Center of Hope's Most Urgent Needs (Per Program)

Center of Hope is approaching our 25th Anniversary this July. Our mission has always been to walk alongside people to promote physical and spiritual health, and ultimately change our community one life at a time. We recognize that our hope is found in Jesus Christ alone. Out of His love for us, He came, became the atonement for our sins, and conquered death for us. Out of the love He gave us, we share this hope with the people we serve. No one is required to be a Christian to receive care from Center of Hope. However, we share our hope in Christ with them regardless because we want them to know that they matter to God. Each person we serve have innate value in the eyes of God. Each person we serve are precious to God. Each person we serve are called to live into their unique purpose of loving God and people in their own unique way. I say all this to encourage you to partner with us in our mission. Keep reading below to learn about our most urgent needs in each of our programs.

To celebrate our 25th Anniversary, we have a financial goal to raise $25,000 from now to July! Please celebrate what God has done through Center of Hope through a financial gift today HERE or via mail at 1905 E 8th Street, Sioux Falls, SD 57103. Praise God for HIS faithfulness through Center of Hope! Your contribution will help us meet our most urgent needs listed below:

Center of Hope Free Evening Clinic: Most Urgent Needs

Every Wednesday and Thursday evening rain or shine, the Center of Hope Free Evening Clinic provides care for the uninsured in Sioux Falls. We offer this service at Center of Hope to ensure no one falls between the cracks in our community in receiving medical care. Our free clinic is staffed by our Medical Director (Glenn Ridder MD), Physician Assistant or Nurse Practitioner, Registered Nurses, and Prayer Partners. Some of the common things the clinic will see are ear and upper respiratory infections, influenza, urinary tract infection, hypertension, wounds, and stomach ailments. Since merging with Destiny After Hours Clinic several years ago, we added medicine financial assistance for those who are unable to afford medicine and STI testing.

We are facing a couple of challenges. First, we are seeing a significant increase in patients. Last year at this point, we saw a total of 59 patients. This year thus far, we have seen over 130 patients! We are grateful to be available to help these patients. However, we are needing help. Specifically, we are needing more volunteer Registered Nurses and Prayer Partners. With 3-10 patients coming each night, we are needing more hands to ensure not only proper care for our patients but also safety for our staff and volunteers. Second, we are outgrowing our current space. With only one exam room, we are limited in how many people we can care for each night. There has been talk about adding another exam room within Center of Hope. However, doing so will result in extra clinic costs.

All that to say, if God is tugging on your heart to partner with us in our free evening clinic for the uninsured, please prayerfully consider either volunteering as a medical staff / Prayer Partner or consider supporting the program financially HERE to help us cover the costs of clinic expansion. If interested in volunteering, please reach out to our Nurse Manager, Mary Kaufman, via email at mary@centerofhopesf.org.

Mobile Ministry: Most Urgent Needs

We are excited to announce that we have started our new Mobile Ministry program! John Blok, our Care Center Coordinator, is heading this new venture by visiting different neighborhoods throughout Sioux Falls metro each week. Our first day of service at Dow Rummel Village and Glory House on Thursday, April 17, was a HUGE success. People were served, bicycles found new homes, and prayers were had. We are looking forward to providing care for people in all corners of Sioux Falls.

We are starting out our Mobile Ministry by offering a mobile Bike Ministry! Our services will change depending on the seasons we are in. However, we recognize that many throughout Sioux Falls are struggling financially and rely on bicycles to get them everywhere. Being mobile allows us to meet that need in all neighborhoods and create even more opportunities to share the hope we find in Christ with people in the very neighborhood they live. Our 24' trailer provides the space to meet one-on-one with guests, teach bicycle repair/safety, and offer bicycles as transportation.

Our greatest needs right now for our Mobile Ministry include 1) volunteers to assist with bicycle repair, 2) bicycle tools, and 3) financial support or Gift Cards for gas. Donations can be done securely HERE. If you want to get involved in our Mobile Ministry, please contact John Blok via email at john@centerofhopesf.org.

Sharing Christmas: Most Urgent Needs

Sharing Christmas is a collaborative effort between The Community Outreach, local businesses/churches, and Center of Hope that provides highly affordable toys for struggling families for Christmas. At our Sharing Christmas Store last year, we offered brand-new toys at 1/10th of the retail cost. 100% of the earnings from the Sharing Christmas Store gets re-invested in new toys in our community to sustain our toy supply. However, we are needing your help!

Please consider partnering with us this July for a CHRISTMAS IN JULY TOY DRIVE. This is a great opportunity for your business or church to partner with The Community Outreach and Center of Hope by purchasing new toys for struggling families while the cost of the toys is low during the summer months! Please consider scheduling this service opportunity at your church, business, or even within your own household. Toys can be dropped off at The Community Outreach or Center of Hope OR we could pick them up at your church or business after sharing about our mission!

