Mission Statement

Special Night Out to Benefit Theresa House

Bring your fellow food and jazz lovers for a night of great food and entertainment on May 6, 2010, at Gustuavus Aldophus College Alumni Hall. The evening begins at 6 p.m. with hors d'oeuvres followed by a performance from the Gustavus Jazz Band, El Combo Supreme. A full dinner prepared by the award-winning Gustavus Catering Service is being served at 7 p.m.

A silent auction will be held in conjunction with the dinner featuring donations from area businesses and a three night getaway at High Banks Resort, Lake Winnibigoshish, MN. All proceeds from the dinner and auction will go directly to Theresa House, a homeless shelter for families, women and children located in Mankato, MN.

Tickets are $20 each and may be purchased with PayPal through the Theresa House website at http://www.theresahouse.org, at Exclusively Diamonds in Mankato, or by calling 888-378-7550.

This entire event is the work of Paige Yahnke, a freshman economics major at Gustavus. The inspiration for the event flowed from a simple honors class assignment for a service project. "As an economic major, I wanted to find a way to help local homeless women and children affected by the recession," reveals Paige, "and Theresa House' mission of getting people back into the real world just really captured my attention." Additional support for the event is also provided by Alpha Phi Omega.

If you have any questions, feel free to contact Pam Bartholomew at 507-388-1664.

Benefit Dinner - May 6th, 2010

City of Mankato Allocates $7,000 to PAH for Theresa House

As cities grow larger in population, more money is required to maintain them. Recently, Mankato has reached a population of over 50,000 people. This population size has allowed the city to be given money from the federal government, and Mankato has decided to allocate part of this to housing projects such as the Theresa House Emergecy Shelter. Click here to read the article published by the Mankato Free Press.

Dad's Belgian Waffles Fundraiser - A Success

City Approved new location for Theresa House Homeless Shelter

On February 8th, based on a recommendation from the Mankato Planning Commission, the Mankato City Council approved zoning waivers which would allow the Theresa House Emergecy Shelter to relocate to the former Bandana Brewery bar/resturant building on Victory Drive. A projected $700,000 purchase price, along with several hundreds of thousands of dollars in anticipated remodeling costs, faces Partners for Affordable Housing as it attempts to find a permanent home for the Theresa House emergency shelter. An earlier proposal to acquire property and a building at 215 Maxfield has been put on hold.

PAH's Board of Directors is proceeding with organizing a capital campaign to help pay for the costs associated with a new site for the Theresa House.

A meeting between PAH senior staff and those living next to Bandana Brewery was held on Tuesday, January 19, 2010 - many questions were raised and the PAH representatives attempted to answer as many as they could. Concerns about security, future property resale values, and the like, were tackled. PAH has every intention of being a good neighbor and will do what it can to be proactive and effectively address neighborhood issues.

Theresa House Seeks New Site : 1-27-10 Free Press Article

Theresa House

Though the Theresa House emergency shelter is still in operation, effective August 31, 2009, its 18 residents have been moved to temporary quarters made available by Partners for Affordable Housing, Inc. It will be a tight squeeze until more permanent space is found to house the homeless clients.

Theresa House Secures Future - Click to read the Press Release Transitional Organization Chart - Click to view

Jose' Place Helps Theresa House Clients

Jose' Trujillo would have been proud to see the Welcome Inn Annex temporarily used to shelter Theresa House homeless clients who had to vacate their former Theresa House quarters by August 31, 2009. Why? Read on . . .

At its Annual Meeting on November 14, 2008, in memory of Jose' Trujillo, "Jose' Place" was the new name chosen for the Welcome Inn Annex by the PAH Board of Directors. Starting in 1985 Jose' dedicated close to ten years of his life to the Mankato Area Coalition for Affordable Housing (renamed Partners for Affordable Housing in March, 1996).He served as MACAH's Executive Director from November 28, 1990 until he resigned July 29, 1994.

In its "Resolution of Exemplary Service" adopted in July 1994, the then MACAH Board commended Jose' "for ten years of devoted and exemplary service" and stated that he provided "exceptional leadership in ensuring the financial security of the Welcome Inn emergency shelter as well as the Welcome Home transitional housing program for families. His nurturing and development of Liberty Living Centers as housing options for the low income and the mentally challenged is recognized as a major contribution in meeting the area's growing 'special needs' population."

The MACAH Board went on to state that they thanked Jose' for his "unrelenting energy in rehabilitating property, writing grants for continued funding, and for representing MACAH's programs to the community in such a positive and enthusiastic manner."

Jose' was in charge when disaster hit June 1992 in the form of a roof leak in the first Welcome Inn emergency shelter forcing closure of the old church annex - the homeless shelter - for a short time - was now homeless, and it was with Jose' determination that the crisis was quickly dealt with and the organization stronger for the effort.