Mankato Partnering Community

The Affiliate began building in 1990 when the Affiliate was granted official status. The Affiliate's Partnering Community of Mankato has built in Mankato, North Mankato, Kasota, Eagle Lake, Lake Crystal and Mapleton.

The Mankato Partnering Community has completed 50 homes and has another four under construction. The latest builds are at a 13-lot subdivision, "Habitat Park", which is on Rogers Street in the Sibley Park neighborhood. This is the largest subdivision that the affiliate has ever done.

The first home completed in Habitat Park was made possible through a Thrivent Builds grant. The new homeowners moved in December 2010.

ThriventBuilds!

Julie Schmillen, Executive Director of Habitat for Humanity of South Central MN, 507.388.2081, email: hfhscmn@hickorytech.net

Gary Irmiter, Financial Representative for Thrivent Financial for Lutherans, (507) 354-6466, email: gary.irmiter@thrivent.com

Habitat for Humanity of South Central MN joins $9.2 million national home-building effort in 2012

Mankato/St. Peter, Minn. (Dec. 5, 2011) – Habitat for Humanity of South Central MN learned recently that it has been awarded two $65,000 grants to build one home in St. Peter and one home in Mankato.

This grant, providing 55 percent of the cost of construction, comes from Minneapolis-based Thrivent Financial for Lutherans’ unique partnership with Habitat for Humanity International: Thrivent Builds with Habitat for Humanity.

Habitat for Humanity of South Central MN is celebrating their award in conjunction with an international announcement made Dec. 5, 2011, in Minneapolis, Minn., when the partnership’s $160 million mark was surpassed with a $9.2 million commitment for 2012, the seventh year of a strong alliance between the two organizations. 

Habitat for Humanity’s relationship with Thrivent Financial brings the financial, volunteer and advocacy resources of Thrivent Financial together with the affordable housing construction leadership of hundreds of local Habitat for Humanity affiliates. To date, more than 480,000 volunteers have donated more than three million hours to construct 1,600 homes in the U.S.

The 2012 commitment will fund the construction and rehabilitation of 142 Habitat for Humanity homes in 32 U.S. states, including the home built by Habitat for Humanity of South Central MN in St. Peter and Mankato. Locally, the Southern MN regional field office of Thrivent Financial will supply 100 member and employee volunteers.

“The Thrivent Builds alliance is helping Habitat for Humanity of South Central MN increase the number of families served in our community,” said Julie Schmillen, Executive Director. “We are so grateful for Thrivent’s support of our efforts to provide decent, affordable homes in partnership with families in need”.

Thrivent Builds with Habitat for Humanityis a multi-year, multi-million dollar partnership between Thrivent Financial for Lutherans and Habitat for Humanity International. Thrivent Builds is designed to involve Thrivent members and Lutherans in helping provide a “hand up” to people in need of affordable housing, offering them a path to greater economic independence. Excluding government funding, Thrivent Builds with Habitat for Humanity is Habitat's largest single source of funding, constructing more than 2,700 homes in the U.S. and around the world since 2005. For more information, visit ThriventBuilds.com.

About Thrivent Financial for Lutherans
Thrivent Financial for Lutherans is a not-for-profit, Fortune 500 financial services membership organization helping approximately 2.5 million members achieve financial security and give back to their communities. Thrivent Financial and its affiliates offer a broad range of financial products and services.  As a not-for-profit organization, Thrivent Financial creates and supports national outreach programs and activities that help congregations, schools, charitable organizations and individuals in need. For more information, visit Thrivent.com. Also, you can find us on Facebook and Twitter.

Habitat for Humanity International

Habitat for Humanity International is a global nonprofit Christian housing organization that seeks to put God’s love into action by bringing people together to build homes, communities and hope. Since 1976, Habitat has served more than 500,000 families by welcoming people of all races, religions and nationalities to construct, rehabilitate or preserve homes; by advocating for fair and just housing policies; and by providing training and access to resources to help families improve their shelter conditions. For more information, to donate or to volunteer, please visit www.habitat.org, or follow us at www.facebook.com/habitat or at www.twitter.com/habitat_org or join Habitat’s blog community at www.habitat.org/blog.

