Recent E-Newsletters

On Friday, February 18, Hospitality House celebrated Black History Night! Our students showcased a variety of their talents honoring Black history and culture. From a reading of the poem “The Miracle Friendship” by Maya Angelou to the singing of the “National Black Anthem” along with a video of the I Have A Dream speech our students exuded pride, excellence and respect for their heritage and for being children of God. A special video tribute to Dr. Foster was made during the celebration as Black History Night was always one of her favorite events with the students and staff. Thank you Dr. Foster for all you did for nurturing and developing the youth and the ULC program at Hospitality House. Thank you to all staff and board members who made the event possible. Without your help, time and dedication the success of the evening would not have been possible. The Black History Night program can be viewed here. The students decorated the classroom doors to honor notable Black History figures in the different areas of sports, entertainment, education, science and music to name a few. Donate to Hospitality House FINANCIAL LITERACY CLASS On Thursday, February 3, our students had their second

“Intelligence plus character – that is the goal of true education” This quote by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. summarizes all that we are working to accomplish at Hospitality House by instilling good character development and spirituality through the love of Jesus Christ that all are created equal in His image and likeness. This month our spiritual development Bible verse is Proverbs 12:1 “Whoever loves discipline loves knowledge, but whoever hates correction is ‘foolish’.” This thought provoking verse is a good reminder for each one of us to take a moment of self-reflection to see how God invites us to become closer with Him through discipline, knowledge and correction. The new year is a wonderful time to begin on this journey! Donate to Hospitality House SCHEELS WINNER In December 2021 Hospitality House received a $1000 gift from SCHEELS. We are very grateful for their gift and their support of Hospitality House. We had the opportunity to visit their store to receive the check along with taking a photo with their staff. Representing Hospitality House is Rev. Hunter, Mike Burns of the Development Committee and Nancy Wurm. STAFF HIGHLIGHT Hospitality House welcomes Payton Bowdry! Payton is a sixth grade teacher and

CHRISTMAS WITH DIGNITY Making Spirits Bright! Our Christmas with Dignity event took place on Friday, December 10. We served over 375 families and 1,100 kids. Our hearts are filled with joy for all who donated toys, gift cards, and for those who volunteered to make this event happen. We are forever grateful. To learn more about Christmas with Dignity please watch our video. Merry Christmas! HOLIDAY GIFTS FOR OUR STUDENTS Our students received Christmas presents from The Starland Charities. Thank you so much for your generosity. Our students feel blessed! STAFF HIGHLIGHT As our vision statement reads, our desire at Hospitality House is to help our youth and families overcome by opening doors of opportunity. Nick Mingo knows what is it like to overcome and gives credit to God. He has been in our program since he was seven and is now 19. He has six brothers who all attended HH too! With help from teachers at his high school Nick recently earned his high school diploma this summer after completing several incomplete items and handling some difficult disappointments. This fall Nick started school at Normandale Community College. He is going against the grain as a lot of his peers

CHRISTMAS WITH DIGNITYMAKING SPIRITS BRIGHT! The holidays can sometimes seem overwhelming and Christmas With Dignity strives to make every effort to ease the burden of the families in the community we serve. Since 1993 we have been so blessed by God to make this special event happen every Christmas. We closed registration for this year with nearly 400 families, which amounts to over 1,100 kids. This is by far our largest group! With the shortage of toys this Christmas season and COVID still very prevalent we are planning a format change to our traditional holiday shop. Your donations of toys, gift cards or a cash donation is needed now more than ever. If you would like to make a donation please drop the items at Hospitality House December 7, 8, or 9 from 9 a.m. – 4 p.m. We are still in need of volunteers, and like most the urge to give back during the holidays is something God calls us to do. If you are interested in getting involved, please contact Paula Larsen. We so graciously appreciate your support of the children and families during the holiday season! Contact Paula Larsen Board Member paualannelarsen@gmail.com or Call the Christmas With

URBAN LEARNING CENTER UNDERWAYOur doors opened with excitement as we welcome back enthusiastic students to our after school Urban Learning Center for additional assistance in math and reading. With reduced numbers due to the pandemic we are at full capacity with 100 students! We are also happy to announce we have revised our Teen Program to include activities and programs for them to grow in their Christian faith and provide fun activities and events for them to explore their passions and skills. These activities include art classes, college visits, youth development workshops, along with Biblical studies. Hospitality House is very blessed to be thriving in this new school year. FALL BANQUET“Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.”Ephesians 4:3 We are excited to invite you to our annual Fall Banquet on Sunday, October 24 and for our event to be live and in person! This year’s guest speaker is Pastor Brian C. Herron Sr., he is the Senior Pastor at Zion Baptist Church in North Minneapolis. Pastor Herron is active in the community and an advocate for Justice and Racial Reconciliation. Please join us and our captivating speaker for this special fundraising event.

