Year in Review

2012 was a busy year!  We partnered with 768 volunteers who dedicated more than 6,800 hours of service to repair 85 homes, renovate five nonprofit facilities and revitalize three community spaces.  Thank you to all of our volunteers who dedicated their time and energy to these projects!

We would also like to recognize our generous sponsors and partners.  Your support enables us to stretch our resources further and help more low-income homeowners live independently in safe and healthy homes.  The following organizations provided support for Rebuilding Together Twin Cities from July 1, 2011 through June 30, 2012:

CORPORATIONS, FOUNDATIONS, CHURCHES & CIVIC ORGANIZATIONS

$50,000+
Lowe’s Charitable and Educational Foundation
Maxwell House Drops of Good Campaign
Wells Fargo Housing Foundation

$20,000 to $49,999
Honeywell
Mosaic Company
Otto Bremer Foundation
Sears
Wells Fargo Foundation

$10,000 to $19,999
Ameriprise Financial
F.R. Bigelow Foundation
GLS Companies
Honeywell Volunteerism Committee
Horton Holding
Minnesota Timberwolves FastBreak Foundation
Park Nicollet Foundation
Stevens Square Foundation
Travelers Foundation

$5,000 to $9,999
CBRE
MidCountry Bank
Richard A Newman Foundation
James R. Thorpe Foundation
Turner Family Foundation
U.S. Bank

Up to $4,999
Accenture
Allianz
Bank of America
Dorsey & Whitney Foundation
EMC Insurance Foundation
Flower Valley Vineyards
The Michelle & David Fries Charitable Fund
Gannett Foundation
General Reinsurance Corporation
Guy Carpenter
Select Evergreen Construction
Wayzata Community Church

IN-KIND GIFTS

$90,000+
Wells Fargo Housing Foundation

$5,000 to $25,000
Highmark Builders, Inc.
Nemer Fieger
Standard Heating & Air Conditioning
Tile by Design
Valspar

Up to $4,999
ABC Supply
Agosto
Citi-Cargo & Storage
Cub Foods
Hands On Twin Cities
Haro Electric
Home Depot Foundation
Honeywell
JG Hause Construction
On Site Sanitation
Riverland Ag Corp
Steward Charitable Services
Target

In addition to helping more homeowners and communities than ever, we also grew in terms of staff in 2012.  In August, we hired Tyler White as a part-time Office Manager.  Three new AmeriCorps members joined us in August. We also hired Tony Sjogren as Program Manager in December.

As the need for our services continues to grow, we plan to help more homeowners than ever in 2013.  Thank you again for helping us ensure that more people can live independently in homes that are safe and healthy!

AmeriCorps Members Serve Homeowners in Need in Honor of MLK Day of Service

Last month, our AmeriCorps members Tim Erkel, Kelly Bandman and Brent Suski joined forces with more than 60 other AmeriCorps members serving Rebuilding Together affiliates across the country to provide critical repairs for veterans and seniors in need in honor of the Martin Luther King Day of Service. They spent a week repairing nine homes in the Carverdale-Edwards-South Creston Hills (The C-E-C triangle) area of Oklahoma City with the help of area high school students and community members.

Brent said of his experience, “I had an amazing time in Oklahoma City. It was great to have the opportunity to lead and work alongside my fellow CapacityCorps members. Our homeowner, Ms. Anderson, was a delight! While she had gone through some tough times, including battling breast cancer, she was always extremely happy and inviting which made for a great experience. We had a daunting scope of work, but my team tackled it with vigor. I am happy to say that we completely finished everything that we were tasked to do, and leaving Ms. Anderson with a fresh interior and a completely redone exterior.”

Tim was interviewed by a local Oklahoma City TV station about his experience.  Tim’s interview is available here.

This work week was hosted by Rebuilding Together Oklahoma City (OKC). Rebuilding Together CapacityCorps is a National Direct AmeriCorps program with 65 full-time members serving at 35 local affiliates in 20 states. Rebuilding Together AmeriCorps members build the capacity of grassroots Rebuilding Together programs so that they become sustainable, effective and efficient in helping additional low-income homeowners in need.

Minnesota Twins Help Renovate Transitional Home for Veterans

On December 17th, 20 volunteers from the Minnesota Twins rolled up their sleeves to help renovate a home that will become transitional housing for homeless veterans.  This home is owned and operated by the Minnesota Assistance Council for Veterans, a strong partner of Rebuilding Together.  Volunteers from the Twins painted the interior of the main floor of the home, wrapped the hot water heater with a blanket, repaired the dryer vent, insulated the rim joists, installed no-slip stair treads, and did general cleaning in the basement.

Thanks to everyone who volunteered that day to help our veterans have a place to call home!

Gift Wrapping Event at Mall of America a Success!

Thanks again to HGTV and all of the volunteers who came together to help with the gift wrapping volunteer event at the Mall of America in November and December!  We raised more than $5,300 thanks to your efforts!

We would like to extend a special thanks to HGTV for giving us the opportunity to participate in this event.  We would also like to thank Rebecca Aiken and John Feldbruegge for helping to organize and recruit volunteers.  Thanks to our shift captains for their leadership, and integrity in handling our equipment, donations, and reputation.  Thanks to the volunteer teams from MidCountry Bank, Wells Fargo, Constance Free Church, and Minnehaha Academy who organized and helped with both gift wrapping and promoting the event at the mall.  And, thanks to all of our volunteers for their enthusiasm, gift wrapping skills, and flexibility in working with HGTV and their production staff.