MOORHEAD — When day breaks at Churches United for the Homeless, its CEO is busy helping lay out breakfast for guests at Micah’s Mission — a shelter for homeless men, women and families — and tidying up before the hustle and bustle of the day sweeps him away.
For stepping up to save the 37-year-old nonprofit from crumbling this summer, and for all the long days since, Pastor Devlyn Brooks is The Forum’s 2024 Area Person of the Year.
“Up until now, I really hadn’t stopped to kind of look back and reflect” on the last few months, Brooks told The Forum. “It’s kind of the stuff of movies, to a certain degree, and to have been on the inside of that, it’s fairly indescribable.”
Churches United’s plight was brought to light in August when newly hired Brooks told the public the organization needed to raise $200,000 by the end of the month to keep its doors open. The nonprofit saw unprecedented financial struggles in the last few years due to a drop in donations and a rise in costs following the COVID-19 pandemic.
In October, Churches United laid off 20% of their staff to stay open, and by November, the nonprofit once again sought $200,000 to avoid closure.
With their monthly budget sliced down to $125,000, Churches United continues raising money to make it through while holding out hope that longer-term salvation will arrive in the form of state funding in July 2025.
From his first day, when he had to tell the nonprofit’s staff they might not get paid that week, to now, when a glimmer of hope is visible on the horizon, Brooks has been a champion for Churches United and staved off the tidal wave of harm its closing would cause.
However, Brooks is quick to credit the hundreds who rallied around Churches United when they pleaded for help to keep the doors open and people in the metro fed, sheltered and cared for.
“The community saved Churches United,” Brooks said.
In the last five months, over 1,400 people gave what they could spare to keep Churches United afloat, he said, and volunteers flooded into their emergency shelter and food pantry.
“It has been a miraculous outpouring of support saying that we believe the work that Churches United does is vital,” Brooks said. “And that’s done a whole lot to boost the morale of the folks here.”
The most visible part of Churches United’s operation is the emergency shelter, community room and case management offices at 1901 First Ave. N. in Moorhead, but the nonprofit also helps feed people at emergency pantries and provides housing for people transitioning from shelters to independent living.
Come July, the organization hopes to receive $900,000 annually from the state for two years, Brooks said, which means they would only have to raise half their operating budget from private donations instead of 80%, as they were when he started.
“We need people to understand that, while we’re not in crisis, we’re not fixed,” Brooks said.
Those looking to donate can visit churches-united.org/donate and readers wishing to volunteer can sign up at churches-united.org/volunteer.
‘An incredible leader’
For Churches United Board President Jess Spieker Ferden, it’s fitting that Brooks is the Forum Area Person of the Year.
“I can’t think of anybody that is more deserving of this,” Spieker Ferden said. “He is an absolutely amazing man. We are so grateful to have him as part of our team.”
From the moment he started as interim CEO in August, Brooks had a plan and a magnetic confidence that drew the board, staff, guests and community together with a singular mission: save Churches United.
“He is larger than life. He is just a really fantastic, upbeat, loud person. He is an incredible leader,” Spieker Ferden said.
In early August, when Churches United teetered on the brink of closure, a guest approached Brooks and offered him all the money she had to help keep the doors open, Spieker Ferden said.
“Here is somebody who needs the shelter and was willing to give up what little she had to ensure that it can still operate,” she said.
That action was echoed by the community, which stepped up to keep Churches United open multiple times this year.
Likewise, the staff at Churches United began shouldering more responsibility when the nonprofit was forced to make layoffs.
“I can’t show enough gratitude, love and respect for the Churches United staff,” Spieker Ferden said. “They trusted Pastor Devlyn from the get-go.”
Brooks was instrumental in saving Churches United, she said.
“I don’t know that we would have ever found anybody who is as crazy as he is or as passionate about our mission as he is. Really, who is going to come aboard what everybody thought was a sinking ship?” Spieker Ferden said.
The road here
Brooks’ life was shaped by the severe poverty and food scarcity he experienced growing up in Crookston, Minnesota.
He was raised alongside his eight older siblings in a home that went years without running water. His mother drew them a bath in the yard each Saturday, and the family relied on an outhouse.
There were limited resources for his hardworking and loving mother to draw on, he said, with no food pantry or homeless shelter around to turn to for help.
Brooks studied hard and earned a grant for first-generation college students. He attended Bemidji State University, where he fell in love with writing and kicked off a prolific career in journalism that spanned 30 years: first as a reporter, then editor, manager and more. Brooks is currently a faith columnist for Forum Communications Company.
He was drawn to pastoral work and began to serve at Faith Lutheran Church in Wolverton, Minnesota, in 2017.
All those experiences prepared him for his current calling at Churches United.
“I’m very grateful for that, and I see very much of the Holy Spirit in that path,” Brooks said.
Ultimately, it was the support of his family and church community this year that allowed him to step up for Churches United, he said.
No matter where life takes him, Brooks can rely on his wife and children for support and encouragement, he said, even through hard times.