“Behold I Set Before Thee an Open Door.”Revelation 3:8 An open door is what the late Woody Larson created with his station wagon, a baseball bat and ball when he began to reach out to the youth in North Minneapolis. He used his love of baseball as a way to connect with the youth and teach them about Jesus Christ. Now 61 years later Hospitality House is thrilled to be celebrating what Woody started and all we have accomplished to increase academic achievement and improve the community in North Minneapolis. We are excited to invite our community of past and present volunteers, board members, staff, athletes and alumni to attend the 60th Anniversary Celebration. ALUMNI OPEN HOUSEHospitality House Youth Development1220 Logan Ave. N.Minneapolis, MN 55411Saturday, September 18, 20211PM-5PM WOMEN’S LUNCHEONAMAZING! We continue to see the blessings from our community. Working Together for Good – the theme for our 3rd Annual Women’s Luncheon brought together many new and familiar supporters for us to learn more about how we inspire, encourage and develop the youth of North Minneapolis that we serve. If you were unable to attend our Women’s Luncheon, you can still access the touching and heartfelt speeches by Katie Wall

“And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.”Romans 8:28 NKJV WORKING TOGETHER FOR GOOD inspires our teachers to help our students to be their best and achieve their dreams. Serving as a place of hope and by teaching core values based on principles of good character, faith in God, and belief in yourself, our Christian focused approach strives to build young leaders within the community of North Minneapolis. Please join us for our Women’s Luncheon to learn more about all the wonderful things we are doing to create an inspiring and uplifting atmosphere for our students. Women’s LuncheonMinikahda Country Club3205 Excelsior Blvd, Minneapolis, MN 55416Wednesday, August 18, 2021 11:30AMRSVP: Nancy Wurm nwurm@hhyd.org or 612.522.4485 ext. 13SUMMER SPOT Building trust, communication skills, and learning their leadership styles is what our 4th-9th grade students learned at Base Camp located at Fort Snelling on July 8th. The younger students participated in various group activities where they worked together to communicate and accomplish difficult tasks such as the low ropes course. The students also learned the basics of archery and had the opportunity to challenge themselves while

“Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity.” 1 Tim 4:12 Our Summer Spot program began June 21 and we are excited to have 92 registered students K-9th grade this summer! We are so blessed to have our doors reopened post-COVID. Over the next eight weeks our teachers will be working with the students on academics, taking field trips and working on their character development by going over the virtues taught in 1 Tim 4:12. Follow us on Facebook and Instagram for fun weekly updates! Academic UpdateWe are so proud of all the academic accomplishments and improvements that our students made over the course of the 2020-2021 school year. The pre and post-test scores show that by participating in our afterschool programs there was a 28% combined overall growth for reading and math and 42% overall at grade level. Business BreakfastOn June 3 we had our Business Breakfast at Edina Country Club. Thank you to all who attended to help make this event a success as we reached our $175,000 goal! How truly amazing! We are grateful for your

Praying for our CommunityHospitality House Youth Development is in daily prayer for our community and we invite you to join us. In the midst of the present day challenges and community unrest, we firmly believe that Prayer is our greatest weapon, and that God is still in control. He is the same today as He was yesterday and forever more. Amen! The following Bible verses are good reminders, and are still true today: Micah 6:8“What does God require of you, O man? To act justly, to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God”. 2 Chronicles 7:14“If My people, who are called by My name, will humble themselves, and pray, and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways; then I will hear from heaven, I will forgive their sins and restore their land”. We seek God’s Mercy, Grace, and Peace.Free Ham GiveawayOn March 25, we were joined by Minnesota Vikings Fullback CJ Ham and MPD Officer Dillard to give away free hams from HyVee. We had a wonderful turnout on a beautiful day and continue to love serving our community. Over 300 hams were given out to our neighbors in total. Students Ready to LearnEven in these