Ministry on the Margins serves over 1,000 people a week through prison ministry, prison re-entry, food pantry, street outreach, behavioral health collaboration with law enforcement, second chance hiring initiatives, and a nighttime low-barrier coffee house. The SuperGrant was awarded at a gathering of Foundation donors, committee members, and community leaders at Ministry on the Margins on September 28, 2022.

The SuperGrant will be used to transition the nighttime Coffee House from a pilot project to a permanent program. Ministry on the Margins opened a pilot project on February 1, 2022, to assess the need and viability of a coffee house as a model to meet the need for a low-barrier shelter which would accept people who may be under the influence of alcohol or drugs or may be excluded from other shelters due to background issues. They hired and trained employees to serve as hospitality coordinators, ensuring that there are always a minimum of two people working, and established operating hours of 10:00 pm to 6:00 am.

During the pilot project (February to May 2022), 231 men and women were served, with a total 2,805 nights of shelter offered. During the April 11-15, 2022, blizzard Ministry on the Margins remained open for 92 consecutive hours offering safety and food to 129 individuals caught in the shutdown of other agencies. The pilot project also highlighted the crucial need for collaboration with law enforcement, behavioral health agencies, local emergency rooms, and addiction support agencies.

The SuperGrant will help pay for renovations and updates to the Coffee House space and chapel; security and safety technology and training; staff laptop for logging intake, events, and incidents; and a stationary projector and laptop for displaying movies during Coffee House hours.

The 2021 $50,000 SuperGrant will support The Banquet’s new commercial kitchen at the Dream Center Bismarck. Construction is currently underway and expected to be completed in April 2022.

The Banquet is a non-denominational, multi-generational, family-friendly food ministry serving a variety of people including low-income individuals and families, senior citizens, single parents and their children, the homeless and disabled, veterans, the recently unemployed, and hurting and struggling people. Over the last 16 years, The Banquet has grown from serving a single meal on-site each week to now serving meals 4 days a week at two Bismarck locations. Nearly 1,000 meals are currently served every week with the help of community and corporate volunteers.

At the Dream Center, The Banquet will occupy a 4,500 square-foot modern dining room and 1,500 square-foot commercial kitchen. This larger space will enable them to seat up to 250 people for each meal and serve meals 7 days a week as well as holidays. Once fully operational, The Banquet could serve 2,000 meals each week and more than 70,000 meals the first year.

“We are thrilled to be a part of this wonderful project,” said Gina Hruby, Chair of the BisMan Community Foundation Advisory Committee. “Out of 17 applications, The Banquet rose to the top for the long lasting impact it will have in our communities of Bismarck and Mandan.”

BisMan Community Foundation is a component of the North Dakota Community Foundation, a permanent endowment fund that makes annual grants to nonprofit organizations in Bismarck-Mandan and the surrounding communities in Burleigh and Morton counties. Since 2011, the Foundation has awarded more than $360,000 to area nonprofits. The first SuperGrant of $50,000 was awarded in 2018 to Dreams In Motion, and the second in 2019 to the Soup Café.

In addition to the 2021 SuperGrant, the Advisory Committee awarded six Mini Grants of $4,000 each to Volunteer Caregivers for the Elderly, Rebuilding Together, Aid Inc., Sacred Pipe Resource Center, Almont Community Fitness Center, and Dakota Children’s Advocacy Center.

Members of the BisMan Community Foundation Advisory Committee and members of the Board of Directors of Dreams in Motion gathered for a photo after the award was made.