Guest blog by Adrienne Aarts, Leadership Giving Officer

From June 17-20, Twin Cities Habitat for Humanity's Builder’s Circle came out to St. Paul for our annual Builder’s Circle Build to see first-hand the direct impact of their generosity. Our Builder’s Circle members are individuals or families who donate $1,000 or more annually, already leading the way in philanthropy, and this week they got to take a hands-on approach to giving by volunteering on site.

Twin Cities Habitat for Humanity recently kicked off construction at our new development in St. Paul's North End neighborhood. Over the next two years, literally thousands of community members from corporate, faith, and Women Build groups will volunteer on the construction of these 11 homes. There were many partners involved in making this project possible, so it's exciting to see it come to fruition.

Our five-year, $55 million fundraising campaign to double Habitat homeownership opportunities for local families, Multiplying the Impact, is right on track. If you’ve donated or volunteered, you’re part of this campaign. Thank you.

It’s going to take all of us digging deeper to reach our goals. A great way to do that is to lead your very own Habitat build day.

Sound scary? It’s not! Just ask Catina Koenig. Inspired by the campaign, she decided to lead her own build day—even though she had only volunteered with Habitat just once before.

It's been a fun and interesting ride, but the time finally came for the first House That Beer Built to be dedicated!

This story began with a member of the Maple Grove community deciding to donate land and say "yes, in my backyard" to Twin Cities Habitat and the partner family that worked so hard to buy their home.

October 18 was the 4th Annual Senior Pastor Build that brought 11 faith leaders to volunteer on a Twin Cities Habitat for Humanity home. Among the volunteers was Thrivent Financials’ newly named CEO Terry Rasmussen. Chris Coleman, President & CEO of Twin Cities Habitat comments, “Habitat International started on a farm. Twin Cities Habitat started in a church basement, with faith leaders who dared to be bold. Today we must be bold again and multiply our collective impact."

Guest Blog by Tom Prittinen
Twin Cities Habitat Summer AmeriCorps Member

Hey folks!  As a guest writer for this blog, let me introduce myself: 

My name is Tom Prittinen, and I had the opportunity to be one half of the AmeriCorps presence on the Maple Grove build site this summer.  I am a political science major at Saint John’s University, and plan to graduate in the spring. 

The basic philosophy of Habitat for Humanity is simple: neighbors working alongside neighbors to create safe, stable homes and strong communities. But the story of each house has unique characters—homebuyers, volunteers, sponsors, donors, site supervisors, neighbors—who fill the home with energy and love.

Last week, we wrapped up our two-week Rainbow Build in St. Paul. On Monday, August 20 we kicked off the Rainbow Build to carry on the torch that Women Build started on the same home.

With my magical luck within my AmeriCorps summer position, I got the opportunity to volunteer on a build for the first time while also learning more about how I (and other individuals) can support the LGBTQIA+ community. Please take a walk with me through the two weeks of Rainbow Build:

Twin Cities Habitat for Humanity recently received our latest ENERGY STAR certificate, highlighting the 51 ENERGY STAR certified homes we built in 2017. To date with these new homes, we have built 472 Energy Star homes in our region and continue to be the largest ENERGY STAR builder in the state!