Breaking Ground for Transitional Home for Veteran Families in Crisis

We were thrilled to break ground last month on a very exciting project!  In collaboration with the Builders Association of the Twin Cities Foundation, Minnesota Assistance Council for Veterans, and Lennar Homes, we will construct a new transitional home for veteran families in crisis in Saint Paul.

The home will have five bedrooms and two bathrooms, with the first floor being wheelchair accessible, and the Minnesota Assistance Council for Veterans (MACV) will operate the home.  MACV has beds established for single veterans, however, they do not have any spaces for homeless veterans who have dependent children.  This home will meet a critical unmet need in our community.  We plan to finish the home in time to be included in the fall Parade of Homes, which begins on September 9th.

We would like to recognize our sponsors, including the Sears Heroes at Home program, Saint Paul Housing and Redevelopment Authority, and Lennar Homes.  We would also like to thank Council Member Jane Prince, Saint Paul City Council, Ward 7, Dayton’s Bluff Neighborhood Housing Services and City of Saint Paul – Government staff for helping to make this project happen!

To read more about the project, click here.

Thanks To…

Gray Plant Moody – Volunteers partnered with us on October 14th at Avenues for Homeless Youth to work on a basketball sport court.

Builders Association of the Twin Cities – We appreciate your efforts to continue to help a former Marine and his family with critical repairs to their home.

Boston Scientific Makes Zack’s House a Home

We were thrilled to partner with 30 Boston Scientific volunteers on June 13th to landscape at Zack Mohs’ house in South St. Paul.

Zack grew up in South St. Paul and was nearly killed after being run over and dragged by a hit-and-run driver while trying to cross an intersection in Anchorage, Alaska in 2012. He was in a coma for a month and suffered a traumatic brain injury, fractured vertebrae, an amputated leg and broken bones.  Zack is in a wheelchair and is still undergoing outpatient physical and occupational therapy at the Courage Center.

The Builders Association of the Twin Cities (BATC) Foundation has been working with Zack and his mother, Cheryl, to help build an accessible home for Zack on land Cheryl purchased in South St. Paul.  Through generous contributions from BATC’s members and funds raised through Barnraisings, Zack’s home has become a reality.

With the support and hard work of Boston Scientific volunteers, we were able to help make Zack’s house more of a home this month.  Volunteers landscaped the yard and exterior of the home, including laying sod and planting flowers and bushes.

Thank you to everyone who has come together to bring Zack home!

National Rebuilding Day Was a Huge Success!

Thanks again to the hundreds of volunteers who braved the rain to help 25 families in need on April 28th for National Rebuilding Day!  Thanks to your efforts, we were able to help homeowners like Erin, a proud owner of her Camden Neighborhood home.  Erin’s grandson recently began living with her, and because of the expense of taking care of him, she is not able to afford repairs to her home.  In her thank you note to the volunteers who worked with her, Erin wrote, “Thank you for allowing my house to become more of a home.”

We would also like to thank U.S. Senator Al Franken, who came out to meet volunteers and one of the homeowners we helped that day, as well as MN Housing Commissioner Mary Tingerthal, State Senator Linda Higgins, State Representative Bobby Joe Champion, Minneapolis City Council Member Don Samuels, and Rebecca Lucero from Congressman Keith Ellison’s office.

Finally, we would like to thank our sponsors and partners for National Rebuilding Day, including Wells Fargo, Builders Association of the Twin Cities Foundation, Honeywell, MidCountry Bank, US Bank, On Site Sanitation, Valspar, Catholic United Financial, Lowe’s, Caribou Coffee, Subway, CitiCargo & Storage, Target, The Big Day of Serving, Dunwoody College of Technology, Tree Trust, Mortenson Construction, Ironwood Carpentry, Neighborhood Improvement Program, American Public Media, Coca-Cola, Cookie Cart, Webster/Windsor Insulation and ABC Supply Company.