Haven Housing @ St. Anne’s Place's annual back-to-school party is always filled with smiles. For more than a decade, employees at RBC Wealth Management have helped ensure that any child who has ever stayed at the emergency shelter can get a backpack and the supplies they need to start the school year. If you look deeper, the event is also a chance for families to heal and build their support network.

Healing: One pre-K boy came up to me, grabbed my hand with all his might and asked me to help him get ice cream from the ice cream truck that was there for the celebration. I told him I couldn’t help him and that his mom would have the tickets needed to get his free ice cream.

His face changed into a scowl, and he told me she wouldn’t have the tickets. I don’t know what happened before this family moved into St. Anne’s Place, but I suspect that living on a low income and faced with impossible choices about paying for rent or food, Mom hadn’t been able to deliver on the promise of ice cream before.

He went off to find his mom and discovered that she did have the magical tickets to get ice cream. He came back over and showed me, smiling and sticky.

In that moment, trust was rebuilt. One event planning decision—to put moms in charge of getting ice cream—made moms the leaders of their families again. Next time that child needs something more consequential than ice cream, we hope he will trust and ask Mom to meet that need.

Community Building: We know that moms build strong bonds when their stays at Haven Housing @ St. Anne’s Place overlap. Our Board Chair, Shereese Turner, has shared that she is still in touch with some of the women who were there when she stayed at St. Anne’s Place decades ago. The back-to-school party is one event when those connections shine.

Moms who have recently moved out to their own homes share with those who are still working to secure a home of their own. They share resources, stories, and tips for what to expect. It feels more like a family reunion than a resource event.

Because phone numbers and email addresses may have changed, the annual event provides a consistent place where families can reconnect. Many families also look forward to seeing our staff again and it is a chance for Haven Housing to recommend community services that may benefit families based on new challenges that may have arisen after they left St. Anne’s Place.

Thank you also to RBC Wealth Management, Mortenson Construction, Minneapolis Fire Station 14, the face painter and henna artist, and (importantly) the ice cream truck for making this year’s event special.