The Housing First Minnesota Foundation is grateful to everyone who donated and attended the ninth annual Fundraising Gala on May 20. Close to 400 builders, remodelers, trade partners, and supporters joined together and raised over $315,000 to support our work to build new and renovate existing transitional housing for Minnesota’s homeless, veterans, and others in need.
Proceeds from the event will help support these projects in 2022:
- Housing for Heroes for Veterans and Veteran Families Experiencing Homelessness: Construction of four new transitional for homeless veteran families who are clients of the Minnesota Assistance Council for Veterans (MACV) in North Minneapolis. All four homes will have an accessory dwelling (ADU)—a smaller independent residential dwelling unit on the same lot. Construction will begin this summer.
- Apartment Renovations for Women in Recovery: Renovations of two basement apartment units that provide housing for women undergoing chemical dependency treatment provided by Avivo. This facility allows children to live with their mother as she recovers from chemical addiction. Renovations will be completed by the end of the year.
The need is still great for safe, dependable, affordable housing for Minnesota’s homeless, veterans and others in need. Please consider donating to help support the work of the Housing First Minnesota Foundation at HousingFirstMNFoundation.org.
The Foundation honored its 2021 award recipients and build partners
The Hearts in Housing award is given to an individual or company who goes above and beyond in their support of the Foundation. This year’s Hearts in Housing award recipient is Lynne Jensen-Nelson.
The Distinguished Service Award recognizes a person or company who has gone above and beyond in service to the Foundation for five years or more and has an impactful, long-standing record of contributions to the Foundation and the community it serves. This year’s Distinguished Service award recipient is Bob Bennett.
Pictured here: award winners Lynne Jensen-Nelson (left), Foundation President Kate Hamilton (middle), and Bob Bennett (right)
Our 2021 community build partners were also recognized for their significant contributions to projects last year. These companies are integral to how the Foundation works by stepping forward to serve as the general contractor on Foundation building projects. Our community build partners are:
- Lennar
- The Kingdom Builders
- John Kraemer and Sons, Inc.
- Plekkenpol Builders, Inc.
Our generous supporters showed how much they cared
After hearing how our worked helped to change an Avivo participants life, in true solidarity, builders, remodelers, trade associates and supporters raised their bidding paddles and contributed over $100,000 to support future build projects. The silent auction had over 100 items that were donated by community members including vacation packages, concert tickets, the latest tech accessories and so much more!
This year’s live auction featured eight items including:
- CLOSET OF YOUR DREAMS Donated by Twin Cities Closet Company
- WINE COUNTRY OASIS IN SONOMA FOR TWO
- MN VIKINGS POLARIS CLUB PACKAGE Donated by Minnesota Rusco
- VIP BROADWAY EXPERIENCE IN NYC FOR TWO
- PRIVATE CHEF EXPERIENCE Donated by Gotcha Covered
- CAMBRIA COUNTERTOPS Donated by CAMBRIA
- PAIR OF ELECTRIC BIKES Donated by Richard & Bonnie Berg
- LIGHTING PACKAGE Donated by Muska Lighting
And our attendees had an amazing night!
The Foundation Gala was filled with positive energy as the industry came together to make a lasting impact on the lives of those in need. It was a night of food, fun, and Hollywood Glam!
Photo booth images can be viewed & downloaded here.
View the full photo gallery here.
Every gift makes a difference!
To support our community build projects, you can donate online now.