His family lost several loved ones in the last five years, he said, and his work frequently demanded much of his time between full-time jobs, seminary studies, pastoral work and now Churches United.
“For any profession where you’re called to serve, if you don’t have the people standing around you, you’re not successful,” Brooks said. “I know a lot of times the community sees me out in front of a television camera, or me at an event, but they don’t see (my wife) Shelley, who’s picking up the pieces in our family behind the scenes.”
It takes a lot for a small congregation to share their pastor with an organization that needs as much time as Churches United, he said, but Faith Lutheran didn’t hesitate to send him where his help was most needed.
“I still believe that was very courageous,” Brooks said. “That’s made all the world of difference. I couldn’t have been doing what I’ve been doing here if our church wouldn’t have done that. And I’m extremely grateful.”
The power of saying ‘yes’
In addition to Sunday sermons, Brooks spends 12 to 18 hours a day laboring for the benefit of Churches United and the people it serves.
“The staff here still tease me about having the longest first day ever because, to some degree, that first day hasn’t ended yet,” Brooks said. “Honestly, it’s been a roller coaster. It’s been like standing inside of a tornado.”
Churches United was in crisis when he arrived. As such, the shelter and guests hadn’t been cared for as well as they could be, the staff was burnt out and relationships were frayed.
His team worked to rebuild relationships in the community, beat the bushes for funders and organized their internal structure to prevent the daily implosions that were all too common before.
Hope now grows in every corner of the organization, he said, in response to the community’s swell of support and the renewed partnerships across the metro. The bills are getting paid again, and they are no longer being hounded by vendors for overdue payments. They have enough money to fully stock up on toilet paper again.
“When you’re in crisis, you don’t start to talk about the future,” Brooks said. “Now we’re talking about the future which is, I think, amazing. We have money in our operating account on a regular basis when the week ends. … We haven’t used our credit line now in several weeks, and so we actually have cash on hand at the end of the week. And the last time that happened was more than two years ago.”
Staff are once again proud to say they work at Churches United, he said, and guests are taking more pride in their stays and pitching in to help fix things and keep the place clean.
This change in fortune is a testament to the power of saying yes, Brooks said. It’s become acceptable, even expected, in our culture to say no when called upon to help, he said.
“It’s very easy to say no, I don’t want to give any more money. It’s very easy to say no, I don’t want to give more time. I don’t want to serve on a board. I don’t want to go serve a meal,” Brooks said. “I think our communities suffer because of that. And so I’ve tried to live in this model of saying yes.
“I think we’re a pretty good example of what happens when you say yes.”
‘A blessing to Churches United’
When they hired Brooks, Churches United needed a leader who would go out and talk to “anyone who would listen” about their work and the urgency of their financial situation, Compliance Officer Ginny Stoe told The Forum.
Brooks hit the ground running and has hardly stopped since.
“His first couple of months, I’m not sure the man even slept,” Stoe said.
The staff here still tease me about having the longest first day ever because, to some degree, that first day hasn’t ended yet. … Honestly, it’s been a roller coaster. It’s been like standing inside of a tornado.
She knew Brooks deeply understood the vital role of Churches United and the devastating impact its closure would have.
“If we had to close our doors, that would have been a catastrophic loss to the people we serve,” Stoe said. “It could have been really deadly, especially this time of year.”
He hasn’t slowed down, Stoe said.
Brooks rallied the leadership team, energized the staff and revitalized the volunteer base.
“Devlyn is such a blessing to Churches United,” Stoe said. “He is a man that uplifts other people, especially our guests and our staff. He is quick to jump in and help or offer a friendly hello.”
His infectious enthusiasm, paired with a smirk that “lights up a room,” has kept Churches United open, made the staff hopeful and supported a community that cares for neighbors going through hard times.
“He is the man of the year. He could have easily come in and really assessed the situation and said, ‘You know what? It’s too dire.’ But he didn’t, not once,” Stoe said. “The man is just really selfless. He walked into a situation that not many people would, but he came in and he said ‘I’m all in.’”
Past Person of the Year winners
2022: Nyamal Dei, Fargo School Board member
2021: Dorothy “Dot” Henke, founder of national snack brand Dot’s Homestyle Pretzels
2020: Essential workers
2019: Matt Cullen, retired NHL player and local philanthropist
2018: U.S. Sen. Kevin Cramer
2017: Carson Wentz, an NFL quarterback
2016: Gov. Doug Burgum, tech mogul, real estate developer and millionaire philanthropist
2015: Jessica Thomasson, CEO of Lutheran Social Services
2014: Sherrie Skuza, widow of Fargo police Lt. Jeff Skuza
2013: Craig Bohl, former North Dakota State University football coach
2012: U.S. Sen. Heidi Heitkamp
2011: David Berg, American Crystal Sugar CEO
2010: Denny Sanford, benefactor of Sanford Health
2009: Fargo Mayor Dennis Walaker
2008: Fargo-Moorhead youth for their volunteer efforts
2007: Tracy Briggs, former WDAY radio personality, organizer of World War II Honor Flights
2006: Joseph Chapman, then president of North Dakota State University
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