Hope Ministries will open a new 100-bed center this fall that will greatly expand the organization’s abilities to serve women experiencing homelessness in Des Moines.
The new facility has space for amenities the organization hasn’t been able to provide before. Dedicated classrooms for learning instead of couches and kitchen tables. An auditorium. An art therapy room. A fitness room and a salon. A commercial kitchen and dining room.
The design is meant to support the safety and healing of the women the organization serves, according to Chief Development Officer Kathy Coady.
As the opening of the new facility drew near, Hope Ministries recognized the need for additional funding. The organization landed on a unique idea for a philanthropy group, one where women could give back to their communities while gaining valuable experience and relationships themselves.
This led to their new group, “Empowering Women.” With 44 women already in the group, the nonprofit is looking to reach even more women ready to make an impact.
We talked with Coady about the Empowering Women group. The Q&A has been edited for clarity and brevity.
Why did Hope Ministries form Empowering Women?
We have been growing our services for homeless women and mothers with children for several years. The culmination of that effort is our new expanded center for women and children. When that’s at full capacity, we will be able to serve 100 women and mothers with children. That’s huge growth from where we are today serving 30 women and children. We need more women who are passionate about uplifting and supporting women who are working hard to transform their lives.
What does being a member of Empowering Women entail?
We are a new philanthropy group for women who want to give, serve and learn.
We’re requesting a $1,000-a-year contribution that can be given one time or in monthly increments. That’s the give part.
Serving is volunteering with us. We have specific volunteer needs at the new center that we’ve identified for Empowering Women. One of them is Count Your Blessings Boutique, where women staying with us can spend “Blessing Bucks” that they earn by reaching milestones on donated items, like a new pair of earrings. We’re also asking Empowering Women who are interested in being mentors to work on more of a one-on-one relationship basis with women. Empowering Women who enjoy arts and crafts can volunteer in the art therapy room.
The learning piece will be a couple of opportunities a year where Empowering Women can tell us what they want to learn more about. These are learning opportunities for the donor who maybe says, “I want to help women, but I don’t really understand what women deal with that brings them to a point of homelessness. How does that happen?” They’re opportunities to educate people who haven’t had that life experience.
How will this group impact the women Hope Ministries serves?
As we go from a 15,000-square-foot center and serving 30 women to a 50,000-square-foot center and serving 100 women and children, our revenue needs will be going up dramatically. The revenue from Empowering Women will support all of that work with women and children.
We will have 50 shelter beds and 50 life recovery beds. Women and moms with children can come to us and get immediate help, and all of their daily essential needs are met. Our life recovery programs have a curriculum with life skills, job training, education, spiritual growth and development, health and wellness. Women can stay in that program for up to two full years, no cost.
These are women and kids who’ve come from traumatic life circumstances in almost every case. They need safety, they need to build trust, they need time to heal and they need to work on themselves. This new space gives us great opportunities for that.
Who should join Empowering Women?
We’re looking for women who want to have and understand the personal impact that they can make on homeless women and mothers with children in our community. Women who want to be personally engaged in what’s happening. This is for women who say, “I want to make that financial contribution, but I also want some personal involvement.”
What would you tell a woman considering joining Empowering Women?
You should join a group like Empowering Women because you can make a difference in a woman’s life, and it’s not only going to change her life. It’s going to change the lives of her kids, her loved ones, her friends; it’s going to have a ripple effect that will impact generations to come. This is something much bigger than yourself that you can be a part of.
Categories: Advocacy & Community InvolvementLeadership
