Grace House of Itasca County Reopens After $2 Million Expansion

Grace House of Itasca County, a temporary homeless shelter in Grand Rapids, has officially reopened its doors after spending the last eight months working on $2 million worth of remodeling and updates.

As Itasca County’s only homeless shelter, Grace House typically serves more than 200 individuals and children each year.

Grace House was a 10-bed facility, where the residents’ rooms were all together in a large area with dividers being their only form of privacy. In early 2023, the state legislature approved $100 million for shelter capital, and Grace House executives quickly jumped on that opportunity, applying for nearly $2 million for a massive expansion.

“I saw that I had an email, so I called a couple of staff members into my room, and said, ‘I can’t look at this by myself.'” explained Ron Oleheiser, Grace House’s executive director, at a grand reopening held on May 8th. “I didn’t know what might happen. I might cry, I might laugh, whatever. When I heard we got our full funding, it was absolutely a great day.”

With this expansion, Grace House was not only able to double its bed capacity, but also add a lot more to the facility.

“This new shelter has 12 single rooms for family rooms, has created private restrooms for each and every person, and is truly a safer and more dignified place for people to stay,” said Stephanie Martin, a Minnesota Department of Human Services representative.

“Not because it was easy, not because the resources were abundant, but because it was the right thing to do,” said Patty Beech, Northeast Minnesota Continuum of Care co-coordinator.

A crowd gathered at the shelter last week to celebrate the expansion.

“Today marks not just the unveiling of bricks and mortar, but a renewal of our shared commitment to compassion, to dignity, and the belief that no one should be left behind,” said Grace House Board of Directors president Megan Hilback.

“In these extraordinarily difficult times, it represents something rare, something powerful—the unwavering compassion of a rural community and region coming together to protect its most vulnerable neighbors,” added Beech.

Some Grace House staff members spoke during the ceremony to congratulate those who made the expansion possible and to discuss how strong just a simple idea can be.

“This wasn’t always here; this wasn’t always available,” says Dustin Witkofsky, Grace House program director. “And it took a fairly small group of people with an idea to get us here, where we are today, to be able to do this and have these conversations and help the community in the way we do.”

Last year, Grace House fulfilled its mission by serving 91 people with over 2,100 bed nights, and serving over 3,200 meals.