Our History and Progress
Overcomers International Fellowship (OIF) was founded in 1995 as a housing program and has a campus with five building in St. Cloud, Minnesota. They are Dream Center, Caleb House, Hospitality House, Joshua House, & Thomas House. OIF Dream Center campus is a registered “Board & Lodging” facility for a total of 46 single bedroom occupancy, and offers a safe, supportive environment for adult men 18 and older, who struggle with life issues and have a desire to get their lives on a productive course. OIF Dream Center’s programming is to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, visit the prisoners, minister to the sick, and shelter the homeless, as instructed in Matthew 25:34-40, while preaching and teaching the gospel of Jesus Christ.
OIF Dream Center Ministry provides the following programs;
- Christian Teaching from the Holy Bible
- Recovery Support Groups
- Christian Spiritual Counseling
- Discipleship
- Praise & Worship Services
We offer a caring, safe haven for those who are seeking refuge, food, and shelter as well as a program of restoration and recovery. We also host recovery seminars, conferences, and educational workshops.
Together these programs offer hope for restoration through the power of God’s love, through Jesus
Christ, Holy Spirit, and the Word of God. “PASTOR MICHAEL HAS OVER 25 YEARS OF WORKING WITH THE HOMELESS”
Board and Lodging – Residential Housing Programs
The Residential Program is a safe, supportive environment for men 18 years and older who desire to get their lives on a productive course (i.e. staying free of drugs, alcohol and other addicting and enslaving behaviors). The program offers emotional, intellectual, physical, and spiritual support to help men grow and gain the strength to succeed.
The housing program is for single men that are actively making changes in their life. Referrals are received from case worker, social worker, corrections agent or other ministries. Each potential resident must fill-out an Intake form, go through an interview, and sign a Lodging Program contract. This contract is reviewed every 30 days for extended stay up to 90 days. Requirements for stay; must be chemically free and working towards independence.
Each resident is responsible for the following; must attend three support groups and set goals each week, 24 hour accountability, household chores, able to care for self. Follow through with requirements of corrections, case manager, and aftercare plans.
OIF Dream Center serves Stearns County, and the following surrounding counties;
- Morrison County – northeast
- Benton County – northeast
- Sherburne County – east
- Wright County – southeast
- Meeker County – south
- Kandiyohi County – southwest
- Pope County – west
Dream Center
The Dream Center is the main housing building located at 529 16th Ave, N., St Cloud, MN 56303.
The Dream Center has 14 Housing Support beds, with single room occupancy. In addition to housing residents, this is where three meals a day are served for all residents on the campus. Also, all residents must sign in and out at the Dream Center when they leave for the day so that staff is aware of where they are in case of emergencies. The Dream Center also has the main reception area, staff medication management, and business offices located on the first floor. Visitation for residents is held in this building and is available from 8 am to 8 pm. All visitors must have a valid ID and sign papers, prior to visiting with residents. Also, programs are held in the main cafe Tuesday – Saturday from 6 pm to 7 pm. There is a praise and worship service held on Sunday’s from 10:30-12 noon.
Hospitality House
The Hospitality House is located at 530 16th Ave, N. This is an apartment styled housing with 18 single room occupancies for the men. Five of these bedrooms, located on the top level, are
DOC/ISR beds, which are funded through the Department of Corrections. There are an additional five bedrooms on the top level for Housing Support, mostly for men who are working. The bottom floor has eight bedrooms for Housing Support and are mostly used for men that have physical mobility issues.
Joshua House
The Joshua House is at 526 16th Ave N., and has four Housing Support beds, single room occupancy. The Joshua House sits next to the Hospitality House, and has a kitchen, living room, laundry room, 2 bathrooms, and a spacious backyard with deck.
Thomas House
The Thomas House is our newest housing facility at 521 16th Ave N. There are four Housing Support beds downstairs and has a private entrance to this area. All bedrooms are single occupancy. The Thomas House is next to the Caleb House and has easy access to the main building which is the Dream Center for meals and meetings.
Caleb House
The Caleb House is located at 525 16th Ave N, and is next to the Dream Center building. Residents have easy access to meals and programming. The Caleb House has five beds, and all bedrooms are single occupancy.
Board Members
Pastor Michael Laidlaw
Founder & Chief Executive Officer
Pastor Michael has over 25 years of working with the homeless in Stearns County and the surrounding counties. He is a former Chairperson of the Immediate Needs of the Homeless Committee for the Central MN., Continuum of Care. A former member of the Mayors Taskforce for the Homeless, City of St. Cloud. as well as a former Co-Chair of Central MN., Continuum of Prison Ministry and a former Housing Committee chairperson for the NAAC.
Eileen Theisen
Co-Board Chairperson
Eileen Theisen is the 8th of 8 children and grow up in the small town on the WI border. She graduated with only 32 on her class. She attended ST. Cloud state University and had since made St. Cloud her home.
She has a degree in finance and minor in economics from SCSU. She has been a mortgage consultant in Saint Cloud for 31 years, 21 years with Wells Fargo Home Mortgage and the last 10 and independent mortgage broker. She enjoys helping people through the very stressful and overwhelming experience buying and financing homes.
She is part of the Board members of OIF and has been Volunteering at Dream Center for about 2 years, nothing stops this wonderful woman occasionally she helps with the evening meal monthly and she comes once a month to do a brief presentation to the men.
She Loves to give back to her community providing financial advice also bringing in guess speakers to talk about career journey and the struggles and successes They’ve encountered.
