For over 30 years, Bemidji’s Village of Hope has served as a shelter for families in need, but now the shelter is dealing with a crisis of its own and is seeking help in its time of need.

“We had a flood,” explained Village of Hope Executive Director Michelle Raiter. “Water was just pouring in, I mean, like a waterfall. It poured out through all the light systems, all the sprinkler systems. It flooded out all three floors, we had two to three inches of water on all three floors.”

Luckily, families residing within the shelter were escorted to safety.

“We had three families here at the time, all three we’ve housed in a hotel,” said Raiter. “So that’s where they’ll be for a little while anyway.”

The shelter itself has sustained severe water damage and will have to be closed for 3 months in order to make the necessary repairs.

“We do have insurance, thankfully that’s going to cover this, but we are still needing all the donations we can get right now,” said Raiter, “We’re going to have a very huge electric bill. We have about 30 dryers running on the floors right now, and they’ve been running for a week.”

Village of Hope is currently reaching out to the community in order to raise funds towards the rather large electric bill, and some local organizations, like the United Way of Bemidji Area, have already offered their support.

“It gives me the warm fuzzies, I think it’s just great,” explained Raiter. “You know, in a world that can be so dark sometimes, these little rays of light that come through are just amazing.”

During the three-month rebuilding period, Village of Hope will not be able to take in any families in need and will be referring them to other local shelters. For more information about Village of Hope, you can visit their website here.

By — Justin Othoudt