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DES MOINES, Iowa – The kitchen in the Hope Café at Bethel Mission is always busy and always filled with laughter. It runs like a well-oiled machine, cranking out three meals a day, 365 days a year.

Kole Kublick is a big part of the operation. “I’ve been employed here for over a year now, in this kitchen where in a lot of ways, it all started,” he says with a smile.

There was no laughter in his life when he first ate in this café three years ago. He remembers the exact date. “September 13, 2020. Because that was the day my life changed.”

He was homeless, starving, and addicted. “I was 148 pounds when I walked through these doors,” he says, “I was sick. Very very sick.”

And after 20 years of living that life — ready to change. He spent the first 30 days of his recovery living at Bethel’s shelter for men. “You get enough time over here to sober up and get some stability, some meals in your belly, clothes on your back, and told that you’re loved and cared for.”

The work has been going on at Bethel Mission since 1915. It provides necessities like shelter and food, and something else that’s just as important — hope.

Louis Dawson has been the food services supervisor here for more than a decade. “I didn’t want my culinary experience to just be vocational,” he says, “I wanted it to be an advocation of who I am in Christ.”

Louis came to Des Moines in 2007 with little to his name but a cocaine addiction. He can relate to Kole in many ways. “I see my life being relived through him, much of my journey through him.” Now he helps other men reclaim their lives and laugh again. 

It’s something Kole is grateful for every single day. “There have been so many been who’ve come through these doors,” he says, “to watch them develop, struggle, and succeed is amazing. You should come down to Bethel Mission to see real hope.”

Hope Ministries helps people year-round. If you would like to get involved and see the hope yourself, visit this website.