About Us
Sharing God's love with families by providing a safe and caring place for kids to stay.
About us
Ivy House: New Ulm, MN
We recently celebrated a huge milestone, we cared for our 400th child since opening our doors in 2017! It is wonderful to think about all those little hands and feet that have been playing in our home. We hope and pray we have made a lasting impact on all of these little ones.
In our last fiscal year Ivy House received 456 crisis calls which resulted in providing 847 FREE days of care for children! Those care days were provided to 89 different children from 46 different families. We also provided 1,514 FREE meals to all of those growing children!
Every year our goal is to support every family that calls the Ivy House hotline. We continue to see overwhelming requests for our services and we continue to provide free and confidential care to children whose families are navigating crisis or stressful situations. Check out our Ways to Give page to find out more about how you can join us in this great mission!
Ivy House Board of Directors
Amber Collins
Founder
God gave me the vision for the Ivy House in 2012. I was volunteering at the Greater Minneapolis Crisis Nursery and saw what a huge blessing their services were to the community. I also had been involved in various Church ministries serving families and youth. God's vision for our Ivy House CN was combining the gift of sharing Jesus' love and support AND providing a safe, loving, fun, amazing place for kids to stay when their caregiver had a challenging situation to work through. A place everyone can trust. A place filled with peace and joy! Ten years later God has walked with us as we worked to make the vision a reality and we have been blessed to walk with many families in Southern MN at their times of need. Founding a non-profit has been filled with great challenges and deep joy, just like the journey of life as a Christian. Praise God, I have learned when we keep Jesus close to our hearts, all things are possible! "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." Philippians 4:13
Anna Friese
Board Chair
I’ve been blessed to know the founder, Amber Collins, and watch the Ivy house grow and become what it is today. There is nothing quite like our Ivy House. I love watching it take shape and impacting all who come across our mission and founding!
John Blomberg
Board Vice Chair
I joined the Ivy House Board to help support an organization that is positively impacting the lives of kids and families. Ivy House is a tangible example of demonstrating Jesus’s teaching to love our neighbors as ourselves. I am grateful that the community supports this organization and their mission to provide practical help to families during difficult circumstances.
Allison Burmeister
Board Secretary
Steve Turvold
Past Board Chair
Being on the board for Ivy House is a privilege, not only to serve but to walk with some of the most loving, generous, and smart people I know. “They Will Know We Are Christians by Our Love” is a favorite hymn of mine. This hymn reminds me of Ivy House’s mission of showing God’s love to families by providing a safe and caring place for kids to stay. I am amazed and thankful for the work we are all providing for families who walk through our doors.
Sean Fingland
Board Treasurer
I joined the Ivy House Board to support an amazing organization that provides much needed assistance to children in a time of family crisis.
Chris Dalton
Board Member
I chose to serve on the board because childcare is an issue in our community. I enjoy helping those in need when I can and the services provided by Ivy House are exactly that, helping those in a crisis get the care they need. This is something that I have a passion for and want to help maintain and grow.
Emily Hoffrogge
Board Member
To me, Ivy House means comfort and hope. As a single parent, I’ve felt the lonely, pit-in-the-stomach worry that keeps you awake at night wondering how you are going to keep your kids safe, happy, and well-cared-for through a challenging day ahead. That’s the comfort; realizing you’re not alone and that there are loving people who want to help. That’s Ivy House! And it’s the people and places like Ivy House that bring hope; that heartwarming feeling of knowing you and your kids will make it through a tough day, that we all need each other and it’s good to reach out for help, and that there are brighter days ahead. I feel blessed to be a part of the Ivy House mission and hope you feel blessed by Ivy House too.
Katie Slette
Board Member
As a Christian, I am convicted by the mission of Ivy House to share God’s love with families by providing a safe and caring place for kids to stay. As a new(er) member of the New Ulm community, I am interested in serving my neighbors in meaningful ways and establishing connections with friends I’ve yet to meet.
As a psychologist I have the privilege of working with wonderful families. Many of these families could use more support and I like being a part of that solution. Being able to tell a struggling client there is a resource like Ivy House is so pleasing. In the last several years of my practice I've seen how even a few hours for a "time out" or break can really turn the tide for someone and instill hope. Also, as the mother of a 15 month old daughter, whom I adore, I've experienced first hand how challenging it can be to take care of a tiny human. We all need help sometimes. It takes a village.
Katie Kuhlmann Schwartz
Founding Board Member