by Dennis Dalman
The St. Cloud-based “Place of Hope Ministries” is in the process of raising $3 million in funds for what will be known as the “Compassionate Hope Family Center.”
The fundraising effort is dubbed “Be the Hope.”
In June, a three-floor building in St. Cloud was purchased that will become the new center. Previously, Place of Hope had rented that building. It will allow Place of Hope Ministries to shelter 38 additional families and 30 more single women. Some families are on a waiting list until the center can catch up on renovations. A public open house was held at the center’s location on Nov. 21.
As of Nov. 1, more than half of the $3 million goal had been raised, a total of $1.6 million. The money will be used for renovations, programming and much more.
From its main building located along Ninth Avenue N. in St. Cloud, Place of Hope ministers to individuals and families living in central Minnesota who are experiencing homelessness and/or of needing recovery strengthened by healthy connectedness and hope. Place of Hope’s main campus center provides structured emergency and transitional living for families and for single women.
Currently, each night, Place of Hope serves 30 families, including 50 children. At the campus shelter, the overflow center and the family shelter, a total of 225 women, men and children are sheltered and fed daily.
Place of Hope had done its work out of its facility at Park Avenue S. in St. Cloud since 2023 except for a brief pause that summer, said its co-founder Pastor Carol Smith.
Smith said a major reason for homelessness are rents that people cannot afford, and many rents have continued to increase ever since the Covid pandemic struck almost five years ago, she noted.
Those who would like to contribute to Place of Hope’s “Be the Hope” fundraising campaign can write a check to “Place of Hope” and put “Be the Hope” on the check’s memo line. Then send it to Place of Hope Ministries, 511 Ninth Ave. N., St. Cloud, MN 56303.
One can also donate online at placeofhopeministries.org. On the upper left bar of the webpage, hit “Donate Now.”
If anyone has questions about more ways to donate, call Jodi at 320-203-7881.
Co-Founders
Place of Hope was founded nearly four decades ago by a married couple, Pastor Carol Jean Smith and Pastor Geary A. Smith. Both had acknowledged that many years ago they were both addicted to drugs and alcohol. Then, in 1980, their lives dramatically changed for the better when they became Christians.
“Ever since we got saved, we just felt as if we were called into the ministry,” said Pastor Carol Jean Smith.
While pastoring at the annual Sturgis Motorcycle rally in South Dakota, Pastor Geary Smith sensed a new mission from God while praying with a fellow pastor there.
“As soon as that pastor laid his hand on me and began to pray the words ‘storefront church,’ a storefront ministry came to me, and I said ‘Where God? Chicago? Minneapolis? New York?’”
As luck (and God) would have it, St. Cloud became the location for the storefront ministry, the Smiths’ dream-come-true called “Place of Hope.”
Pastors Carol Jean Smith and Geary A. Smith are the co-founders of Place of Hope, located in St. Cloud.
