Village of Hope Grand Opening Celebration!

On-Site Resident Assistant Apartment:

Family Unit 5:

Family Unit 6:

Family Unit 3:

The Baba Yagas Sang "Our Children" and "Lean on Me":

Board Member Diane Baer cuts the ribbon:

Board Members Diane Baer and Sue Snider cut the ribbon as VOH Lead Homeless Advocate Amanda Golden looks on. Amanda Golden is responsible for keeping Ours to Serve running day-to-day during the last several years and for transitioning the shelter operations to Village of Hope!!

Board Member Lois Jenkins (Black Jacket) cuts the ribbon with guests:

Lois Jenkins:

Board Members Sue and Diane cutting the ribbon with community guests as the Baba Yagas sing in the background:

VOH Executive Director Rebecca Hoffman addresses the crowd:

Sean Kaneski from Kuepers Architects and Builders addresses the crowd:

Ribbon Cutting Ceremony:

Nate King performs an honor drumming for the crowd:

Nate King:

Ribbon Cutting Ceremony:

Lois Jenkins, Board Member, offers a Village of Hope dedication:

Lois Jenkins:

Village of Hope Board President Scott Thorson welcomes the crowd:

Volunteers are the Heart and Soul of Village of Hope!

Village of Hope President, Scott Thorson, lends a hand to Appliance Moving Day!

Scott's son, Ian Thorson, hauling an upright freezer down the stairs.

Village of Hope Advocate Jeff Lamke makes "easy work" of moving big appliances!

There are volunteer jobs and then there are AWFUL volunteer jobs! Moving appliances from Ours to Serve House of Hospitality into Village of Hope in the middle of the winter definitely falls into the 'AWFUL Volunteer Jobs' category! However, these three did just that-- with smiles on their faces! Board president Scott Thorson, his son Ian Thorson, and Village of Hope Advocate Jeff Lamke moved two freezers, a washer, and a dryer out of HOH and into VOH just last week! There just aren't enough thank yous for people who are willing to do something so unglamorous for the sake of their community!

Village of Hope Receives a Sign! Literally!!

Village of Hope received its sign yesterday! Katie Culshaw of Maplewood, MN donated her artistic talents to create the new logo for Village of Hope. The logo nicely encompasses the dual themes of Village of Hope-- providing shelter in conjunction with "green" building! The sign was created and installed by Meyer Sign Co. of Bemidji and is a beautiful addition to the VOH campus!

Northwoods Woman

Check out the November-December edition of Northwoods Woman! Executive Director Rebecca Hoffman's Village of Hope journey is the featured cover story! You can pick-up Northwoods Woman throughout Minnesota. To find a copy near you go to www.northwoodswoman.com .

Appliance Day!

Board member Lois Jenkins's Serpent Green closet flooring!

Staff efficiency apartment: applicances being installed.

The staircase received carpeting this week!!!

A sturdy, heavy-duty, simple-to-use commercial washer and dryer. You could never imagine how important this equipment is to running a shelter day-to-day!!

Newly stained concrete floors in the homeless advocates' office.

Newly stained floors in the case management office!

Pantry shelving being installed.

Stainless steel three-compartment sink! (This is one of Lead Homeless Advocate Amanda's favorite features of the whole shelter!!)

Convection oven, prep area, and hood installed.

Prep area and prep sink.

Laundry room on main floor.

Dish storage cabinet.

Before the oven/stove arrived...

The delivery begins!

Kitchen appliances throughout Village of Hope were purchased locally through Naylor's.

Lead Advocate Amanda suffering through a cold fall day at her desk in Ours to Serve House of Hospitality wrapped in an afgan to stay warm.

The dining room chairs have arrived!!

The USDA Rural Development funded commercial kitchen, laundry, and staff apartment appliances for Village of Hope recently! Yesterday the equipment caravan arrived!