Red Wing, Minnesota – October 28, 2024 – At a time when individuals and households throughout Minnesota are experiencing hardships in numbers never seen before, the Open Your Heart to the Hungry and Homeless Foundation is working hard to ensure its funding reaches those in need in every corner of the state.
In its most recent Fall funding cycle, Open Your Heart to the Hungry and Homeless has granted HOPE Coalition with $7000 funding toward motel vouchers for unhoused families and individuals in Goodhue and Wabasha Counties. Through this funding HOPE Coalition can provide around 105 nights in a safe shelter while assisting people work toward their housing goals.
HOPE Coalition opened in 1990 as the Red Wing Area Coalition for Transitional Housing. In 1995 it opened its domestic violence shelter, Haven of Hope, (originally called The Women’s Center), which helps individuals and families experiencing domestic violence find safety and rebuild their lives. The following year it launched Kids Count, its program focused solely on children experiencing or witnessing violence and abuse. In 2006, it took over management of the Community Care Fund (CCF) which provides a general fund for people seeking help with basic needs. In 2023, it expanded its CCF program to include a mobile outreach unit (in which it partners with six food shelves throughout Wabasha County)that helps residents in its communities reduce transportation barriers. In addition to the above services it also provide advocacy to survivors of sexual assault in both Wabasha and Goodhue Counties.
Since 1986, the Open Your Heart Foundation has ensured that emergency shelters, food shelves and domestic violence shelters throughout Minnesota have the tools, equipment, and infrastructure necessary to best serve those in need.
Open Your Heart awards funds every three months and provides emergency support within days during a crisis. It supports programs in communities where many traditional funders do not reach – food shelves, domestic violence shelters, and homeless programs in small communities and sparsely served remote corners of the state. Through this direct support, Open Your Heart helps these organizations provide safe and dignified environments for people experiencing food and housing insecurity across Minnesota.
For more information about Open Your Heart, grantees or the grant application process visit www.oyh.org. To learn more about HOPE Coalition, visit www.hope-coalition.org.