Volunteer Spotlight

            What makes Habitat for Humanity amazing? The volunteers do! Volunteers are essential to our mission of eliminating poverty housing from our local community. Volunteers lead with their hearts serving Habitat through committee membership, construction work, fundraising efforts, office projects, and so much more. As Habitat Staff we hold tales of many unsung heroes: here is the story of one of those trailblazers.

December's Spotlight:

Abram Smith

            As one of the largest nonprofit organizations in the world, Habitat for Humanity requires thousands of volunteers ensuring daily construction operations run smoothly. These volunteer bases of amazing folks lend diversity to the Habitat team. Abram Smith is one of these amazing persons volunteering construction talent at Habitat for Humanity of South Central Minnesota. As a specialist in roofing, Abram volunteers regularly at Habitat Park  on Rogers Street in West Mankato building new homes with and for families in need.

            Abram, a long-time commercial roofer, decided on a change of pace and lifestyle and turned to volunteering after gentle encouragement from his mother.  While volunteering on the construction team, he meets many “good people” on a daily basis while exercising his many gifts and talents toward an amazing cause. Abram enjoys his volunteer time as a Habitat Construction Crew member, gaining new construction skills and honing old ones. Abram meets new people daily and “comes home stress-free after volunteering all day”. We at Habitat for Humanity of South Central MN thank Abram as he exercises his previous occupational skills as one of the lead workers on the Habitat roofing team. Abram is rewarded every day at the jobsite knowing he makes “a positive impact”. He also comments on how his construction knowledge base is growing thanks to the mentorship of Construction Manager, Ben Schmillen.

Abram Smith is an amazing man who enjoys interior design and desires to continue working in construction and building houses in a stress-free environment. The Habitat for Humanity team is honored to know Abram Smith and is proud he is a part of the Habitat Construction Team. From the bottom of our heart, we thank you! Your work is outstanding and your enthusiasm contagious. For more information about how you can make a difference in your community like Abram by volunteering at Habitat for Humanity of South Central MN, please contact Kelli Hanson, Volunteer Coordinator, at 507-388-2081.

The October/November 2011 Spotlight is on…

Derek Eiden

            Communities are not built overnight, and Habitat for Humanity of South Central MN can certainly attest to this truth as eliminating poverty housing is an ongoing effort. As a non-profit organization armed with limited resources, extensive planning and preparation is poured into every home before construction even begins. People behind the scenes are constantly working to turn home owning dreams to reality, amazing people like Derek Eiden.

            Derek started as an intern in the Habitat of Humanity of South Central Minnesota office during the Spring Semester of 2011. Derek began his Habitat career working on diverse projects ranging from event planning and fundraising, to volunteer recruitment, code compliance research, and grant writing. A student at Minnesota State University, Mankato, Derek is graduating December 2011 with a degree in Urban and Regional Studies. He is also pursuing a Certificate in Nonprofit Leadership, in which gaining field experience is what originally brought Derek to Habitat. His commitment to the Habitat mission did not end with his internship, as he continues to volunteer regularly at the office.

            Derek’s proudest moment volunteering with Habitat was when one of the many grants he worked on reached the second round of the selection process, an impressive feat considering the large number of proposals reviewed. “You are competing against a lot of organizations in the Twin Cities,” Derek pointed out. Currently Derek is collaborating with a Grants Administration course at MSU, with our Resource Development Manager Nicole, in which the class will help research grants for Habitat. “The Grants Administration students will generate fresh ideas with their knowledge of local resources,” Derek said, “and with around 25 students in the class the ideas will be plentiful”.

            For Derek, the largest reward in volunteering with Habitat is, “Seeing the impact you have on families,” Derek stated, “Which can be strongly emotional during home dedication event”. Attending the dedication ceremonies for families moving into their new homes, is a “moving experience,” he says, which “motivates you to keep working and helping others".

            In the future Derek would like to work overseas. He plans to study Social Policy in Europe or Urban Studies in New Zealand. People like Derek fuel the never-ending Habitat mission to build and improve communities around the world. For more information about how you can make a difference in your community like Derek volunteering at Habitat for Humanity of South Central MN, please contact Kelli Hanson, Volunteer Coordinator, at 507-388-2081. On behalf of HFHSCMN staff, we thank you Derek for your outstanding work and contagious enthusiasm.