Another successful Luau is in the books! This popular summertime event was held recently at Richard Walton Park in Oakdale.

Hammer & NER-supported individuals, along with staff, families, and volunteers came out to eat, chat, and dance! Visit the photo gallery on our website to see some highlights from the Luau.

Thank you to our community partners at Lunds & Byerlys!

On Saturday, July 22 representatives from Hammer & NER were invited to participate in the grand reopening of the Wayzata location. We greeted guests at the checkout lanes, shared our anniversary story, handed out gifts, and met a lot of nice neighbors. We are grateful for their support. Lunds & Byerlys employs many people with developmental disabilities across the Twin Cities.

Lunds & Byerlys has generously donated $1,000 to Hammer & NER. Angela Bernhardt (left) from our Development department and Sue Gregor, volunteer and past Board member, accepted the check from Rich Noerenberg, the store’s General Manager.

We’re thrilled to announce that Hammer & NER is again a Charities Review Council Meets Standards® organization!

Nonprofit organizations, such as Hammer & NER, earn the Meets Standards® seal by voluntarily participating in the Charities Review Council’s Accountability Wizard® review process. The review process examines four key areas: Public Disclosure, Governance, Financial Activity, and Fundraising. As a result, Hammer & NER has aligned its practices, policies, and procedures with widely accepted standards of accountability, leading us to greater strength, efficacy, and to the achievement of the Meets Standards® seal.

By participating in the Accountability Wizard® review process, Hammer & NER demonstrates responsibility, integrity, and transparency to donors as well as the general public.

More than 150 people with disabilities and their supporters gathered Thursday, July 13, to inaugurate the first Disability Pride Festival in Minnesota. The community-wide event was initiated by Advocating Change Together (ACT) – The Center for Disability Leadership, the 40-year-old disability rights organization that coordinates self-advocacy leadership training across the state.

Participants from the metro area, including Hammer & NER staff and supported individuals, joined in games, an open mic, and food. Dozens of attendees created art panels representing what disability pride means to them. The collage of artwork will be made permanent and displayed in the ACT Center offices to commemorate the first Disability Pride Festival in Minnesota.

For more information on future events, visit www.selfadvocacy.org.

In the year ahead, our Program department is focused on the SHINE initiative.

S – Supporting individuals

H – Honor and dignity

I – Invest in your career

N – Navigating change

E – Experiencing life

This month, our Chief Program Officer, Sue Walker, says we’re continuing to build on our work of supporting people in our programs, showing Honor and Dignity to all, and now in July, we focus on the letter “I” which stands for Investing in Your Career. Sue says we are reviewing and focusing on parts of our job duties that are supportive of the people we support, working cooperatively with our coworkers, completing appropriate trainings, attending staff meetings to learn and engage with our staff teams, and seeking opportunities to grow, such as the ARRM Conference which took place in late July.

Our East metro Duluth home is home to four people who have lived there for many years. Three of the ladies have lived together for over 25 years!

A family member noticed a need for a stair lift that would allow everyone at the home to enjoy and have access to the outside area as well as the downstairs. The family worked with the staff at the home, the Development department, and the Maintenance team and provided funding for the lift to be installed.

The stair lift went in earlier this year and the people at the home and staff are loving the increased accessibility!  

As part of our Anniversary celebration, we sponsored the Wayzata Rotary's Music by the Lake on Wednesday, July 19.

Our friends from our Rockford home in Plymouth joined us for Jeff Dayton’s concert. It's always fun to get out in the community!

Mark Your Calendar—the Family Day Picnic is Saturday, September 23



The next in our lineup of annual summer events is our Family Day Picnic, a 70+-year tradition! Last year, over 400 people came out to picnic with us. This is a catered event with lots of great food, games, face painting, and music! All the people we support at Hammer & NER are invited to attend along with their families and our staff and their families. Watch for more details in the weeks ahead.

We have several employees celebrating significant anniversaries this month.

Kelly Jarosz (top left, DSP, 25 years), Kay Puetz (top center, PM, 15 years), Claudette Adae (top right, DSP, 10 years), Madia Dade (middle left, DSP, 10 years), Bode Ogunfowora (middle center, PM, 10 years), Amy Stamnes (middle right, PM, 10 years), Kadie Bundu (bottom left, DSP, 5 years), Tonya Steffen (bottom center, DSP, 3 years), and Lisa Wettstein (bottom right, Case Manager, 3 years).

Congratulations and thank you for all that you do!

Each month in "Happenings" we feature some of our favorite photos of the people we support "Out & About" having fun in their communities.