Above: Staff from the Banana Republic Mall of America store prep dinner at the men’s shelter. They also donate holiday gifts for families in our programs. Left to right: Roger James, Jaime Casey and Nicholas Deffley.

Volunteers: the heart of Simpson Housing.

Without our faithful force of volunteers, we quite simply would not be able to do what we do.

In 2006, 396 individuals and 338 groups gave 25,587 hours of their time to help Simpson provide life-sustaining services to the people we serve.

Read the full descriptions of our volunteer opportunities.

To learn more about volunteer opportunities with Simpson Housing, contact our Volunteer Services Manager, Christina Giese at cgiese@simpsonhousing.org or call 612.455.0859.

Girl Scout Troop member Sonja Sprandel makes sandwiches for Simpson shelter guests. “We thought about what we like to eat when we chose what to serve in the shelters and what to put in the sandwiches,” said Sonja.

Gaylord Girl Scout troop reaches out to people experiencing homelessness

This past winter, Gaylord Girl Scout Troop #30743 from Gaylord, Minnesota, led by Jodi Sprandel, made a difference in the lives of people experiencing homelessness. In December and January, the troop served two separate evening meals at the Simpson Housing Women’s Shelter in Minneapolis.

What would appear to be a regular evening meal to many (spaghetti, salad, garlic bread, and pie) is quite often the highlight of many of the shelter guest’s day and sadly, quite often the first meal of the day. The troop reported that they were a little nervous, not knowing what to expect. Nerves quickly turned to smiles and laughter. “Our favorite part of the evening was sitting down and eating with the women, getting to know them and hearing their stories,” reports troop leader Jodi. The troop actually had to be coaxed to leave at the end of the evening, as they were enjoying the experience so much.

Impacted by their contact with the women, Jodi and her scouts wanted to do more. The troop took advantage of the Girl Scout 2008 Thinking Day event and shared their experiences with the other Gaylord Girl Scouts and together made 200 sandwiches for shelter guests to take with them when they leave the shelter at 7 a.m.

“This experience forced all of us out of our comfort zones and into someone else’s shoes for a day,” Jodi says. “We thought about what we like to eat when we chose what to serve in the shelters and what to put in the sandwiches,” added troop member Sonja Sprandel. By connecting with their community, Troop #30743 learned that all of our commonalities are a lot greater than our differences.

For information on making sandwiches for shelter guests, contact Christina Giese.

Read about more Simpson meal group volunteers

Volunteer Meal Groups Homepage

Volunteer Profiles

Stephanie Sibet and
Normandale Community College receive Volunteer Service Awards
read