How We Started

July 2020 - REACH opened a Thrift Store at 304 Main Street Hendrum MN. The rent for the location was $1 per month.

September 2020 - REACH began administering the Hendrum Food Pantry located at the Immanuel Lutheran Church. 

April 2021 - REACH moved the Food Pantry into the Professional Building at 308 Main Street Hendrum. The rent for the space was $1 per month, like the Thrift Store. REACH began administering the Perley Parish Food Pantry located at Kirkebo Lutheran Church in Perley, MN.  REACH moved the pantries from Immanuel Lutheran Church and Kirkebo Church on the same date with help from RDO in Ada, MN.

December 2025 - REACH merged with CAPLP, and could no longer serve Norman County as of January 1, 2026.

August 2025 - Hometown HOPE was formed, and became a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization in November 2025. We became separate from REACH and CAPLP at this time, and have been our own standalone non-profit since January, 3rd.

January 2026 - Hometown HOPE began operating the Thrift Store and the Food Pantry and moved into an office into the Professional Building at 308 Main Street Hendrum, MN.

June 2026 - Hometown HOPE received a grant for an intern to create a website and help communicate our nonprofit mission and goals to the public. We also hired 3 part-time store employees, which are our first paid staff members.

Hometown HOPEs nonprofit’s mission is to increase access to healthy food, support local farmers, and build a stronger more connected rural community through education and shared resources.