Thanks Again for Making the American Indian Family Center Project a HUGE Success!

“Mii Gwech” is Objibwe for “thank you.”  The American Indian Family Center and Rebuilding Together Twin Cities would like to thank everyone who came together to renovate the American Indian Family Center in St. Paul.  Together, we created a teaching kitchen that will be used to provide classes on nutrition and cooking; renovated the bathroom to make it ADA compliant; and landscaped, painted, and made other improvements to Center.   Through this project, sponsored by Maxwell House Drops of Good, we have created a more welcoming and functional space for the people the Center serves.

On Tuesday, August 7th, we hosted a ribbon-cutting ceremony that was attended Brad Radke, former Minnesota Twins player and Minnesota Twins Hall of Famer, and several local, state and federal elected officials, including  U.S. Representative Betty McCollum, Mayor Chris Coleman, Saint Paul City Council President Kathy Lantry, Saint Paul Council Member Amy Brendmoen and Sheriff Matt Bostrom.  Thank you for joining us for this special event!

We would also like to thank the amazing volunteers and local contributors to this project, including the Pohlad Foundation, True North Remodeling, On Site Sanitation, Warners Stellian, Yarusso Brothers Italian Restaurant, Minnesota Timberwolves, Autumn Oaks Landscaping, Cub Foods, Stemwedel Murdoch Architecture, Valspar and the East Side Development Company.  Your efforts have made a difference in the lives of the people served by this important community center!

 

Board of Directors Update

Over the last several months, we have had several new additions to our Board of Directors.  Most recently, Sara Aschenbrener of Walker Methodist and Major General Robert Shadley (retired) of Shadley Consulting joined the Board.  We also welcomed Alex Phung of Dorsey & Whitney and John Plifka of Green Products Corporation to the Board last fall.

We are also pleased to announce the new officers of the Board.  Bart Foreman of Group3 Marketing is the Board President; Paul Mellblom of Meyer Scherer & Rockcastle is the Vice President; Ben Lampron of Honeywell is the Secretary; and Steven Frederickson of The Lucidity Group is the Treasurer.

Moving On: AmeriCorps Term of Service Ends

Rebuilding Together Twin Cities was incredibly fortunate to have Lisa Berglund and Tyler White serve as AmeriCorps members with us over the last year.  Their terms of service ended this month, and we would like to thank them for their hard work and dedication.

Lisa Berglund served as the AmeriCorps Project Coordinator, working alongside our Construction Manager to oversee our Home Repair and Nonprofit Facility projects from start to finish.  Lisa is planning to move to Los Angeles where she will pursue a PhD in Urban Planning at the University of California at Los Angeles.

Tyler White served as the AmeriCorps Safe at Home Coordinator and managed all aspects of the Safe at Home program.  Tyler has accepted the position of Officer Manager for Rebuilding Together Twin Cities.  We are thrilled that he’s going to remain on staff!

Lisa and Tyler have been incredible to work with over the last year.  Your hard work, dedication, professionalism and enthusiasm for our mission have proven invaluable.  Best of luck with this next chapter of your lives!

 

Thanks To….

The Old St. Patrick’s Foundation Volunteer Team – these awesome volunteers worked at our warehouse; painted and landscaped for a North Minneapolis homeowner; installed flooring and painted for a St. Paul homeowner; and painted for another North Minneapolis homeowner.  Thank you for all of your hard work!!

The Catholic Heart Workcamp Volunteer Team – for the fourth year in a row, this hardworking team joined us for a week of service and worked on the home of a veteran in St. Paul, organized our warehouse and made other repairs for a single mother of four in St. Paul.  Thanks!  We look forward to working with you again next year!

Mariette, Emily and Brittany – one of our most dedicated volunteers, Mariette Cole, recently teamed up with Emily and Brittany Penning to help finish several home repair projects.  We presented Emily and Brittany with our coveted Green Hammer Award last month to recognize and thank them for their hard work, attention to detail, and commitment.  They have worked on seven rebuild projects in just over six months – thank you!