Hope House Ministries Inc
Programs and results
What we aim to solve
There are over 18,000 people living in poverty in Bowling Green, KY. That's 26% of the population of this city, not including statistics from all of Warren County and surrounding counties. With 13 years of boots-on-the-ground work in poverty alleviation in Bowling Green, the team at Hope House knows that there is no quick fix for poverty. Our organization began by providing relief in the form of food, clothing, and financial assistance, and while we still assist with some relief in crisis situations, we have learned that we must address the root causes of poverty if we want to truly change lives in our community. Hope House focuses on long-term development, recognizing that our neighbors need employment, financial management training, reliable transportation, and full life-transformation, not just physical handouts, in order to truly overcome poverty.
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
Program Living
Program Living is a Christ-centered addiction recovery program. We believe that helping a person achieve whole-life transformation through spiritual, physical, emotional, and educational development is the best way to help them overcome addiction and live a restored life. We offer a 12-month, residential men's program and a women's program.
Jobs for Life
Jobs for Life is an 8-week course helping to break the cycles of poverty through the power of work. Along with Biblical principles of work, students learn to interact with local business leaders in business roundtables and mock interviews, as well as learn about resume, interviewing and networking skills.
Faith & Finances
Faith & Finances is a 12-week class which addresses the financial challenges that low-income individuals face and helps them rediscover their God-given dignity. Participants learn the key principles of managing money, like expense tracking, budgeting, and saving.
24/7 Dad
24/7 Dad is a 12-week course that supports the growth and development of fathers as caring, compassionate people through Biblical principles and practical skills for fatherhood.
Driver Ready Program
Graduates of Faith & Finances can pre-qualify to purchase a vehicle through our Driver Ready Program at income-based payments with no-interest financing.
Ready to Work Shuttle
Our Ready to Work Shuttle provides affordable transportation six days a week during all three shifts for those in our community who are employed at North Warren Transpark or South Industrial Park. This service provides transportation to nearly 30 companies at these two locations.
Affordable Christmas
Affordable Christmas empowers low-income families with the opportunity to purchase gifts at one-tenth of the retail value. This allows parents to purchase gifts for their children while maintaining their dignity as providers for their families.
Where we work
Affiliations & memberships
Bowling Green Chamber of Commerce 2020
Bowling Green Chamber of Commerce 2021
CityGate Network of Nonprofits 2021
External reviews
Our results
How does this organization measure their results? It's a hard question but an important one.
Number of program graduates
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Substance abusers, Economically disadvantaged people, Incarcerated people, Veterans, Victims of crime and abuse
Related Program
Program Living
Type of Metric
Outcome - describing the effects on people or issues
Direction of Success
Holding steady
Context Notes
12 month addiction recovery program graduates during each fiscal year
Number of children served by Christmas program
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Children and youth, Parents, Economically disadvantaged people
Related Program
Affordable Christmas
Type of Metric
Outcome - describing the effects on people or issues
Direction of Success
Holding steady
Context Notes
children received gifts on Christmas morning from their parents through Affordable Christmas
Number of clients who have access to transportation to job site
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Work status and occupations, Economically disadvantaged people, Incarcerated people, Adults
Related Program
Ready to Work Shuttle
Type of Metric
Outcome - describing the effects on people or issues
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
employees participated in our Ready to Work Shuttle for affordable and reliable transportation to work
Number of free registrants to classes
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Adults, Parents, Economically disadvantaged people, Incarcerated people, Unemployed people
Related Program
Jobs for Life
Type of Metric
Outcome - describing the effects on people or issues
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
participants who graduated our development classes, Jobs for Life, Faith & Finances, and parenting classes
Goals & Strategy
Learn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.
Charting impact
Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.
What is the organization aiming to accomplish?
The mission of Hope House is to alleviate physical and spiritual poverty through gospel restoration. We seek to provide opportunities for our neighbors in Bowling Green and the surrounding area to use the skills and talents God has given them to improve their situations and live fulfilling lives as loving parents and spouses, productive employees, contributing members of society, and generous individuals who bless others. Ultimately, our goal is to help lower the poverty rate in Bowling Green one person at a time.
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
Hope House focuses on long-term development as our primary strategy for poverty alleviation. We offer development classes to provide job skills and financial management training. For those who graduate Faith & Finances, our financial management class, we offer a car purchasing program with no-interest financing and income-based payments. As transportation is a major roadblock that keeps many people in our community from securing employment, we also offer a shuttle that travels to two industrial centers in Bowling Green for all shifts, six days a week. One of our most extensive programs is a 12-month, gospel-centered addiction recovery program for men called Program Living. Program Living provides a phased approach to addiction recovery and focuses on the mental, physical, spiritual and emotional development of our residents. Men in the program participate in our development classes, as well as many other educational courses and Bible study; they participate in Crossfit classes throughout the week and complete a 5K race during their year with us; they attend a local church for Sunday service and weekly Bible studies; and they receive counseling from our on-site Program Living Counseling Coordinator and other local counselors. We will soon launch Program Living for Women, which will be similarly structured to Program Living for Men. Our Christmas program, Affordable Christmas, allows parents to purchase gifts for their children at one-tenth of the retail value, wrap them on-site, and give the gifts to their children on Christmas day; providing an opportunity for parents to provide for their own families.
