I am excited to share with you the latest update on our new facility project, Village of Hope! Village of Hope is a replacement/expansion development that will replace our current homeless shelter, Ours to Serve House of Hospitality. Our agency has been providing emergency shelter in Bemidji for over 20 years in an old WWII-era bungalow which is licensed for just six beds. Village of Hope will be a safe, expanded, accessible shelter facility for up to 28 homeless individuals!
As of today the Village of Hope project is in the closing department with Minnesota Housing, our primary funder (Minnesota Housing is funding $1,170,000 of the total development). Once the project has closed with MN Housing we'll be breaking ground and the construction phase will begin-- even if there is still snow on the ground! Kuepers, our architect and builder, is prepared to remove the snow from the site, heat the ground, and begin construction as soon as we receive the "green light" from Minnesota Housing!
Thanks for checking in with us, I look forward to sharing the news of our groundbreaking date in the very near future! ~Rebecca
Donor's Corner
The following donors have made Village of Hope a reality:
$1 Million +
Minnesota Housing Finance Agency
$100,000+
George W. Neilson Foundation
$50,000+
Red Lake Reservation Housing Authority
United States Department of Agriculture Rural Development
$20,000+
City of Bemidji
$10,000+
Anonymous Donor
First National Bank Bemidji Foundation
Open Your Heart to the Hungry and Homeless
Mardag Foundation
$2,500+
Community Services Block Grant American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (CSBG ARRA)
Special Recognition:
Tom and Doris Hoffman
Pam Johnson and Jerry Schoenfelder (in memory of Betty Dailey)
Cynthia and Dave Martens
Rikki Scheela
In-Kind Donations:
Beltrami County Housing Redevelopment Agency
Doug and Gloria Smart
Northwestern Surveying & Engineers
North Country Health Services
Sentenced to Service, Beltrami County
Supplies, Services, Furnishings, & Products:
Rob Yuretich of Go Ask Rob
Katie Culshaw
Quality Inn of Bemidji
The Idea Circle, Inc.
Super 8 Motel
David Kolstad
$1 Million +
Minnesota Housing Finance Agency
$100,000+
George W. Neilson Foundation
$50,000+
Red Lake Reservation Housing Authority
United States Department of Agriculture Rural Development
$20,000+
City of Bemidji
$10,000+
Anonymous Donor
First National Bank Bemidji Foundation
Open Your Heart to the Hungry and Homeless
Mardag Foundation
$2,500+
Community Services Block Grant American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (CSBG ARRA)
Special Recognition:
Tom and Doris Hoffman
Pam Johnson and Jerry Schoenfelder (in memory of Betty Dailey)
Cynthia and Dave Martens
Rikki Scheela
In-Kind Donations:
Beltrami County Housing Redevelopment Agency
Doug and Gloria Smart
Northwestern Surveying & Engineers
North Country Health Services
Sentenced to Service, Beltrami County
Supplies, Services, Furnishings, & Products:
Rob Yuretich of Go Ask Rob
Katie Culshaw
Quality Inn of Bemidji
The Idea Circle, Inc.
Super 8 Motel
David Kolstad
About Village of Hope
- Village of Hope
- Village of Hope (VOH) is a replacement/expansion emergency shelter for families experiencing homelessness in north-central Minnesota. VOH will replace Ours to Serve House of Hospitality's current shelter facility located at 416 Irvine Avenue NW downtown Bemidji, which is licensed for just six beds. Kuepers Architects and Builders was selected as our architect and general contractor because of the company’s specialization in green building projects. (However, over $235,000 of the construction project has been subcontracted to local contractors!) Village of Hope is on schedule to be the first publicly owned LEED certified building in the City of Bemidji! LEED certification is a building quality measurement that indicates that the highest standards of energy efficiency and indoor air quality have been met! Ours to Serve is building green to protect our natural resources and to keep the operating costs of Village of Hope to a minimum, thus ensuring the long-term viability of this expansion project.
