A Fresh Start in Elliot Park

Tim, however, was in the process of moving into Alliance’s newest building, Kyle Garden Square, and introduced Pat to Alliance’s onsite service partner Touchstone Mental Health. Despite Pat’s initial belief she didn’t qualify to live at Kyle Garden Square, she moved into her own home there on New Year’s Eve.

Pat’s life wasn’t supposed to include homelessness. A Lakota Sioux and practicing Muslim, Pat grew up in Sauk Centre before she entered the military, got married, had 3 kids, lived in Tokyo, Japan for several years, and then spent 15 years working for the United States Postal Service in California. After the death of her second husband in 2022, however, she “fell down the rabbit hole of addiction” and this 67-year old great grandmother found herself without the stability of home. 

Thanks to the internal fortitude that had previously led her around the world, as well as the support and encouragement of Tim, Pat was able to get clean at the perfect time to find a home at Kyle Garden Square. She describes the process of getting her home as smoother than anything she’s ever experienced. Proving qualification for the various subsidies and programs available within any deeply affordable building can be a complicated process of obtaining financial and other documentation. The red tape is daunting. At KGS, however, onsite Alliance partners Touchstone and PSS, our property management partner, are there every step of the way and made the process easy for Pat. Now Pat has a warm, safe place from which to launch the rest of her life. 

In 2026, it shouldn’t take the luck of timing for our neighbors to find home. At Alliance we are dedicated to creating more homes and working to change the policies and systems that shove people like Pat into homelessness, and we’d love for you to join us. Join us in April for the Kyle Garden Square Grand Opening and hear from Pat in person. Join us in advocating for funding and policy changes that support housing during this session of the state legislature. Join us by financially supporting your neighbors through a donation to our work. Wherever you fit, join us and help neighbors just like Pat find their fresh start.