Billy Anderson
Dr. Billy Anderson is a mental/chemical health professional. He started working in Minneapolis in 1993. He has worked in several mental/chemical health organizations that include, but is not limited to, inpatient and outpatient care. His work in the mental health profession has included individual, couples, family and group therapy. Within the chemical health setting, he has provided chemical health assessments. More importantly, he has worked with opiate addicts in a methadone maintenance program.
He also has experience in working with health maintenance organizations such as Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota. He has worked as a manager for Cigna Behavioral Health. Since arriving in St. Cloud and Willmar communities, he has developed an expertise with the Somali community providing mental health services and social security representation.
On occasions, he provides internship positions for those individuals in the Master of Social Work program at St. Cloud State University. He is currently the President and Founder of a nonprofit that was started in March of 2007.
Eddy MacDonald
Eddy MacDonald is from Minneapolis and graduated from Saint John’s University in December 2021 with degrees in Math and Political Science. While at SJU, he became involved with the Dream Center by participating in J-Walking and stayed on as an intern that summer. Eddy continued to work at the Dream Center as a caregiver and later organized the J-Walking program through CSB campus ministry. He focused on reentry in his political science coursework and interned for a nonprofit that serves returning citizens in Washington D.C., Voices for a Second Chance.
Eddy participated in the Benedictine Volunteer Corps where he spent six months teaching in Newark, NJ after graduation. He hopes to return there some day. Currently, Eddy is living and working in Owatonna. He coaches basketball, is a Big for Big Brothers Big Sisters and works in IT at Federated Insurance.
David Chabot
Retired from Department of Corrections after 38 years. During this career, I worked in the Prison for 15 years. Several years as a CD counselor and my last eight years as a case manager. After leaving the institution I worked for over twenty years as a Special Supervision Agent, with the Intensive Supervision Unit. I hold undergraduate degrees in Psychology and Criminal Justice, and a Master’s Degree in Criminal Justice Studies.
Lindsey Vigesaa, Ph.D.
Professor
Professor, Criminal Justice Studies | St. Cloud State University
Dr. Lindsey Vigesaa is Program Director and Professor of Criminal Justice in the Online and Global College of Adult and Professional Studies at Indiana Wesleyan University, where she leads online criminal justice programs and teaches adult learners in criminal justice, cybercrime, research methods, and criminology. Her career has been anchored in understanding and improving the experiences of people returning from incarceration, beginning with her Ph.D. in Criminal Justice from North Dakota State University, where she specialized in criminology, research methods, corrections, and reentry and completed a dissertation on female criminality and community reentry. She previously served as a tenured Professor of Criminal Justice Studies at St. Cloud State University, developing courses on reentry, corrections, victimology, and AI and Public Safety, and mentoring students engaged in reentry-focused research.
Dr. Vigesaa’s research centers on incarcerated populations, reentry pathways, and community-based support systems, with projects examining women’s reentry experiences, recidivism outcomes, and family relationships during and after incarceration. She has led and collaborated on initiatives such as a serious and violent offender reentry evaluation, a project facilitating healthy bonds between incarcerated fathers and their children, and ongoing work with Dream Center reentry housing and restorative justice partners. Her scholarship appears in the Journal of Offender Rehabilitation, Journal of Ethnicity in Criminal Justice, and related venues, and she serves as a peer reviewer for multiple reentry and corrections-focused journals. In addition, she integrates emerging technologies and AI into reentry and public safety research, exploring how data and tools can be used ethically to support more humane, effective reentry policies and practices.
Jeffrey Kaster
Jeffrey Kaster is retired. He volunteers as a driver at the Dream Center. His career focused on youth ministry. He served as a parish youth minister in Saint Cloud, the Saint Cloud Diocesan Consultant for Youth, the Director of the Youth in Theology and Ministry program at Saint John’s School of Theology and Seminary, and as an adjunct theology professor at Saint John’s and Saint Ben’s. He completed a masters of theology at Saint John’s and a doctorate of education at the University of Minnesota.
Krista Kackley
Krista Kackley has been part of the OIF Dream Center family for over 10 years. Already working in healthcare, she went back to school to earn her Criminal Justice degree at St. Cloud State University, and it was during that time that she first got involved with OIF as a volunteer and intern. After graduation, she became the organization’s very first Case Worker. Her path later led her through the Department of Corrections and back into healthcare, where she now works as a Radiologic Technologist — but she never stopped showing up for OIF along the way.
Now serving on the Board, Krista brings both her healthcare expertise and years of hands-on, grassroots experience to help guide the organization’s strategy and growth. She is especially passionate about helping the men OIF serves rebuild their lives with dignity and hope.
Steve Greenfield
Steve Greenfield relocated to St. Cloud from Duluth a few years ago and was soon volunteering his marketing and media relations services to the OIF Dream Center. He was elected to our board in 2026.
Steve owns Greenfield Public Relations, which he started in 2005 to provide clients with PR, government relations, advertising, and related assistance. Prior to that, he was communications director for the city of Duluth, vice president of a Minnesota ad agency, and marketing director for a restaurant group.
A graduate of the University of Minnesota Duluth, he’s a past board chair of the American Diabetes Association of Minnesota, the Duluth Area Chamber of Commerce and Generations Health Care Initiatives.
Steve has also volunteered with local organizations, including a mental health program, Pathways 4 Youth, and Tee It Up or the Troops, as well as Duluth organizations such as Men As Peacemakers, the NAACP, and others.