Hope Ministries

Anytime we gather as a staff to celebrate an employee anniversary, it’s a special time—but it was extra meaningful for all involved last week when we gathered to celebrate the 30th anniversary of our CEO Leon Negen!

Leon came to work for Bethel Mission in 1994 when there was only a team of four employees! He led Bethel Mission through the merger with the Door of Faith in 2000 that formed Hope Ministries and became our President/CEO at that time. He’s been with Hope Ministries through so many major milestones—like the opening of our new Door of Faith location in 2003, the opening of our Hope Center for Women and Children in 2004, the addition of our Hope Ministries Thrift operations, and our campaign to build a new 100-bed center for women and children (opening this fall!).

Staff members had so many uplifting things to say about Leon during last week’s celebration. They mentioned his strong faith; his love for his wife, kids and grandkids; his steady leadership and integrity; his humility; and his friendship. Our Board of Directors presented Leon with a plaque filled with photos from his three decades of service.

We’re so grateful for Leon’s many years of faithful service. Please join us in congratulating him for this wonderful milestone!

Men from our Door of Faith long-term life recovery program joined our case manager Pat for a service activity volunteering with Habitat for Humanity. Together men spent an afternoon working on a family home. Volunteer opportunities provide men the opportunity to use practical skills and serve within our community.

"I really enjoy doing this. I never have a problem finding men who want to volunteer. They are eager to serve and have it on their hearts to help people." –Pat Barnes, case manager.

Today we are celebrating the generosity of our friends at the Gloria Dei Church women's mission league. Their women's mission league hosted a bake sale fundraiser and brought in a total of $1,000 to donate to Hope Ministries. We are so grateful for their thoughtfulness and support to provide free meals and safe refuge to our community.

Our wonderful friends at Hope Lutheran Church have donated beautifully crafted quilts to drape the 50 long-term life recovery beds at our Hope Ministries Center for Women and Children. We are so grateful for their thoughtfulness as they have also taken the extra step to coordinate color scheme of each quilt to compliment the building design and aesthetic. Thank you Hope Lutheran Church!

Staff from across our ministry centers had a wonderful time bowling last weekend! This was organized by HR department and it was a great opportunity just to get together and fellowship. With staff working at multiple locations around Des Moines, we don’t always get to be in one place at one time!

Our team is blessed to be supported by leadership that understands the importance of encouragement and respite among its employees.

"A Special Kind of Love" a freehand drawing by Kevin, a long-term life recovery resident.

Kevin shared that inspiration for his art comes from combining ordinary objects, like a heart and a rose, to create interest.

School is just around the corner for the kids who are staying with their mom's at our Hope Center for Women and Children. Each year our friends in the Pathfinders group at Vally Church collect the essential back to school items children need to be well equipped in the classroom. Their donation of supplies helps our team ensure the kids will have access to the needed items from their first to last day of the school year. Thank you Vally Church!

The TLC quilting group in Algona has graciously agreed to provide the quilts for the same-day check in at our new Hope Ministries Center for Women and Children. Their team is hard at work making the quilts that will be on the 50 beds for the women and mothers with children who are in need of same-day shelter.

Join us as we celebrate Chuck’s 10-year anniversary at Hope Ministries!

Staff gathered to celebrate Chuck and the blessing he is to the ministry. Chuck serves as our maintenance and custodial assistant at the Door of Faith, our men’s long-term life recovery center. His co-workers spoke to the heart and high level of care that is so evident in the work Chuck does. He is known among his team as the “right-hand man” and takes initiative in his work to make sure all things are running smoothly. Through his work, he provides dignity to our residents and he rolls out the welcome mat to any guests who walk into our building.

Chuck shared that “God didn’t save us halfway, He did it full on and that’s how I believe He wants me to serve.”

Pictured, President Cole Lindholm and Chuck M.

Hey guys! Our Hope Center for women and children is currently in need of the following items: HE laundry detergent, toilet paper, paper towels and baby wipes. Items can be delivered to our administration office at 5075 E University in Pleasant Hill, Monday-Friday 8 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. For additional questions please feel free to contact Leslie at [email protected].

🌟 Join the Team & Make a Difference! 🌟

At Hope Ministries, our mission is clear: To rescue those who are homeless, hungry, abused, or addicted, providing opportunities for hope, recovery, and restoration through the love of Jesus Christ.

Are you looking for a meaningful career where you can make a positive impact on the lives of those in need? We have several exciting job opportunities available including:

🔹 FT Director of Men's Ministries
🔹 FT Substance Abuse & Addictions Counselor (CADC or IADC)
🔹 PT Stewardship & Events Specialist
🔹 PT Weekend Program Services Coordinator ( BFOQ Female)
🔹 FT Cook

For more details you can view our job postings here: https://www.hopeiowa.org/contact/employment/

To apply send your resume and cover letter to Alexis at [email protected]
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We are so grateful for the donors and volunteers at Meet the mission, meat the need today! We are so blessed by your generosity and support.

