This week marks my one-year anniversary as President and CEO of Twin Cities Habitat. In that time, I’ve learned a lot. I have learned how hard our incredible staff work to serve families throughout the community – be it our Homeownership Advisors helping families become homeowners, our Mortgage Foreclosure Prevention specialists keeping families in their homes, our A Brush with Kindness staff doing needed repairs for longtime homeowners, or Age in Place staff pioneering new ways to help our seniors. Through our Multiplying the Impact Campaign, we have doubled the number of families who partner with us. This year, we will help more than 110 families become first-time homeowners.

Last spring, as the search for Sue Haigh’s replacement as CEO of Twin Cities Habitat for Humanity began, a friend reached out to me and asked about my interest in the position. “I love Habitat,” I immediately replied. “I’ve always been interested in housing. But is this the right fit for me?”

Last week, I called my friend in Chico, California, after hearing news of the most recent wildfires raging out West. He and his wife had evacuated their home and were staying with friends. After several days anxiously wondering what had happened to their home, they were notified that, while there was some minor damage, their home was still standing. His brother’s family, who lived in nearby Paradise, wasn’t so lucky. Their home had been burned to the ground. They hadn’t been able to get to the house to retrieve any possessions before the fire came. Everything was gone.

Now that Halloween is behind us, I know what you’re all thinking – what’s next? Luckily, we don’t have to wait until Thanksgiving for the next celebration. Twin Cities Habitat is throwing a big bash on Monday, November 12, and I want you all to join us as we launch the public phase of our Multiplying the Impact campaign.

Minnesota must get its housing in order. Years of steady cost increases and stagnant wage growth have broken home economics across the state. Today’s families must spend significantly greater percentages of their income just on housing (25% of Minnesotans, and 45% of our renters, are cost-burdened and spending more than 30% of their money on housing). This squeezes budgets and forces painful choices that will have long-term consequences—both for individuals and our entire state.

A month has passed since I took over the reins of Twin Cities Habitat for Humanity from Sue Haigh. After 13 years, she left quite a mark on the organization and the community at large.

I am so excited to join the Habitat team and the mission that you
support! It’s an honor to lead an organization that has such great impact—for families, children, and our entire community.