Thank You to Ryan Thomas!

We would like to send a very special thank you to Ryan Thomas, our Ramp Program Manager! Ryan’s last day was this month because he is moving to Hawaii. We are going to miss his hard work, dedication and willingness to help homeowners in need.

During the year and a half that he worked for us, Ryan planned, managed and supervised more than 40 ramp builds. These projects had a direct, positive impact on the lives of the people he helped, as they can now safely and more independently come and go from their homes.

Perhaps the best way to summarize Ryan’s impact is through the words of some of the people he helped:

“We have lived in our house 30 years and would like to age in place. As our mobility has decreased, we find daily activities have become more challenging. The ramp will give us a safe walkway to our cars.”

“Your efforts were a great gift to our family, and I’m sure have been to many others. This ramp works perfectly and is beautiful too!”

“You don’t know how BLESSED I feel with my new ramp. With all my daughter and I suffer through daily in pain, we are grateful.”

“Thank you and your team for building my ramp! It has changed my life – emotionally and physically.”

Thank you for everything Ryan. You will be missed. Good luck on this next adventure!

Have You Heard about our Safe at Home Kits?

The COVID-19 pandemic created unique challenges as we worked to provide home safety and accessibility modifications for older adults in a safe and effective manner. One positive thing that came out of the pandemic was the launch of our Safe at Home kits, which made it possible for us to continue to provide services that would benefit older adults when we could not safely send staff or volunteers into their homes.

The kits are provided free of charge to low-income older adults and include a smoke detector, carbon monoxide detector, no-slip bath treads, dawn to dusk lightbulbs and nightlights, grabbers, mini-flash light, batteries, kitchen fire extinguisher, reusable masks, sanitizing wipes, and an application for Safe at Home services. These kits are funded under an award with Trellis as part of the Older Americans Act and through the Minnesota Department of Human Services Live Well at Home program.

Our Safe at Home kits have been enthusiastically welcomed, and they have an immediate positive impact on the safety, health, and well-being of low-income older adults we are able to serve through this component of the program. The kits also help to raise awareness which will lead many of the homeowners to ask for additional help needed to remain safely and independently in their own homes.

If you are interested in volunteering to assemble and/or distribute kits or if you would like to request a kit, please email Tom at tom@rtmn.org.

Please note that our Safe at Home kits are only available in the 7-County Twin Cities Metro and in Cottonwood, Jackson, Nobles, and Pipestone Counties in Southwest Minnesota.  In order to be eligible to receive a kit, you must be a low-income senior (60+).

Cottonwood County Rebuilding Day Was a Big Success!

Thank you to everyone who came together to make our first annual Cottonwood County Rebuilding Day a success! Together with our volunteers and sponsors, we provided repairs and accessibility modifications for three homeowners in need on September 24th in Mountain Lake.

Shout out to our incredible sponsors and supporters, including Odell Wind Farm Community Fund, Southwest Initiative Foundation, Hanson Plumbing, Owatonna Groundsmasters, Inc, Maynards Food Center, Mountain Lake Fire Department, Nickel Construction, Mountain Lake Automotive, Mountain Lake Lions, Sanford Health, and Juniper.

We would also like to send a very special thank you to our Cottonwood County Rebuilding Day committee who raised funding for these projects, recruited volunteers, and organized the projects!

Check out the great coverage of our Cottonwood County Rebuilding Day HERE.

Thanks Again for an Incredible Flannel Fling!

Our Flannel Fling was a huge success, and we really appreciate the support of everyone who joined us in person or virtually!

We would like to send a special thank you to our amazing 2022 Flannel Fling sponsors.  This event would not be possible without their support!

Thanks to our Presenting Sponsor Wells Fargo and other sponsors, including Marathon Oil, Opus Foundation, Sunrise Banks, RJM Construction, Jasbir & Frances Singh, NRG Energy, LeJeune Steel, Tom Keljik & Jennifer Collins, Jane Marie Petty, Paul Mellblom & Peter Farstad, Heather Soule & Peter Neal, Black Ladder Restoration, Austin and Uche Onwualu, Gretchen & Matthew Culver, Katie & Dana Harms, Pinnacle Renovations, Tom Pfannenstiel & Danielle Dart, Annette Rodriguez, Tony & Stacy Sjogren, & Beth Wiggins.

Thank you to our in-kind sponsors Do Good Events, Bill L’Herault and Craft Tapped.