We’re here for another hour! “Meat” the need with your donation of ground beef, pork or hot dogs. We’ve been so blessed by the donations we’ve seen coming in, including the We Care Kits from the youth group at Calvary Apostolic Church.

We’ve had some donors stop by and meet the need!

Meet the mission, meat the need is a great family event to teach your kids more about homelessness in a safe and constructive environment. Our team will be here until noon.

Our volunteers are set up inside our Bethel Mission (1310 6th Ave.) ready to receive your donations of ground beef, beef, pork and hot dogs! Join us from 10 a.m to noon to take a tour, assemble a hygiene kit, see our Hope Cafè lunch in process (and eat if you’d like.)

We are so excited to see more details coming together in preparation for the opening of our new center for women and children... including generous donations like the pillows we received from our friends at Rising Sun Church! We are so incredibly grateful for all of the support of friends and partners as we seek to expand our services to women and mothers with children in our community.

Our team at Hope Café is joined by staff and residents from Sober Soldierz each month to serve meals and encouragement to residents and community meal guests!

We currently have open group volunteer opportunities at our Hope Café. Visit the link for more information and to register to reserve your spot!

https://www.hopeiowa.org/get-involved/volunteer/

The congregation at Altoona Christian Church assembled and donated 69 hygiene kits—we call them We Care Kits—for women who visit our Hope Ministries Drop-in Center! These kits are filled with shampoo, conditioner, soap and other items that are a blessing to women from the community who visit our drop-in center and make use of our free shower facilities. Thank you, Altoona Christian Church!

Join us as we celebrate our newest life recovery graduates: Calvin (center right) and Ben (far right)! Calvin and Ben are pictured here with a few members of our Fraternity of Hope Alumni.

We are so incredibly proud of the hard work and dedication these two men have put into their recovery. Through case management, work skills training and more, Calvin and Ben have applied themselves to life transformation!

One of the things Calvin learned during his time in our program is that the calamity he’s experienced in his life became a trigger for his addiction. “But my biggest struggle along the way was actually getting out of my own way,” he said. “I’ve learned that I’ve got to let go of the world and start living on God’s terms. I may be 74 but I still need to know how to function in this world.”

Ben concluded the program by sharing, “This isn’t the end for me. I’ve only just reached cruising altitude and can start living my life, but I have to keep working on my recovery. It doesn’t stop.”

Please join us in the comments to celebrate and encourage Calvin and Ben as they begin a new chapter in their journey.

Our wonderful friends and partners at Gloria Dei Church continue their Summer of Service inside our ministry centers! Their congregation has served in small groups at our Hope Ministries Thrift stores sorting donations and at our Hope Café serving meals to our residents and community meal guests.

Earlier this week we celebrated Terri’s 10-year anniversary here at Hope Ministries!

Terri is a donor relations coordinator on our development team, and it’s possible that if you’ve ever called our offices to donate or ask a question about donating, you may have talked to her. During the celebration, Terri’s coworkers described her as a loyal, tenacious, hospitable person who makes work fun! She rarely, if ever, is faced with a problem she can’t solve and is known for being the person to quietly tap you on the shoulder to remember an important celebratory occasion… or for making up a reason to celebrate just for fun!

Terri is a wonderful team member, and we are so incredibly grateful to have her here!

Three times a week the Mobile Integrated Healthcare Unit from the Des Moines Fire Department sets up a station inside our Hope Café to connect with residents and community meal guests. Through this partnership we are able to provide proactive and preventative healthcare to the residents at Bethel Mission and the community meal guests at Hope Café.

The youth group from College United Methodist Church, located in Kansas, traveled to Des Moines in coordination with Urban Plunge, a mission experience serving with partner missions like ours! The youth participated in our Hope Experience and received a tour of our Bethel Mission, heard a testimony from a current life recovery resident and made 100 laundry pod packets with encouraging notes that will be provided to the men in our care.

❤️🤍💙

Our Hope Center for women and children received a lovely gift from Carly, a Pampered Chef representative, who collected more than $250 dollars of kitchen essentials to donate to our women's ministry center.

This week is Spiritual Renewal Week at the Door of Faith, our men's long-term life recovery facility.

Yesterday the men had a cook out at Easter Lake and spent the day swimming, fishing, kayaking and playing lawn games. We are grateful for your continued prayers to uplift and encourage men as they dig deeper into their faith and their journey to recovery.