Moving into Autumn
An update from CHILDREN'S LIGHTHOUSE OF MINNESOTA
We hope that you all had a wonderful summer and a smooth transition to all that arrives after Labor Day weekend!
It has been awhile since we connected with you. We have had a busy and exciting summer and everything continues to move forward and unfold towards the dream of opening a children's hospice and respite care home. Thank you for your support to make this so!
Summer Highlights:
June - Thank you to the Nature Valley Bicycle Festival team and all who volunteered to make that such a great event. The 5-day professional race was a great success and we are grateful to announce that Children's Lighthouse of MN has been chosen as the benefiting charity again next year.
July - Thank you to Cities 97 and the City Sampler Charity Team for selecting Children's Lighthouse of MN to receive funds from the proceeds of the Sampler CD. We received our largest donation yet of $35,333!
August - It has been part of the overall plan to hire an executive director and this past month the CLM Board of Directors voted to hire me on a part-time basis as the organization's executive director. I am humbled by the opportunity and am fully committed to moving this mission forward. This mission takes a huge team and I am so thankful to a very long list of people that continue to volunteer to support the organization in all aspects of growth.
Organizational Growth - Since our last update we welcomed Nancy Wilson with the Gillette Children's Specialty Healthcare Foundation to the Board of Directors. Nancy is also the chair of our Development/Fundraising team and has been a great asset to the organization already! We also welcomed Julie Soderlund, formerly with the DHS as a volunteer Outreach Director and Shauna Mahle with United Health Group as our Volunteer Coordinator. We have an amazing team of volunteers working hard and giving so much of their time and expertise to make this dream a reality for children and families, and we thank them for their support!
Our Priorities
In addition to continuing to raise awareness and funds, we continue to work on figuring out a sustainable reimbursement model so that there is no charge to families who will stay at Children's Lighthouse of MN and so that we are able to balance the operational budget to be supported by both philanthropy and third party reimbursement. Because this home has not previously existed in our state or region it is taking a very thoughtful approach involving many conversations and questions to understand the best way to access reimbursement from insurance providers and Medicaid. This is an essential piece of information to have prior to meeting with donors who have the capacity to contribute towards building this home and we hope to have a grasp on what the model will look like yet this fall. The next effort has been around the search for the best site or location for CLM. Our building advisory committee has met with a number of city administrators who are also helping with this search. In the meantime, HGA, a local architectural firm, is helping us to create an external image so that we have a closer cost estimate and an idea of just how much space is needed for this home. It takes a large team of dedicated individuals to continue this work and we are grateful to all involved on every level!
Coming This Month
Please join us for our 3rd annual Children's Music Festival on Sunday, September 30th from 11-2:30pm at Black Bear Crossings/Como Pavilion off of Lexington Ave. in St. Paul. The event is free this year with a full lineup of entertainment and we are grateful to the many sponsors who have made this possible. Bring your friends and family as it will be a terrific gathering to support the mission!
There is also a third party fundraising concert on Saturday, September 29th in Rosemount from 2-5pm with a great lineup of entertainment - please click here to learn more and support fellow volunteers planning events to bring this dream to reality. Maryah's mom Rachel will be speaking at the event.
Finally, we are excited to share an initiative that will kick-off in November to help raise awareness about the mission called NovemBEAR! We are asking that each of you consider how you might incorporate a favorite teddy bear into your daily routine so that people are curious to inquire 'why do you have a bear with you?' and so that you can respond that the bear reminds us that there is a need for a children's respite and hospice home in our community and that you are supporting Children's Lighthouse of MN as we work to build awareness. We will have a small card available for you to pass off to those people who you've drawn interest from, and we also invite you to take photos with your bear and post them to social sites to drive and create conversation about this mission in our community and media attention. If you are interested in being involved in this grassroots campaign, please be sure to sign up on our site as a volunteer. We will share more and invite you to participate in as many creative ways as possible with our first annual NovemBear campaign!
Which brings me to mention, if you are interested in volunteering but are not receiving our volunteer emails, please fill out our volunteer form and we look forward to connecting with you further to find ways to plug you in further into the mission.
Thank you for being a beacon of light and hope as we launch further into achieving this mission for children and families in our community!
Katie Lindenfelser
Executive Director, Children's Lighthouse of Minneosta