April 2009
Dakota Woodlands is the only facility for homeless women and children in Dakota County.
Our mission is to empower homeless women to create stable futures for their families.
Links:
From Our Executive Director
Reyne Branchaud-Linsk
This is National Volunteer Week. Each year there is a theme to celebrate volunteerism. This year's theme is Celebrating People in Action; a perfect theme to acknowledge the many people who support our work. We are so grateful to the many people who help us by their actions, helping our residents and our organization.
We have over 1000 people annually supporting our work. We absolutely need you!!!!
If you aren't yet committed to volunteer time, we'd be thrilled to have your support. Our volunteer coordinator, Anne would be happy to discuss opportunities to assist in our work.
You don't have to make a big commitment; we're happy to have your assistance no matter your schedule.
Below you will learn more about some current highlights. I want to personally invite you to consider coming to our HOMES event on Saturday, May 9th. This is a perfect event or invite some friends, family or neighbors to come and learn about our work. We promise to offer a wonderful program and delicious continental breakfast in one hour.
Happy Spring
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Call Us today
To reserve your space(s)
May 9, 2009 -- 8:30-9:30 a.m.
You are cordially invited to a free breakfast event to learn more about Dakota Woodlands.
This is our sixth annual HOMES event. This year's event will be held just a mile from our place, at Oak Hills Church, 1570 Yankee Doodle Road in Eagan.
Held each year, the Saturday morning before Mother's Day
This one hour event offers an opportunity to
Listen to the stories of mothers who have experienced homelessness and success
Learn about the many ways you can help Dakota Woodlands in our mission
This is a great way to introduce your friends and family to Dakota Woodlands.
Reservations are necessary, please contact Abby today to reserve your seat(s)
at 651-289-3567 (direct phone number) or click here now to email her at resource@dakotawoodlands.org
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April 19-25, 2009
This years theme is Celebrating People in Action. It refers to honoring individuals who dedicate themselves to taking action in order to solve problems in their communities.
Volunteer of the Month
Alison Lang
She's Chef Alison to us. We are so happy to share a bit about this month's volunteer of the month. Alison Lang came to Dakota Woodlands as a single parent with a young daughter.
Her daughter needs special care and much attention. But Alison thought that her demands as a parent illustrated her needs for support and felt it was also a great time to give back to others. She told us, "working with women in difficult situations is close to my heart."
Alison is active with PACER in many ways including their puppet project to teach children about other children's needs and disabilities. She's worked with patients coping with Alzheimer’s disease, is active in her church, teaches Sunday school, works on a Parent Advocacy Coalition for Educational Rights and has taken the time to volunteer at Dakota Woodlands once a week to teach our residents to prepare meals. As a trained and talented chef, we are so lucky to have her offer her skills to help our residents. This week she taught residents to make spinach and artichoke stuffed pork chops with AMAZINGLY prepared fresh vegetables.
We asked our residents what they'd want to say about Alison. They talked about her great food. We heard wonderfully descriptive words...."kind" "patient" "creative" "nice" "awesome" and they said... "she works so well with all of us" "she makes me feel comfortable even if I don't know how to cook" and "she's helped me to try foods that I never would have though I'd like."
Thank you Alison for all you do!!! Thank you for sharing your skills with us.
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Current Volunteer Needs
Dakota Woodlands will be holding our 4th annual Flying Home Event, October 10th.
We are seeking volunteers for our planning committee. We are looking for people to share their talents to help us enhance this amazing and successful event.
- Help to organize/collect art, crafts and collectibles for our Birdhouse Boutique or...
- Help with marketing the event or...
- Help to invite people to the event.
Please contact Reyne at 651-456-9110 or by email reyne@dakotawoodlands.org to learn more about our event and our committee needs.
We welcome you to share your talents with us.
Other volunteer needs....
For anyone in high school or older....
*Help our staff provide children's activities and loving care any evening from 6-8:30 p.m.
*Light cleaning help, sorting donations, and kitchen help.(Nearly anytime works for us.)
For more information about these or other volunteer opportunities
please contact Anne, our Volunteer Coordinator at
651-289-3565 (direct phone number) or email her at volunteer@dakotawoodlands.org.
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April Partnership of the Month
A.B.L.E. Chiropractic, Dr. Brian Smith
Every month, so many local organizations support our work. For April we are highlighting Dr. Brian Smith and his team at A.B.L.E. Chiropractic in Apple Valley who have helped us for many months in different ways. They are great partners.
When Dr. Brian learned about us, he instantly knew that he wanted to support Dakota Woodlands. As a small business owner in the community, he wanted to support a local organization. He said, "many people wouldn't think homelessness exists in our area, your work really shows a need and I support what you do." For many months, A.B.L.E. has supported us in a variety of ways including: collecting many bags of groceries to help stock our pantry during the holidays, donating his chiropractic services in return for financial contributions to Dakota Woodlands, and being a participant in our efforts to raise a Pot of Gold this March. Dr. Brian also makes a point to tell people about Dakota Woodlands and the work we do every opportunity. " A.B.L.E. Chiropractic is committed to supporting Dakota Woodlands in the future."
Dr. Brian’s commitment is a perfect example of how a local business can make a big difference.
To find out more about how utilizing Dr. Brian’s services can help support Dakota Woodlands you can contact him at 952-953-4466. Feel free to tell him you read about him in our newsletter.
Thank you Dr Brian and your team.
We are grateful for the companies, individuals and groups that helped to collect a Pot of Gold during March. We raised $1,700 through coin collections!
Each month we will focus on a new partnership, a new idea or feature a sponsor of Dakota Woodlands Contact Abby at (651) 289-3567 or resource@dakotawoodlands.org if you are interested in partnering with us.
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Current Needs List:
It is garage sale season!! We are so grateful for the many people who plan to have garage sales or love to shop at garage sales and think of us. Our resident store is where we have wonderful items that residents earn for their new homes. We need kitchen items... specifically blenders and other small kitchen appliances, sets of pots and pans, silverware, pot holders, kitchen towels, cereal bowls and sturdy plastic glasses.
• We need an overstuffed chair in great shape for our lounge in any color that matches our plain tan colored couch.
• Adult and childrens' socks
• Barely used seasonal clothing for young boys.
We update our web site frequently, please go to the Current Needs page to learn about what is most needed at the time. Please contact Abby at 651-289-3567 (direct phone number) or email resource@dakotawoodlands.org if you'd like to collect items for us.
If you are hosting a garage sale, a simple fundraising idea could be to collect change for Dakota Woodlands as a part of the event. Contact Abby, we'd love to provide brochures or info about our work to partner with you.
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3430 Wescott Woodlands
Eagan, MN 55123
Phone: 651-456-9110
www.dakotawoodlands.org