We’re here to volunteer!
Community involvement and making time to help those in need is so important to all of us here at Real Estate Nation. Non-profit involvement of all kinds is a big part of who we are as a team. As real estate professionals we are passionate about incorporating volunteer work that involves “home,” doing what we can to make a positive difference for those who don’t have a stable home or who don’t have a home at all. This is where the we’re here to volunteer mentality really comes into play! We have the amazing privilege of working with incredible families every day in their home journey, many times helping to sell one home followed by finding the perfect new home. To have homes of our own and to aid others in their own home journey is certainly a privilege that we are beyond thankful for.
What if there was a world where a stable, livable home was not a privilege, but a human right? That’s what is at the heart of Urban Homeworks mission – to work towards a world where “home” is every human’s right and, until then, putting in the work to make as much of a positive impact as possible within the communities we live in. Their ultimate goal is “dignified housing – housing that is both affordable and high quality, and includes a supportive network with a responsive landlord and resources from local community partners.” Urban Homeworks provides both quality rentals and even builds new, affordable housing for low to moderate income households – housing that is both dignified and accessible. The expertise of the organization is in “small-scale, scattered site housing. Partnerships with local social service organizations often add support to assist rental families in gaining greater stability.” They truly do some amazing stuff!
An excellent way to get involved with Urban Homeworks is through their onsite volunteer opportunities. This usually entails interior painting or landscaping at one of their properties to help beautify/further improve the living conditions for the people who live there.
Our team picked up a 9am-3pm shift last Wednesday doing a large mulch project at a couple of their properties in Minneapolis. We were lucky to have a beautiful day for some landscaping. It was a day filled with laborious work under the sun, but we had so much fun doing it together and it sure was great to see the transformation. As you can see in the following photos, when we arrived in the morning there was basically dirt, sparse and weathered bits of old landscaping, and litter that needed to be cleaned up. By the end of the day, we had weeded and mulched the front and side yards of two next door properties – Ben even took things to the next level with his impressive gardening skills by splitting some hostas and transferring them from one yard to the other to help fill some bare spots – now that’s #Makinithappenmn! For lunch, we had the pleasure of eating at Maria’s Café, a great local spot serving delicious Columbian dishes. It was a perfect way to re-fuel and further immerse ourselves within the neighborhood we were volunteering in!
Seeing how much we were able to accomplish in one day as a team was very inspiring. Of course, there are so many more families, homes, and neighborhoods in need but getting out there and putting in the work one shift at a time still makes a difference. Volunteering with Urban Homeworks truly reminded us of how blessed we are and the positive impact we are capable of. There’s a lot more to be done and we will definitely be volunteering with this wonderful organization again! Get involved by volunteering or donating. Or, we would love for you to reach out to any one of us here at the Real Estate Nation Team and we can make a difference together! After all, we’re here to volunteer!
