Homeowner Highlight

Sheryl is an older adult homeowner, who has been working on her home since she purchased it herself over 30 years ago. When the pandemic hit, Sheryl lost a lot of business at her salon that she owns.  Anxious about getting older and being unable to tackle the last of her home improvement projects herself, she asked us if we could help.  We will replace the windows and door on Sheryl’s sunporch later this year. In the meantime, our volunteer, Mitchell, and our Home Repair Program Manager, Kaitlyn, helped assemble and install workbenches that Sheryl has been trying to put in her basement art studio for seven years.  It has been a pleasure to work with Sheryl, and we are happy to serve!

Southwest Minnesota Rebuilding Day Committees Are Hard at Work!

Our Rebuilding Day Committees in Cottonwood, Jackson, and Nobles Counties are hard at work planning their first Rebuilding Days! 

These committees play a critical role in our work in Cottonwood, Jackson, and Nobles Counties, including conducting homeowner outreach, identifying and qualifying projects, recruiting volunteers, and securing the resources needed to complete these projects.

Nobles County Rebuilding Day Committee

  • Mike P. Kuhle, City of Worthington, Mayor
  • Jorge Lopez, JJ Lopez Enterprises, CEO/President
  • Jim Mahoney, Security State Bank, Loan Officer
  • Terry Morrison, Retired
  • Dana Oberloh, Ag Loan Officer
  • Glenn Thuringer, Director of Business Development – Chitosan
  • Paul Woll, Retired

Cottonwood County Rebuilding Day Committee

  • Rob Anderson, City of Mountain Lake, Economic Development/Chamber Director
  • Shar & Jerry Ebbers, Teacher Sub/Retired
  • Chad Eken, Fulda Area Credit Union, Windom Market President
  • Sharlett Glidden, Southwest Council for Independent Living (SWCIL), Independent Living Specialist
  • Gary Hildebrandt, Retired Teacher
  • Linda Kintzi
  • Maria Stumpf, Southwest Crisis Center, Cottonwood/Jackson County Coordinator

Jackson County Rebuilding Day Committee (still being formed)

  • Luke Ewald
  • Stacy Grube, City of Heron Lake, Clerk/Treasurer
  • Helen Mekosch, Jackson Senior Center, Coordinator

Each of these members brings unique perspective, expertise, and understanding of community needs and assets to our Rebuilding Day Committees. 

Here’s what some of the Rebuilding Day Committee members have to say about their involvement with these committees: 

Cottonwood County Rebuilding Day Committee member Rob Anderson said: “I originally got involved because I attended an informational meeting in Windom and I could immediately see that there is a need in Mountain Lake, and the Rebuilding Together model would be a huge benefit to qualified homeowners in my community.  When I was asked to join the Cottonwood County committee I immediately agreed to help get it going here and benefit residents in need, helping to improve their quality of life.  Right now, our committee is focused on encouraging homeowners to apply to the Home Repair or Safe at Home programs for our Cottonwood County Rebuilding Together Day on Saturday, September 24th.   My role with the committee is marketing.  We have included information on Rebuilding Together in the March Mountain Lake Utilities newsletter distributed to over 900 homeowners, and distributed several applications here at Mountain Lake City Hall.”

Nobles County Rebuilding Day Committee member Mike Kuhle said: “Thank you for reaching out! I was extremely excited to hear that Rebuilding Together Minnesota was coming to Southwest Minnesota and Worthington. We have a large amount of older residents that live in their homes and want to stay there. They are a proud group of individuals and want their properties looking good. But due to declining health or financial issues, they simply can’t keep up. These are valuable residents of our communities and deserve the help of volunteers and RTMN!  Thank you RTMN, you are doing very valuable work for our communities.”      

If you are interested in joining one of our Rebuilding Day Committees or learning more about how you can support our work in Southwest Minnesota, please reach out to Southwest Minnesota Program Manager Galen Kauffman at g.kauffman@rtmn.org.

Support our Making Home Happen Campaign!

We have some big news to share!  We launched our Making Home Happen Campaign in late 2020 with the goal of raising $1.5M to expand our capacity so we can achieve our vision of safe homes and communities for everyone.  We have already raised 97% and only need to raise $45,740 to reach our campaign goal. We need your help to get us over the top!

Donate today:

NetGiver (via bank account – fee-free)

GiveMN (via credit card)

Your donation to our Making Home Happen Campaign will expand our capacity to serve homeowners and neighborhoods in need. Home by home, space by space, we will rebuild people’s lives for a better tomorrow.