Asha’s story is a powerful reminder of the life-changing impact of Onward House. After being told to leave home at 18, she found stability, graduated high school, and began pursuing her dream of becoming a teacher. Today, she works at a childcare center and feels hopeful about her future—all thanks to the support and community she found at Onward. Stories like Asha’s show how your support can transform lives.

We want to raise $1.2 million to grow our capacity to serve more young people. This summer and fall, we shared our plan for doing this with key supporters. It includes three parts: buying a second shared home to double the number of young adults we can help, introducing “expanded aftercare services,” which offer up to two more years of support after young adults complete our transitional living program, and covering two years of operating costs to help stabilize as we grow. Your feedback shows enthusiastic support for our vision, and we identified significant financial support, including lead and major gifts from generous supporters. We still seek to identify a transformative $300,000 keystone gift to bring this vision to life. Join us in making a difference!

Earlier this week, 15 community members gathered at Eden Prairie Library to discuss Acceptance: A Memoir by Emi Nietfeld. The conversation highlighted powerful themes of instability, mental health, and resilience. As we reflected on Emi’s story, many parallels emerged with the young adults served by Onward. The discussion prompted important questions on how we can better support those facing housing insecurity and inspired action steps for our community to get involved.

In this blog post, Executive Director Tricia Wright shares about her recent visit to Eden Prairie High School, where she spoke with an entrepreneurship class about Onward’s mission to provide transitional housing for young adults facing housing instability. She asks the community to spread the word and encourage young people who may need a safe, stable place to live to reach out. Together, we can make a difference in the lives of our community's youth.

Lack of affordable housing is one of the main issues that contributes to homelessness and housing insecurity. When communities address affordable housing, it is good for everyone. Read more about this important issue and Eden Prairie’s response through the the Eden Prairie Housing Alliance.