Who We Are and What We Do
MISSION
The mission of Hearts & Hammers –Twin Cities is to provide exterior home improvement assistance for Senior Citizens, Disabled Adults, and Veterans of the United States Armed Forces or their Surviving Spouse so that they may continue living independently.
This is accomplished by organizing teams of volunteers and providing them with the necessary leadership, expertise, resources, and materials. A typical Hearts & Hammers home requires significant exterior painting, moderate carpentry, and landscaping to restore the weatherproofing, security, and overall appearance of the home. Assistance is provided at no cost to homeowners and is completed on Program Days held multiple yearly. Program Days represent the culmination of multiple activities, including:
Home selection, team captain training, a needs assessment, materials and resource coordination, volunteer registration, and site preparation.
Labor for Program Days is provided by teams of volunteers from Twin Cities-area businesses, professional associations, and churches. An average team consists of fifty volunteers from up to three different organizations. Hearts & Hammers recommends that volunteering organizations make monetary or other contributions to help cover the costs associated with rehabilitating their home on Program Day. In return, Hearts & Hammers provides teams with materials and supplies, including ladders, scrapers, paint, pails, brushes, etc. dumpsters, portable restrooms, and boom lifts (if necessary) are also provided by Hearts & Hammers for each site.
Learn More About Volunteering.
HISTORY
In the 1980s, returned Peace Corps volunteer architect Bob Walker and the Dallas Chapter of returned Peace Corps volunteers sought to create a social activity that would allow them to utilize their experiences for the benefit of the community. They began by refurbishing an elderly minister’s home. The following year nine homes were refurbished and Hearts & Hammers- Dallas was born. Mr. Walker recognized the overwhelming need for home rehab among people that had the most difficult time affording or performing such improvements: senior citizens, disabled adults, veterans or their surviving spouses, and those immediately above or below the poverty level.
Following his relocation to the Twin Cities, Mr. Walker created the second chapter of Hearts & Hammers in 1997. On October 1st, 2018 Hearts & Hammers began the transition of Metro Paint-A-Thon from the Great Minneapolis Community Connections (GMCC). Metro Paint-A-Thon has served more than 7,000 low-income households over 35 years with home improvements and exterior home painting. GMCC wanted to ensure that these important services for elders and homeowners with disabilities continue and expand. “Hearts & Hammers is the perfect home for Metro Paint-A-Thon to continue and thrive given their mission to provide exterior home improvement assistance for senior citizens, disabled adults, and veterans.”
~GMCC
In 2019 Hearts & Hammers will coordinate approximately 2,000 volunteers from more than 70 different organizations to refurbish homes throughout the Twin Cities.
DONATE
Your donation helps ensure that deserving homeowners in the Twin Cities can get the assistance they need to help them continue living independently in their own homes. Because of our unique volunteer-driven program, Hearts & Hammers dedicates $0.83 of every dollar donated directly to provide assistance to those in need.
$0.83 of Every Dollar Is Donated Directly to Providing Assistance for Those in Need
Hearts & Hammers Most Recent 990
GOVERNANCE
Hearts & Hammers – Twin Cities, Inc. is a private, non-profit 501(c)(3) organization which is governed by its volunteer Board of Directors.
Officers
KARL WEISSENBORN | CHAIR | Short Elliott Hendrickson
TONY YANKAUSKAS | TREASURER | CMA
AMY THOMPSON | SECRETARY | McGough Construction
Board of Directors
TERRY COLEMAN | Kraus-Anderson Construction
AMBER KOEHLER | Target Corporation
ELLING OLSON | Sambatek
JOE PRITZKOW | Mortenson Construction
TERRY SHIDLA | CISSP
Board of Directors at Large
CHARLES CAMPION | Final Coat Painting
Executive Staff
RANDI PREBIL | EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
MELANIE MCCORMICK | OPERATIONS MANAGER
CLAUDIA BOYSEN | EXECUTIVE ADMIN
