Village of Hope receives $7,500 emergency grant from Open Your Heart to the Hungry and Homeless

BEMIDJI — At a time when individuals and households throughout Minnesota are experiencing hardships in numbers never seen before, Open Your Heart to the Hungry and Homeless Foundation is working to ensure their funding reaches those in need in every corner of the state.

In December 2022, Village of Hope experienced a flood in their facility due to a burst sprinkler pipe. Village of Hope provides safe, secure emergency housing for families with children 24/7, serving 68 families in 2022.

When the flood happened, three families had to be moved into hotels until they could find housing. Since then and while undergoing reconstruction, Village of Hope has been unable to house anyone despite receiving multiple phone calls every day from families looking for help, a release said.

With their doors reopening this March, Village of Hope quickly needed to replace their stove and beds which were destroyed during the flood but not covered by insurance.

In response, Open Your Heart to the Hungry and Homeless has granted Village of Hope with $7,500 in emergency funding to allow the shelter to reopen its doors to its most vulnerable population — unhoused families.

Since 1986, the Open Your Heart Foundation has ensured that emergency shelters, food shelves and domestic violence shelters throughout Minnesota have the tools, equipment and infrastructure necessary to best serve those in need, the release said.

Open Your Heart awards funds every three months and provides emergency support within days during a crisis. They support programs in communities where many traditional funders do not reach — food shelves, domestic violence shelters, and homeless programs in small communities and sparsely served remote corners of the state. Through this direct support, Open Your Heart helps these organizations provide safe and dignified environments for people across Minnesota.

For more information about Open Your Heart, grantees or the grant application process visit www.oyh.org. To learn more about Village of Hope, visit bemidjivillageofhope.org.