Thank you so much for being one of our most faithful, generous partners! YOU are why Hope Ministries is a growing, thriving organization that has been serving this community for 111 years! YOU are why Hope Ministries is well equipped to carry out our mission.
Below is a recap of what I shared during our Ministry Update event on Sunday afternoon, July 19. I hope you’re blessed by learning about the impact you’ve made!
New Vision Statement
Over the past several months, our Board and staff have been prayerfully discussing where we feel the Lord is leading this ministry. A vision statement is important because it defines the impact an organization hopes to achieve in the long term. It is aspirational in that sense and provides a compelling tool when speaking of the plans and dreams we have with stakeholders like you—our amazing donors—as well as staff, volunteers and community leaders.
As part of this process, I felt it was crucial for us to be aligned to a clear, compelling & aspirational vision for Hope Ministries. And I feel strongly that our new vision statement accomplishes this. So here it is…
We are a leading force in Central Iowa, lifting neighbors out of homelessness and empowering them for lasting life transformation.
I like that our vision is concise, but it still says a lot about who we are and what we aspire to do now and in the future to transform lives, and to positively impact our Central Iowa community.
Strategic Objectives
With the solid foundation of our mission, vision and core values to guide us, we’ve identified four primary areas of strategic focus that will shape our direction over the next five to seven years. I am excited to begin focusing our efforts and developing plans in each strategic area. This is a preview, with more to come in the future.
- Vocational Programming: We’ll look at enhancing our programs and services to include enhanced life skills development along with clearly defined career paths for our residents that lead to livable wage employment and long-term stability. There are clear opportunities to align our vocational programming with social enterprise initiatives as well, and exploring this will be part of our process as we build out this objective.
- Mental Health Services: We want to address a critical and growing need by increasing access to mental health care for our residents and guests who come our way, integrating mental health support with our faith-based programming. We also want to better equip our staff who work with residents, many of whom are experiencing severe and persistent mental health struggles.
- Affordable Supportive Housing: Third, we’ll look to strategically expand affordable supportive housing, building on the success of our current men’s supportive housing campus at 3333 E. University. We want to offer more transitional housing solutions for men, women, and women with children, with a focus on sustainable, supportive environments that promote transformation and long-term independent success.
- Administrative Office: Lastly, we will be evaluating our administrative office which is the only facility we currently lease rather than own. We believe establishing a long-term permanent solution for administrative space that supports the organization is good stewardship and will help as we grow in size and scope of ministry.
Life Recovery Program Enhancements
Along with similar ministries nationwide, we are encountering significant changes in the challenges our residents face. The challenges we face today are far more complicated than when I started in this line of work more than 26 years ago. They include a rise in complex trauma, escalating mental health challenges, increased synthetic drug usage and abuse, and situational homelessness.
Guided by biblical conviction, practical wisdom, and our commitment to Christ-centered life transformation, we are strengthening our programs to provide more personalized, holistic, trauma-informed care to effectively meet the needs of those coming to our doors.
Our goal is lasting life transformation—helping residents move toward sobriety, safe housing, sustainable employment, healthy relationships, and spiritual growth.
To support this, we are introducing customized educational tracks and flexible timelines, typically averaging 8 to 12 months, so each resident can grow at a pace that honors their story while still moving forward with purpose and intention. We are also placing greater emphasis on life skills development, job readiness, and strong, dependable community support networks that can sustain them long after they leave our care.
As we care for men, women and children who often carry deep wounds from trauma and face increasing mental health challenges, we are taking steps to meet them with the compassion and support they need. Every resident in our life recovery program will receive a comprehensive mental health evaluation, ensuring their journey forward is guided by a thoughtful and individualized plan. Through partnerships with Christian licensed mental health counselors and play therapists, we are able to offer onsite counseling, creating a safe space for healing, restoration and renewed hope.
Our commitment extends fully to the children in our care as well. We recognize the incredible opportunity and responsibility to speak into their lives at a formative time. Through personalized goals and intentional discipleship, we will support their spiritual, educational, emotional, and social growth.
As residents near program completion, we will be emphasizing reciprocation, or giving back—encouraging them to apply what they have learned by serving and supporting others, both on our campuses and throughout the broader community, including their church home. It is a powerful moment when those who once came seeking help begin carrying the hope of Christ to others.
We remain fully committed to serving men, women and children who need immediate help and lasting hope with excellence now and as we move forward. I’m excited about our future and about the team the Lord has assembled in this season…a team that is passionate about our mission and equipped to lead with excellence in our next chapters as a ministry.
Growth in Women and Children’s Services
As I’m sure you know, Hope Ministries is serving more women and children than ever before! We opened the doors of our 100-bed Hope Ministries Center for Women and Children in late 2024. By September of last year, we’d filled to capacity . . . and we’ve remained full ever since.
Recently, there’s been a new addition to our lawn at Hope Center . . . a beautiful new playground that is already providing fun and healthy activities for the families staying here.
Services & Finances
Finally, I want to give you a sense of our current scope of services. Every night, we have more than 260 men, women and children staying with us across three locations: at Hope Ministries Center for Women and Children, at our Bethel Mission men’s shelter and at our Door of Faith men’s life recovery center.
I mentioned our new men’s supportive housing campus a few minutes ago, and today we have 15 men living independently there, with the benefits of a safe, affordable, sober living community with like-minded men. This has filled an essential gap for these men, and we know the need exists for more of this type of housing which we are addressing in our strategic plan.
We continue to serve free, hearty breakfast, lunch and dinner every day of the year at our Hope Café, while also providing every meal for the residents of our shelters and life recovery centers. During this past fiscal year, which just ended June 30, we served a total of 258,327 meals—a 25% increase when compared to FY25!
In total we are currently serving more than 20,000 meals each month on average – that’s more than 650 meals per day – and we’re providing nearly 8,000 nights of shelter each month. These numbers are significantly higher than last year, which was higher than the year before.
So, we have a lot happening here at Hope Ministries, and your partnership makes it all possible! Thank you for faithfully equipping Hope Ministries as we serve our neighbors in need.
To continue pursuing our mission with excellence, we need annual operations gifts totaling just over $7.3 million dollars this fiscal year. I’m grateful to tell you that we remain in a very strong financial position, and that is due to you and our other faithful partners!
We are deeply grateful for you. Your prayers, generosity, and belief in this mission goes far beyond meeting needs; you are helping to give hope and change lives for eternity. Thank you for walking alongside us as we continue this work, trusting God to do immeasurably more in the lives of the men, women and children He brings to our doors.