May 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
Happy Summer!!!
It is looking so beautiful around our facility. We have lovely flowers, bushes and such. Even the trees are delightful this time of the year.
Speaking of summer, we are looking forward to a fun celebration that we do in June. We host an end of the school year party. We invite back former residents who lived here during the school year. It is always great to see the families and hear about their continued success. I love it that they share their opinions and suggestions with current residents to help them cope with living here now and facing their challenges.
In this issue of our Digest, we are happy to tell you about our HOMES event and Mother's Day at Dakota Woodlands.
Summer is a time when we typically have less financial support and limited volunteerism here. So, we are sharing some of our needs and hopes that you might be able to assist us, while you too enjoy the summer months.
Best Wishes,
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We held our HOMES event on May 9th. This was our sixth annual HOMES event. We had a new venue at the Oak Hills Church in Eagan.
The event was so successful in introducing people to our work. Our speaker was Nancy Brule a professor at Concordia University. She told a heartfelt personal and professional story about coping with homelessness and family struggles herself. The highlight of the event is hearing from former residents. We had a panel of three moms who talked about their challenges and many successes. They proudly talked about all they've accomplished.
Many of the guests offered to assist Dakota Woodlands through collections of items that we need or volunteerism. We also raised some funds at this event We raised over $5,000 from the guests, which was a welcome surprise!!!
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Volunteer of the Month
Jean Dubbink
Jean Dubbink is our May Volunteer of the Month. Jean started volunteering at Dakota Woodlands last fall. She helped unload, sort and assist other volunteers with our Second Harvest Food Deliveries on Fridays. Since then, she's assisted with many other donations. She currently assists at the reception desk on a weekly basis. Recently Jean used her creative talents to assemble an amazing scrapbook of Dakota Woodlands. This Scrapbook can be used at various events around the community such as outreach and volunteer fairs as a tool to show people all about the work we do here at Dakota Woodlands. It is truly a gift. Jean says that volunteering at Dakota Woodlands is “fun, the people are great and there is something new every day.”
Not only does Jean volunteer at Dakota Woodlands, she's a member of Easter Lutheran Church and mentors for a confirmation group therer. Jean also volunteers at the Eagan Resource Center, is the fundraising coordinator for the Eagan HS Boys Lacrosse Booster Club, and is the Volunteer Coordinator for Families of Spinal Muscular Atrophy's annual golf tournament.
In her free time, Jean likes to garden, cook, walk her dog and enjoys time with her husband and two children. We are very thankful for all of Jean’s time and talents.
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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.
- Do you like crafts, boutique items or collectibles... we need leadership with our Birdhouse Boutique
- 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....
*** During the summertime, we typically have less volunteers to assist with sorting, cleaning and typical household needs. We also have more children here during the summer and we really welcome evening volunteers to assist with activities and child care. We welcome your support for a few hours a month.
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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Partnership of the Month
Stephanie Bierman, Eric Perez, Mouy Heng and the freshman class
at Apple Valley High School
For the Month of May we have decided to highlight three amazing freshman students at Apple Valley High School. As a part of their civics curriculum these three students chose to do a project on homelessness which brought them to Dakota Woodlands. After they learned about homelessness, they decided that they wanted to do something to make an impact. They sure made one. These three teenagers organized and promoted a penny war between the freshman houses at their high school which raised over $900 for supportive services here at Dakota Woodlands! They were in charge of every aspect from asking teachers for their assistance to collecting, challenging their classmates, counting the money and reporting to us.
As a follow up to their project these three students created a video about homelessness and have posted it on YouTube. We invite you to follow this link and watch this short piece on homelessness. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BU4Jw64HvGk We think they did a great job.
Thank you so much to Stephanie, Eric and Mouy. We also can’t forget to mention the generosity and support that the freshman student body and the faculty at Apple Valley High School were in this process.
These students are a perfect example of how one seemingly small group can make a big impact.
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:
As summer approaches, the financial support is generally less than the end of the year gifts that we receive. We also typically have more families needing our support. So, we are always seeking fun ways to raise funding during the summer months. It is a great time for a Vacation Bible School group to collect change, a family gathering to invite members to bring items that we need or maybe your youth group wants to hold a car wash. Our fundraising assistant would love to help you brainstorm. Please think of us for a collection of change, paper products or other needs. Please contact Abby at 651-289-3567 or resource@dakotawoodlands.org
If you have the ability to send us a contribution, we are grateful for your donations. (Every amount matters!!) They are fully tax deductible.
If you are having a garage sale, a simple fundraising idea could be to collect change for Dakota Woodlands as a part of the event. We'd love to provide brochures or info about our work to partner with you.
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We are so grateful for the many people who donate items from their garage sales or simply 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.
Our other needs include...
• New 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.
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3430 Wescott Woodlands
Eagan, MN 55123
Phone: 651-456-9110
www.dakotawoodlands.org