Ann Ruff of Common Bond Communites
Our Program on February 25th was presented by Ann Ruff, who is the V P of Resource Development for Common Bond Communities. Common Bond is a 41 year old nonprofit which began as a social justice concern for the Archdioceses of St. Paul and Minneapolis, and has grown to be the largest nonprofit provider of affordable rental apartments and town homes with life-enhancing services in the Upper Midwest.
The organization has 5,300 apartments and town homes serving 9,000 residents in the greater Twin Cities area outstate Minnesota, Iowa, and Wisconsin. Our area is familiar with Common Bond because of the South Shore Apartments which they built 30 years ago. Located behind the Wyer-Pearce House, it has been recently updated and continues to serve our local residents with low-rent options for seniors and disabled citizens. Initial funding for the building came from community grants pooled by Excelsior, Tonka Bay, and Greenwood.
They have been selected to create 100 homes for homeless veterans in St Cloud and Minneapolis, and are working to utilize some of the unused facilities on the Fort Snelling property for this purpose. About 25% of their $16,000,000 annual income (in 2011) comes from contributors who are helping them reach the goal in their “Open 4000 Doors Campaign”.