Another option is to donate financially HERE to our Sharing Christmas program! We take seriously the requests of our donors. Where the donors want their donation to go is where the donation will go. Period! In addition to receiving toy donations from churches last year, we still needed to spend approximately $10,000 on new toys to keep our Sharing Christmas Store stocked. Even after spending those funds designated for toys, we still ran out of toys for our families. Please consider either a financial gift or leading a "Christmas In July" Toy Drive for our Sharing Christmas program!

Clothing Ministry: Most Urgent Needs

Our Clothing Ministry blesses thousands of people in our community with free clothing through clothing provisions and highly affordable clothing through our Clothing Ministry Thrift Store. In recent years, we expanded our Clothing Ministry to include all clothing instead of just winter gear items. We recognize that our guests are not looking for winter gear in the summer. To be effective stewards of our space, we expanded the Clothing Ministry, which was an excellent move. Many people transitioning out of prison, many facing homelessness, struggling single parents and their families, and many others have benefited from our Clothing Ministry.

Our most urgent need for our Clothing Ministry is for MEN'S and CHILDREN'S CLOTHING AND WINTER GEAR! During the winter months, our Coats For Kids program partners with school counselors within the Sioux Falls School District to ensure all children have the adequate winter gear needed to stay warm. That results in us going through A LOT of children's winter gear and clothing items. Also, most of the people we serve coming out of prison needing clothing and winter gear are men, which means we deplete our men's clothing items FAST. We typically have enough women's clothing items. However, we accept all clothing donations! All clothing we do not need gets forwarded to Justice For All who transports our unneeded clothing items to ministries like ours across the country. Nothing goes to waste! Please consider donating men's and children's winter gear and clothing.

Clothing and Winter Gear can be dropped off at Center of Hope Monday-Friday 9am-5pm. Our donation drop-off is on the north side of our building. Ring our doorbell and help will come to help you unload your donations.

Geared-To-Empower Bike Ministry: Most Urgent Needs

Our Bike Ministry has blessed thousands of people with reliable transportation to and from work. In addition to offering bicycles, we teach our guests how to maintain the bicycles in our Bike Ministry shop. This gives us a chance to build bonds with our guests and share the Good News of Jesus Christ. In 2020, we expanded our Bike Ministry to include whole family units instead of just serving adults. This was a good move! Since expanding our Bike Ministry, we have served many single parent and struggling households, had bicycle camps for children, and have cared for the family as a whole better. There is nothing better than praying over a whole family! We have seen a SIGNIFICANT increase in guests coming into our Bike Ministry! We are currently 68 bicycles ahead of where we were last year at this time of year! We will only get busier!

One challenge our Bike Ministry is facing is not bicycle donations but rather is volunteer help. We are receiving a good number of bicycles to repair. However, repairing each bicycle donated takes us an average of 1-5 hours per bicycle. This means, volunteers are needed to repair the bicycles we receive. Our standards in repairing the bicycles are high because our guests rely on our bicycles to get them everywhere. However, providing the best bicycle possible for our guests often takes time and effort. Consider partnering with us by becoming a Bike Mechanic volunteer! Training is included. If interested, please contact us via email at info@centerofhopesf.org.

Another challenge is financial. Before Covid-19, we bought each of our bicycle locks for approximately $1-$2 each from our manufacture. Now, we are needing to spend over $10 for a decent lock. The same goes for bicycle parts that we need to buy to restore the bicycles we get donated. If you want to donate to our Bike Ministry, you can do so HERE. Your support is crucial as we care for people.

Prison Transition Aid: Most Urgent Needs

To better serve those coming out of prison, we spend much time and effort with our guests helping them get back on their feet. Every person coming out of prison receives from Center of Hope a Prison Transition Aid backpack, clothing/winter gear, pastoral counseling, hygiene kits, and/or MORE (depending on need)! Our Prison Transition Aid backpacks include our up-to-date felony-friendly landlord and employment lists, a new Bible, encouragement letters, a Freedom Gate Church brochure, and other resources that may benefit them during their transition. With South Dakota having a high recidivism rate, we take seriously our role in walking alongside our guests to help them stay out of prison. We have learned this is a team effort!

There are ways you could help us in our Prison Transition Aid program. First, donate backpacks or funds to be used for backpacks. To be stewards of the financial gifts we receive, we aim to buy the majority of the backpacks for this program in Spring when backpacks are most affordable. Last year, we were buying new backpacks as low as $3 each! If you donate specifically for backpacks, we will honor that and will buy them in bulk when they are the most affordable. Second, you can donate items for the backpacks! Write letters of encouragement, donate Bibles, make a winter hat, and so on. If you want to include specific items in the backpacks, bring them to Center of Hope, and we will honor your request. This is a great opportunity to speak into the lives of those transitioning out of prison.