Record attendance at Avivo’s 2018 Annual Celebration

A record 140 guests attended Avivo’s Annual Celebration Event to celebrate the 2018 Avivo Champion Award recipients, courageous Avivo participants, and the past year’s transformational impact on the community.

“We have so much to be thankful for,” says Kelly Matter, president and CEO of Avivo. “This year’s Avivo Champions are being honored for their significant involvement, and the support they show, to help individuals and families in our programs succeed.”

This year’s Avivo Champions are:

Wells Fargo – Their employees contribute countless volunteer hours on back-to-school and fun projects which benefit mothers in our recovery programs, participants in our career education and employment programs, and more. Wells Fargo has also contributed financially to our success, contributing more than $250,000 over several years. Their support, financially and through volunteerism, has made a difference in the lives of people in our programs.

Representative Dave Baker – Representative Baker been instrumental in passing legislation which increases Avivo’s ability to serve individuals and families in addiction treatment, career education, and employment programs. He’s working with Governor Dayton and other legislators to address the opioid addiction crisis in Minnesota. We look forward to working with him to help solve this epidemic.

Gordy Collins – Gordy and his business partner own and manage apartments that house our program participants. When he works with our participants, he considers the whole picture and doesn’t screen out tenants based solely on their past. He forms relationships with his tenants and works with our staff to stabilize their living situations. His passion and care for our community’s hardest to serve is known by other nonprofits working diligently to end homelessness.

Michelle Krause – Michelle is the site manager for Southgate Apartments in Bloomington, which houses 20% of the 168 participants in our housing programs. Michelle is respectful and kind, and takes into account the complex issues around mental illness, and other barriers, our participants live with. She is willing to work closely with Avivo staff to help people keep their housing and re-stabilize their lives.

We’re incredibly thankful for contributions of all of our champions over the past years. Our guests also provided more than $26,000 in donations at our celebration event to support the life-changing services Avivo provides!

A special thank you to our champions, donors and volunteers for your valuable time and support!