Twin Cities Habitat for Humanity has some of the best volunteers in the world—literally! Lou Cristan, 3Mgives regular volunteer extraordinaire, was one of only 20 selected to receive the 2017 3Mgives Global Volunteer Award for outstanding service and impact to the lives of others.

If you partner with Twin Cities Habitat for home repairs, you’ll get to know America Lindgren. As the A Brush with Kindness Program Coordinator, America is with homeowners from start to finish on their home repair journey—from ensuring applications are complete to signing off on the completed project. And while she coordinates projects with families from a distance, she knows first-hand the trials and tribulations of trying to preserve and adapt a home.

“There’s a stark contrast from before we had a Habitat home and had roots planted and after,” Lynnisha says, remembering life before her mom, Betty, bought a home with Twin Cities Habitat for Humanity in 1991.

Allie Berg joined Twin Cities Habitat to find a way to put her faith into action, which just happens to be one of our core values. She started as a Faith Relations intern, and discovered a passion for working directly with families who partner with Twin Cities Habitat. Now, she oversees all of Twin Cities Habitat’s outreach and intake processes, and families are front and center in her mind each day.

With little more than his truck, camper, and a well-stocked toolbelt, Darrell Gilmore (@H4Hnomad on Twitter) has an audacious goal: to volunteer with Habitat for Humanity in every state within one year, making him the first to do so. And he’s well on his way. In fact, when we welcomed him to Twin Cities Habitat for Humanity this week, Minnesota became state number 36.

“We’re here to educate, empower, and protect.”

That was one of the first things Susan Schroeder, Financial Empowerment Program Developer at Dakota County, says as we sit down for a conversation in her office. Together with her colleague, Russell Crissman, they’re doing things differently at Dakota County—in a good way.

We are thrilled to announce that Twin Cities Habitat for Humanity has received $247,108 in AmeriCorps funding from the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS), the federal agency for volunteering and service programs.

This investment will support 26 AmeriCorps members total—22 at Twin Cities Habitat, and an additional 4 who will serve with other Habitat affiliates throughout Minnesota. AmeriCorps members in our program serve in three, six, or twelve-month positions. Without their dedicated service, Habitat for Humanity affiliates across the country would struggle to meet the needs of their communities.

Nicolas Mendler is excited to bring his expertise to the newly created Data and Intake Specialist role on the Homeowner Development team. His smattering of experiences fit in perfectly with the work he’ll be doing. But the journey that led him to Twin Cities Habitat for Humanity wasn’t direct, spanning sectors and crisscrossing continents.

Kathy and David will never forget their first night in their Habitat home. It was the Tuesday before Thanksgiving, and they had closed on the home earlier that day. Leaving their two young boys with David’s parents, they grabbed their sleeping bags and some food for dinner and went to their new home—just the two of them.

“It was so surreal,” says Kathy. “Everything we did – turning on a light, eating dinner on the floor, doing dishes in the sink – reminded me that this was actually my home.”

Chester: an Army Veteran in need of some repair work so he could stay in his longtime home.

Josh: a Senior Operations Manager at Allianz and co-chair of Allianz’s Operation: SERVE, looking for a way to support local veterans so they can stay in their homes as they grow older.

They both found Twin Cities Habitat for Humanity’s A Brush With Kindness paint and repair program. With additional funding and support from the Home Depot Foundation and the City of Minneapolis, it was a perfect match.