First Wheelchair Delivered to Franklin in the Dominican Republic (left)
Child from Vietnam who was brought back to the US for surgery in the mid 90s (right)

Hope Haven International Ministries (HHIM) was established in 1994 as a response to an international need from its parent agency, Hope Haven, Inc. (located in Rock Valley, IA).  The first wheelchair was brought to an adolescent in the Dominican Republic, a country where owning a wheelchair is a luxury.  Since then, the organization has grown exponentially in its abilities and locations.

Below is a brief timeline of some instrumental events in HHIM's history.

1964 – HHIM’s parent agency, Hope Haven Inc., is established
1994 – HHIM was approved by the Board; 15 wheelchairs delivered
            First volunteer contributed 4 hours to refurbishing at the Rock Valley, IA wheelchair shop
1996 – Missionaries, David & Mariana Nyquist, moved to Romania to have an in-country presence to
           deliver wheelchairs and evangelize. Some wheelchairs began being refurbished in-country, by
           staff and other wheelchair users. Staff member, Daniel Mereuta eventually became director of 
           Portul Sperantei (Hope Haven in Romania)
1997 – Wheelchair repair shop opens in the South Dakota State Penitentiary where inmates work on
           chairs as community service
           Wheelchair shop opens in Edgerton, MN
1998 – Wheelchair shop opens in George, IA
1999 – Wheelchair repair shop opens in Ireton, IA
2000 – To date, 16,000  wheelchairs had been delivered
2000 – Began partnership in Vietnam to deliver wheelchairs to victims of war and others in need
            HHIM Vietnamese staff members were hired to continue evangelism and on-going wheelchair
            distributions
2001 – Wheelchair repair shop opens in Sanborn, IA and Orange City, IA
            The KidChair was engineered by students at Dordt College and rehabilitation engineers
            Repair shop in Ireton becomes a manufacturing facility for the Hope Haven KidChair
2002 – Wheelchair Distribution Center opens in Sioux Falls, SD
            First Spiritual Retreat is held in Guatemala for people with disabilities.
2003 – Wheelchair Repair shop opens in Volga, SD
2004 -- Wheelchair repair shop opens in the basement of the First Presbyterian      
            Church in Fort Dodge, Iowa (10^th regional wheelchair shop)
            10^th anniversary celebration – 46,000 wheelchairs had been delivered
2005 – Participated in Hurricane Katrina Relief and sent 583 wheelchairs in partnership with
            Samaritans Purse; these were the only chairs HHIM has distributed within the USA
2007 – Reached 1,000,000 documented volunteer hours
2008 -- Opened wheelchair manufacturing workshop in Guatemala on July 1, 2008 - Refugio de
           Esperanza. The facility employs 15-20 previous wheelchair recipients to manufacture the
           KidChair in-country.
           KidChair passes rigorous national inspection standards test
2009 – 7,500^th KidChair had been manufactured and distributed
2010 – Shipped container of wheelchairs to Haiti for victims who were injured in the devastating 
            earthquake; shipment was in partnership with the US Navy
2011 – 90,000 total wheelchairs had been distributed in a total of 106 countries