Perham Resident, Wadena Church Team Up to Expand Homeless Mission

Jesse Bommersbach pulled into his Perham driveway after a night shift in Detroit Lakes and looked up at the stars. Six years earlier, those same stars had been his ceiling: Bismarck, Watertown, wherever he could find ground to sleep on. Now, four years sober and running an outreach ministry that has helped people secure stable housing from Wadena to the Fargo-Moorhead metro, he asked the board of Assembly of God in Wadena to make his mission official.

The church agreed. Assembly of God now serves as fiscal host for Celebrate U, the outreach ministry Bommersbach, 39, founded with his wife Serena, formally routing donations through the church and giving the operation a financial and legal structure without requiring Bommersbach to navigate building a standalone nonprofit.

The ministry deployed a crew of four to six volunteers every Saturday since October 2025, riding the church's bus to Fargo streets and homeless encampments to distribute clothing, food, and $70 winter bundles containing a sleeping bag, hat, gloves, scarf, snack, and a Bible alongside information about local recovery programs. What began with Jesse and Serena scraping together their own money has since drawn support from businesses and private donors across the region.

"Our hearts really aligned with the board and the pastor there," Bommersbach said of the Assembly of God partnership.

The Wadena connection gives the mission a closer-to-home anchor. The church had already opened its doors for a spiritual speaker event tied to Celebrate U's work, and Bommersbach is planning another for May. "In May, we hope to have another speaker in Wadena to bring a spiritual message that inspires hope," he said.

By March 2026, as temperatures climbed and the Fargo outreach season wound down, other ministries had joined the effort. "We have seen a lot of people get permanent help, stable housing. We've given numerous people rides to treatments," Bommersbach said. "It has been absolutely amazing."

Donations can be made through the Wadena Assembly of God website by clicking "Donate Now" and selecting the Celebrate U tab. A portion of those funds will go toward purchasing a van for the mission; the current crew borrows the church's bus, which Bommersbach noted exceeds what the outreach currently needs. Civic groups interested in learning about Celebrate U or joining its volunteer outreach can contact Bommersbach directly.