Festival of Trees Raises Funds to Sustain Local Crisis Shelter

The Lakes Crisis and Resource Center hosted its ninth annual Festival of Trees on November 14 at the Holiday Inn in Detroit Lakes, bringing together donors, businesses and volunteers to support shelter and crisis services in Otter Tail County. The event used a live auction and decorated trees to generate donations, continuing a fundraising tradition that has averaged about $35,000 in recent years and plays a pivotal role in the nonprofit's operating budget.

Proceeds from the fundraiser support Mary's Place shelter and the center's outreach work across the lakes area. Those services provide emergency shelter beds, crisis intervention and connections to longer term supports. In a rural county where transportation barriers, limited emergency housing and thinly stretched social services are persistent challenges, those local resources help prevent homelessness and mitigate the immediate health harms associated with domestic violence and housing instability.

Community participation and sponsorship were central to the Festival of Trees. Local businesses, civic groups and individual donors contributed decorations, auction items and financial support to keep shelter beds available and to fund crisis response staff. For a nonprofit that relies heavily on community fundraising, the event was more than a social occasion. It helped fill gaps in funding that are not always covered by grants or government contracts and preserved capacity to respond to urgent needs throughout the year.

The fundraiser also highlighted broader public health and policy implications. Emergency shelter and crisis services reduce short term risks to survivors of violence and families experiencing housing loss, but they are not a substitute for systemic investments in affordable housing, mental health care and coordinated rural transportation. Sustained public funding and policy changes at the county and state level would strengthen capacity, reduce reliance on one time fundraisers and improve equitable access to services for people across Otter Tail County, including those in smaller towns and on outlying lakeshores.

Organizers emphasized the ongoing need for community support to maintain operations and to keep shelter beds available for those in immediate danger. As winter months approach, the availability of shelter and outreach can have life saving implications, particularly for people fleeing violence or facing sudden homelessness in subzero conditions.

The Festival of Trees demonstrated local solidarity in addressing crisis needs, while underscoring the limits of charitable fundraising as the sole safety net. Moving forward, community leaders, health providers and policymakers will need to consider how to combine local philanthropy with stable public investment to ensure that Mary's Place and the Lakes Crisis and Resource Center can continue to protect the health and safety of residents across the lakes region.