Our Blog

We are so thankful to our Secondhand Hounds Volunteers! We are blessed to have these wonderful fur-friends visit our homes several times per month. The smiles on our residents' faces is second to none. The joy that animals bring to the homes is truly magical. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Learn more about these special friends @ https://secondhandhounds.org/

We love to garden here at Heart to Home, and we love giving back to nature. Our residents love spending time outdoors, and to have beautiful gardens to enjoy is an important part of that experience. We have residents who tend to flower pots and enjoy watching fresh tomato's ripen on the vine. We also enjoy our critter visitors which include turkey, eagles, song-birds, butterflies and so much more. Part of our commitment to being "green" is being good stewards of our properties. The next time you visit one of our homes make sure to "stop and smell the roses"!!

Besides our love of gardening we also love ice cream! It is by far the most popular treat here at Heart to Home. Our residents love plain vanilla, and of course a DQ ice cream cake for those special birthday parties. So in honor of all things ice cream... we decided to make our own ice cream for a resident activity! Fun and Yum!!

We had a wonderful time at our Rogers Lake outing this summer.  This year we really kicked it up a notch and had a hired musical performer, pizza party and ice cream truck all stop by to entertain our residents and their guests. The weather was perfect and the lake backdrop had everyone relaxed, smiling and enjoying life! 

We also had a fun partnership with our local school district 197.  Students came and helped plant flowers in our gardens and worked on arts and crafts. A fun time was had by all. 

We had a nice May here at Heart to Home. The weather has warmed up enough for us to get outside and enjoy the sunshine. We've taken many walks around the neighborhoods, made and delivered May Day baskets, enjoyed lunch outside and even took a few walks to the local ice cream shop. We are excited for a fun summer here at Heart to Home and especially the return of our favorite ice cream truck visitors; Pink Cow Ice Cream! Stay tuned and check back for more photos here and on our Facebook Page!

Besides fun May Day celebrations we've also been enjoying using the House of Memories App. This app has been developed to support caregivers in the sharing of memories with people living with dementia, improving communication and focusing on the person rather than the condition. Learn more about this app @ House of Memories App - Minnesota Historical Society

Roses are red. Violets are blue. We are blessed. Because of You!

We had a fun month of love here at Heart to Home. We enjoyed love songs from our musical guests and enjoyed a number of different activities. One of our favorite activities was making chocolate dipped strawberries... Yum!

Tis' the season! We worked on decorating Christmas cookies, ginger bread houses and made some cute festive jewelry at Heart to Home. The residents really enjoyed all of the fun activities (and so did the staff!). We also enjoyed a special visit from a local church and their volunteer Christmas Carolers! So fun for everyone to really get into the spirit of the season. We feel so very blessed this time of year. Wishing you and your family happy holidays! 

We had a filling Thanksgiving at Heart to Home. For the residents who didn't go out with family we had a hearty meal including all the staples; turkey, mashed potatoes, pie, etc. A fun time was had by all. We also enjoyed our volunteers from Visitation over the last month. Several students from the local high school came to play bingo, complete arts / crafts and lead chair exercises with our residents. We can't thank you enough for volunteering your time and talents! 

"We just wanted to say thank you! What an amazing home you have provided to these residents! I so wish I knew about your organization when my dad was alive! We had a great experience and we are so so so thankful she found you!! Well done on creating an amazing home and environment and we are so impressed by the staff as well! " ~ From the mom of one of the student volunteers

We had a spooktacular time on Halloween this year! Several of our homes had neighborhood trick-or-treater's which is always fun for our residents. We also invited our staff and their children (and fur-babies) over to visit the homes. A good time was had by all! 

"Everyone must take time to sit still and watch the leaves turn." ~ Elizabeth Lawrence

What a beautiful time of year here in Minnesota. The leaves have remained quite green for this late into the season due to the abundant rain, but that didn't stop us from going out and enjoying a "fall leaf drive" courtesy of DARTS. It was a refreshing trip with our residents and one we truly enjoyed.

This week we also worked on decorating pumpkins for Halloween. We will put those outside soon and look forward to having a few neighborhood trick-or-treaters! 

Summertime fun has been in full swing at Heart to Home. We've celebrated birthdays, taken outings to Rogers Lake and enjoyed monthly visits from Pink Cow Ice Cream Truck. Sometimes we find ourselves enjoying the events so much that we forgot to snap photos. Here are a few moments that we've captured along the way...