Hope Village helps flood survivors rebuild their lives
in the name of Christ.
Hope Village
- Combines the organizational strengths of multiple faith-based organizations while allowing each to retain their unique corporate identity and disaster recovery specializations.
- Provides volunteer housing, meals and fellowship
- Assigns projects and match volunteer skills
- Supplies Village tools and equipment necessary for the job
- Serves as the central volunteer management point for the City of Minot and Ward County
The 2011 Souris Valley Flood
In June of 2011, the Souris River reached record levels, flooding communities across 30 miles of northwestern North Dakota. In the town of Minot, with a population approaching 44,000 residents, over 12,000 people were evacuated. The river flooded a quarter of the city, damaging 4,180 structures including homes, churches, schools and businesses.
Following the flood, Minot experienced a critical and uncharacteristically low number of volunteer teams from state, regional and national organizations who were willing to travel to Minot for flood assistance. The consistently cited reason for choosing to bypass Minot was the lack of adequate accommodations for volunteer housing. The end result was that area families with critical need were not being served.
Hope Village
In order to increase the number of volunteers coming to help people and to maximize the effectiveness of volunteers and volunteer agencies, Hope Village was established as a unified volunteer center. Through this partnership, approximately up to $3.2 million dollars of volunteer labor will be provided to the city of Minot. In May 2012, the area’s restoration began in full force, and the rebuilding will continue through 2013.
With the approval of the Minot City Planning Commission, Hope Village serves as the lead organization with the City of Minot for the organization and coordination of 501(c)(3), religious and other volunteer organizations serving the people of Minot. Centered through Our Savior Lutheran Church in Minot, Hope Village partners have already assisted over 900 families in the Minot area.
Our work is first with those in the community who are the most vulnerable: the poor, the disabled and those who will have the hardest time recovering. Uninsured and under-insured homeowners receive assistance in clean up, repair and rebuilding of their homes. The process of case management identifies those who are in greatest need and they will receive our help by a priority system.
