As we embrace change, our mission remains steadfast: we will walk alongside families experiencing housing instability by providing a safe and affordable home, family support and encouragement on the journey towards a more stable future
Today, we share an update from Jeff Huggett, Board Director President and acting Executive Director. Here’s what you can expect to learn and how you can be part of shaping our future:
- The Path Ahead: Insights into the board’s decision to transition from our current property and how this aligns with our mission.
- Stories of Impact: Recent examples of how Normandale House has stabilized families in crisis.
- Opportunities for Growth: A look at the exciting possibilities to reimagine our ministry in the Phillips Neighborhood.
- How You Can Help: Ways you can contribute to this transformative journey through leadership, partnership, or active involvement.
Your support has been essential to our work, and your continued engagement will be vital as we take bold steps to amplify our impact.
A letter from the President
Dear supporters of Normandale House,
Traditionally many take the opportunity of an impending close to a calendar year to take stock of what has happened over the past 12 months, and consider goals for the coming calendar year. Normandale House has had an eventful 2024, and this has inspired our board of directors to take stock of our almost 30-year impact on the Phillips Neighborhood of Minneapolis.
The board remains committed to continuing to serve families in the Phillips Neighborhood and believes that housing should be a major part of that ministry. However, the board is weighing the location, scale and specifics of that ministry as we prayerfully consider and dream about the future of Normandale House.
A BIG DECISION
Throughout the history of the Normandale House program, staff and volunteers to provide welcoming housing to families transitioning from homelessness to affordable housing, along with services and support to assist with the transition. Our program relies heavily on our Chicago Avenue tri-plex, which is around 100 years old and is becoming increasingly difficult to maintain, and on staff and volunteers to meet the complex service needs of our families.
Under these circumstances, the board of directors of Normandale House recently unanimously decided to enter into an exclusive contract with Our Saviour’s Lutheran Church for the sale of our tri-plex at 2305 Chicago Avenue.
Our Saviour’s has an exciting plan to redevelop our property (along with the property they own on either side of us) into housing (as many as 40 units) and support space for homeless individuals. This redevelopment will substantially amplify the impact of our property in the neighborhood, ultimately increasing the number of affordable housing units, which is one of the main reasons we unanimously said yes to this proposal. Additionally, the board believes that proceeds from the sale of the Chicago Avenue property will then be available to apply towards our future ministry. It is important to note that this sale contract and redevelopment will not happen right away (we anticipate a closing sometime during 2026), and that gives us time to consider and dream about what the Normandale House ministry might look like going forward.
Future Opportunities
Recently we have had two families successfully move out of Normandale House into more permanent housing arrangements. And at about the same time, we learned that a family with three children at Hope Academy (a longtime partner of ours that is a private K-12 Christian school across the street from Normandale House) was facing eviction. We offered one of our apartments to this family at a major discount to market rent, worked with the existing landlord, and thus helped avoid eviction, stabilized the family budget, and allowed these children to continue their education unimpeded by these adult realities. We have learned there are other Hope Academy families struggling with unaffordable housing costs, and hope that our remaining available apartment can have a similar impact while we await the sale to Our Saviour’s Lutheran Church. These stories powerfully remind us of the profound role affordable housing plays in stabilizing family life. We are thus actively looking for replacement housing to make an impact on more families.
The Normandale Housing Board continues to see a need for affordable housing in the Phillips neighborhood and believes that there is a place and opportunity for us to remain an active presence in this neighborhood. But the future of Normandale House may look different than today.
PARTNERSHIPS FOR THE FUTURE
The Normandale House board wants to continue to serve families in the Phillips Neighborhood, and believes that housing should be a major part of that ministry since it plays such a central role in family life.
In order to secure this vision for the future, we believe we need the following: 1) capital investment, 2) professional partners, 3) leadership, 4) an active and engaged volunteer community, and 5) spirited involvement.
- Capital Investment: Housing is expensive. Rent is expensive. Social services are not free. For almost 30 years we have been paying for these vital things in service to stabilizing the lives of families. Inflation has made all these things more expensive. A new ministry only happens with new money. Proceeds from the Sale of the Chicago property combined with additional capital raised would dramatically increase our financial capabilities to potentially 1) rebuild in a new location, 2) acquire units in a existing facility that NH could support, or 3) amplify our ministry across other affordable housing providers in the immediate neighborhood.
- Professional Partners: In order to be successful going forward, the board has realized that we must have professional property management and professional social service delivery. Various board members have been having robust discussions with Lutheran Social Service, which can provide support for social services, and with a few different property management companies, which can help us effectively own and manage housing
- Leadership: Just like leaders set up Normandale House almost 30 years ago, we need new leaders to step up today to envision and structure what this new ministry will be. Maybe God is calling you to come join this board, or to bring a key group to the table, or to volunteer, or to donate money.
- An Active and Engaged Volunteer Community: Normandale House is unique in that it offers opportunities for families in our program to make meaningful connections with volunteers. The board is committed to offering opportunities for volunteers and supporters to engage with the program and with families, and we are beginning to dream about what those opportunities will look like. Normandale House has always been about changing the lives of both those participating in the program and those supporting the program, and we expect this to remain true in our program going forward.
- Spirited involvement: The Holy Spirit needs to lead us to be involved in a way that makes sense to each one of us, “for when two or three are gathered in My name, I am there in the midst of them.”
This is an exciting time for this ministry and for the faith community that created it almost 30 years ago. We need the involvement of many in a myriad of ways to provide new direction for this time, and for this group, led by the Holy Spirit.
With hope,
Jeff Huggett
President, board of directors
Normandale House