished a lot,” Jordan said. “I love where the ranch is right now. I’ve had a lot of good mentors and coaches in my life…. Now I have a leadership team that runs the day- to-day and has their own vision for where they want to go.” 

Given the state of the leadership team, Jordan wanted to pass along the role to someone with more experience and a vision for its future. The expected transition is going to take a couple months as Jordan passes along his wisdom and takes on a consulting role for Jeff Fitzgerald.

Jordan already has accepted a role as the vice president of marketing for Marblelife, but he’ll continue to stay connected with the Edgewood community. His wife still runs the business office at the ranch. 

“If Jeff needs something, I’m a phone call away,” Jordan said. “I don’t plan on disconnecting from the ranch. I just think it’s time for somebody more experienced, wiser and more connected in the West Orange community because it’s time for Edgewood to grow.”