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
Hope House has countless success stories to tell of individuals who completed one or many of our programs and experienced restoration in their lives as they took steps toward overcoming poverty. You can read some of these stories at www.hopehousebg.com/why. With ten years of experience working to alleviate poverty in our community, our team at Hope House is well-equipped to continue this work and grow the ministries of Hope House to reach more neighbors in need. As we have grown tremendously in the last few years, we will be building a larger ministry center to house the majority of our services this year, as well as a new 27-bed facility to house Program Living for Women. We have already planned to hire additional staff and increase our operating budget to accommodate the additional expenses that will come with expanding our ministries.
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
Since Hope House began in 2009, our ministries have grown from simply providing food, clothing, and financial assistance to our neighbors, to walking with them through the process of poverty alleviation and gospel restoration to see their lives fully transformed. As previously described, Hope House comes alongside our neighbors through a variety of classes and programs, which all have the goal of helping individuals secure employment and ultimately overcome poverty. Since we began providing development classes in 2012, 548 individuals have graduated from these classes, which provide them with the knowledge, training, and support necessary to secure employment and manage their finances. Additionally, since we launched Program Living for Men in 2015, we have graduated 56 men from the 12-month program and seen them released from addiction and restored in their relationships with spouses and families. Last year, 1,126 children received Christmas gifts from their parents as a result of Affordable Christmas. We launched Program Living for Women in March 2022, and we will build a new ministry center to allow for continued growth of our existing ministries. Program Living for Women houses up to 27 women at a time who are struggling with addiction, incarceration, and for many, abusive situations. We're hopeful for the lives that will be restored through our existing programs, as well as future programs, in the years to come.
How we listen
Seeking feedback from people served makes programs more responsive and effective. Here’s how this organization is listening.
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How is your organization using feedback from the people you serve?
To identify and remedy poor client service experiences, To make fundamental changes to our programs and/or operations, To inform the development of new programs/projects, To strengthen relationships with the people we serve, To understand people's needs and how we can help them achieve their goals
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Which of the following feedback practices does your organization routinely carry out?
We look for patterns in feedback based on people’s interactions with us (e.g., site, frequency of service, etc.), We act on the feedback we receive, We ask the people who gave us feedback how well they think we responded
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What challenges does the organization face when collecting feedback?
Staff find it hard to prioritize feedback collection and review due to lack of time
Financials
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Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
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- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
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Connect with nonprofit leaders
SubscribeBuild relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.
Hope House Ministries Inc
Board of directorsas of 10/10/2023
Jon Crosby
Connie Bratcher
Mary Kay
Linda Krutza
Retired
David Tooley
First Baptist Church
Angie Hodnett
Retired
Carolyn Price
Retired
David Mantlo
ISTT
Manon Pardue
Retired
Jon Crosby
Mortgage Recruiting
Mark Biggs
Biggs Financial Group
Benjie Harmon
Rich Pond Baptist Church
Board leadership practices
GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.
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Board orientation and education
Does the board conduct a formal orientation for new board members and require all board members to sign a written agreement regarding their roles, responsibilities, and expectations? Yes -
CEO oversight
Has the board conducted a formal, written assessment of the chief executive within the past year ? Yes -
Ethics and transparency
Have the board and senior staff reviewed the conflict-of-interest policy and completed and signed disclosure statements in the past year? Not applicable -
Board composition
Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership? Yes -
Board performance
Has the board conducted a formal, written self-assessment of its performance within the past three years? No
Organizational demographics
Who works and leads organizations that serve our diverse communities? Candid partnered with CHANGE Philanthropy on this demographic section.
Leadership
The organization's leader identifies as:
Race & ethnicity
Gender identity
Transgender Identity
Sexual orientation
Disability
We do not display disability information for organizations with fewer than 15 staff.
Equity strategies
Last updated: 07/28/2023GuideStar partnered with Equity in the Center - an organization that works to shift mindsets, practices, and systems to increase racial equity - to create this section. Learn more
- We ask team members to identify racial disparities in their programs and / or portfolios.
- We employ non-traditional ways of gathering feedback on programs and trainings, which may include interviews, roundtables, and external reviews with/by community stakeholders.
- We engage everyone, from the board to staff levels of the organization, in race equity work and ensure that individuals understand their roles in creating culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.