The Home Depot Gives Back

We were thrilled to host volunteers from The Home Depot to build a ramp for a veteran in need named Diana this month!  Diana is a veteran and former registered nurse. She lives in a mobile home park in Lakeville. Diana has lower back and knee issues due to age. She is unable to afford a ramp currently, and she finds it difficult to climb stairs. The Home Depot provided the funding and volunteers needed to build Diana a ramp, so she can come and go safely and independently from her home.  We are grateful for the support of The Home Depot!

Check Us Out on the Filled to Capacity Podcast!

Our very own Kathy Greiner was recently interviewed for Pat Benincasa’s Filled to Capacity podcast!

Check out her interview HERE.

Thanks to Pat for helping us get the word about the needs in our community and how we are working to address those needs!

Welcome to AmeriCorps Member Julia Bina!

Please join us in welcoming AmeriCorps member Julia Bina to the team!

Julia is a Minnesota native and a graduate of the University of Minnesota Twin Cities, go Gophs! In 2019, she graduated with a degree in Biology and minors in Public Health and Chemistry. 

After graduation, Julia completed a ten-month service term with AmeriCorps NCCC, an AmeriCorps program in which young people travel the country on teams completing service projects. During her term, Julia completed eight service projects in seven different states. She and her team built hiking trails in State Parks, responded to Hurricane Laura, distributed the COVID-19 vaccine, and even helped to restore a historic African American cemetery. 

Julia is excited to apply what she learned during her service to help her own community here in the Twin Cities. When she is not working, you can probably find Julia trying out a new coffee shop or restaurant in the Twin Cities or planning her next trip to someplace she has never been before. A fun fact about Julia is that she studied the predation of marine iguanas abroad in the Galápagos Islands during her undergraduate career!

Julia will serve a year with us as an AmeriCorps CapacityCorps member. Rebuilding Together CapacityCorps is a National Direct AmeriCorps program with AmeriCorps members serving 11 months at Rebuilding Together affiliates around the country. Members help improve the lives of their neighbors in need through hands-on home repairs and community outreach, while earning a living stipend and an education award to help with educational expenses.

AmeriCorps members play a critical role in our work to provide needed repairs and accessibility modifications for our neighbors in need. We are thrilled to have Julia on our team!

2022 Accomplishments

With your support last year, we were able to preserve affordable homeownership and address health and safety hazards at 285 homes, directly impacting the well-being of 392 low-income residents!  Together, we:

  • Provided accessibility modifications at 105 homes through our Safe at Home program.
  • Made critical repairs to 161 homes through our Home Repair program.
  • Distributed Safe at Home kits to 122 households with older adults in the home.
  • Revitalized and improved six nonprofit facilities and community spaces, impacting the 626 clients served through those facilities.
  • Safely partnered with 573 volunteers who gave 4,033 hours of their time to help those in need in our community.
  • Partnered with St. Catherine University’s Occupational Therapy program to provide hands-on, field experience for Occupational Therapy students, while also facilitating valuable home assessments for all of our Safe at Home clients.

We helped Diondra, who shares her manufactured home with her partner and their three children. The family was in danger of being evicted because they could not afford to fix their siding. When we visited the home as part of our intake process, we discovered that their furnace and air conditioning also needed to be repaired. The family had been using space heaters and portable air conditioning units which were extremely costly to operate. One of their daughters has a condition that causes her faint if she gets too hot. We installed new siding and replaced the furnace and air conditioning, preventing eviction and homelessness for the family, reduced the family’s energy bills and directly improving the health and well-being of their daughter.

We also assisted Brian, a veteran of the Air Force, and his wife Linda, who live in Dayton’s Bluff.  Brian lost one of his lower legs three years ago due to a diabetic infection, and has been struggling to keep up with home repairs he and his wife need. Brian regularly volunteers as a mentor for veterans that were involved in the conflicts in the Middle East, providing friendship and teaching them how to work with stained glass (one of his passions). The work we completed will alleviate stress for Brian and Linda and ensure their home is well-maintained for years to come.

We are thankful for everyone who supported our work in 2022. Together, we will ensure that more of our neighbors in need have a safe and healthy place to call home!