New Habitat home on 4th Street North in Minneapolis

This corner lot is the site of a new build. Habitat acquired the house that sat on this land, but it was in such disrepair that it had to be torn down. Leading this build is site supervisor Tony Beckstrom and AmeriCorps member Laura Flowers.

Updates by Betsy Sandberg
June 15, 2011

This is only the second week of construction on this North Minneapolis home and the walls are starting to go up. Although they got off to a rocky start with a few days of over 100 degree heat, followed by this week of mostly rainy weather, the volunteers from General Mills have toughed it out and the house is making good progress. They are currently working to put up all the wall frames for the main floor of the home and once those are done will begin on the second floor trusses. Next week the walls of the second floor will go up and they will begin construction of a garage.

June 30, 2011

Volunteers from General Mills have been working on 4th Street North for almost a month now and the house is definitely starting to take shape. The second floor has gone up as well as scaffolding around the whole house. With the beautiful weather, almost all of the volunteers were up on the roof working hard to finish it by Saturday when a crew of contractors would come to put the shingles on. Indoors the future homeowner was working alongside a few volunteers to finish the framing. Soon the home will be ready to start installing windows.

July 13, 2011

Since the last visit a lot of work has happened both inside and out. The roof has been shingled and today those willing to scale the scaffolding started putting the aluminum soffits on the overhang. The garage slab was poured this morning and walls will go up as soon as it dries completely. Inside the heating system has been installed, the plumber was working hard on site today, and all of the electric work will be done soon thanks to a donation from the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers. Almost all of the windows and doors have been installed and volunteers will begin siding the home this week.

August 2, 2011
While work inside the home has been put on hold to wait for the framing inspection this week, various projects were going on outdoors. Construction of the front porch is in full swing; volunteers have already finished the floor system and are moving on to building the roof. The garage is almost ready to begin siding and Site Supervisor Tony said the door will be installed in a few days. Crews were also working on disassembling all of the scaffolding which required a lot of team work!

August 24, 2011
General Mills volunteers on North 4th Street finish their 11-week commitment this week, but work on the home’s interior will likely continue through the fall. Site Supervisor Tony said the crew has faced challenges like rain and extreme heat, but has made a huge push the last few weeks to complete the home’s exterior. “Our strategy was to focus everything we had on the outside. That way if the weather turns against us, the outside work is done,” he said. Volunteers have been hard at work painting the exterior and completing the front porch, as well as working on insulation and dry walling. With the exception of sodding, landscaping and cement work, the outside of the home will be done this week.

November 23, 2011

Hindiya and her family of nine are ready to move in to their new home. It was dedicated on Thursday, November 17, 2011. Volunteers, sponsors and neighbors joined in celebrating the finished home with Hindiya and her family. At the dedication site supervisor Tony Beckstrom shared stories and said he was thankful they finished the house even with the setback of the May 2011 tornado in North Minneapolis. Also attending the dedication was Twin Cities Habitats COO Mary Shumacher and City Councilmember Diane Hofstede. As the primary sponsor of the home General Mills presented the family with a gift basket and volunteer Mike Viland spoke about their commitment to nourishing lives. It was a great night as the family was welcomed into the neighborhood and their new home.