Hope Ministries

We are so excited to celebrate another educational milestone at our Hope Center for Women and Children! Kelsey has been studying hard to earn her CDL. She has recently graduated from Des Moines Area Community College where she has been taking classes to become a commercial vehicle operator and has since earned her commercial drivers license. We are so proud of Kelsey for the hard work and dedication she has displayed throughout this process. Please join us in the comments to congratulate Kelsey and pray for her as she starts a new career.

Anna has been hard at work this last year studying to earn her high school equivalency diploma (HiSET). With that accomplishment checked off the list, she has since started classes at DMACC to work towards becoming a paramedic! We are so incredibly proud of Anna and the hard work, dedication and persistence she has displayed to her continued learning, growth and personal aspirations.

If you would like a meaningful career making an impact and helping men transform their lives, we invite you to check out our full-time Director of Men’s Ministries position. For more details visit our website at hopeiowa.org. To apply send your cover letter and resume to Alexis at ahernandez@hopeiowa.org

We are so blessed to have been awarded a generous gift from Sammons Financial Group Companies Group toward our i58 Sponsorship Program! As i58 Sponsors, donors can choose to sponsor a bed at Bethel Mission or a room at our Hope Ministries Center for Women and Children. With their generous gift of $7,000, Sammons Financial is sponsoring a eight-bed dorm room for women at our new Hope Ministries Center for Women and Children and two beds at our Bethel Mission men’s shelter!    Thank you, Sammons Financial Group, for providing safe shelter, rest and restoration to our hurting neighbors!

Join the team and 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 lives of Jesus Christ. If you would like a meaningful career making an impact and helping men transform their lives, we invite you to check out our full-time Director of Men’s Ministries position. For more details visit our website https://lnkd.in/gGdKXT5w To apply send your cover letter and resume to Alexis at ahernandez@hopeiowa.org

This Labor Day we are celebrating the hard work being done throughout Hope Ministries. Each week around 100 men and women are participating in 40-45 hours of work skills training, classes, substance abuse counseling and more as they seek to transform their lives. As residents get closer to completing the life recovery program, they will begin working part– or full-time jobs. We also have an amazing network of about 300 high-impact volunteers serving throughout our ministry. Our volunteers have dedicated around 6,800 hours of service this year to care for the community and serve the men, women and children staying with us. Employed across seven ministry centers in Des Moines are 81 employees who have been called into direct service to provide opportunities for healing, hope and restoration through the love of Jesus Christ. Together with your generous support we are able to be the hands and feet of Jesus serving and loving each person that enters our doors. Thank you for making our work possible, for we are co-workers in God’s service… (1 Corinthians 3:9)

Recently our development team spent part of their morning serving at our Hope Ministries Thrift stores. Together they shelved items, processed donations and prepared clothing to be placed on the floor racks. It is a wonderful blessing to serve in other areas of ministry, connect with staff, residents and donors, and to see firsthand the impact that is being made in the community each day!

We recently had the joy of celebrating another “Hope-iversary” here at Hope Ministries! We gathered to celebrate Kathy Coady on her 10-year milestone as our chief development officer! In her decade of service at Hope Ministries, Kathy has become a beloved member of our leadership team. She has a big job, leading our development team and overseeing all our fundraising, communications, community relations and volunteering efforts. CEO Leon Negen called her our “fundraising extraordinaire.” During our celebration, our staff members spoke to how Kathy nurtures and empowers her team, her high level of professionalism and her ability to make any situation fun. We’re so grateful for her presence at Hope Ministries, and we hope you’ll join us in offering her a big “congrats!” for her ten years of leadership! 

Earlier this month, our staff gathered to celebrate Dwight Long and his retirement from Hope Ministries. It was an emotional occasion—we’re incredibly happy for him, but sad for ourselves! Dwight has been an integral part of our ministry since 2010, serving as our director of men’s ministry. In his role, he oversaw both our Bethel Mission and Door of Faith ministry centers and led all our men’s programming. His faithful service and leadership have been a blessing to all of us who have worked alongside him and to the many men who’ve come through our doors in the past 14 years. Dwight will be dearly missed, but we are so excited to support him in his new chapter. Please join us in congratulating him!

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!