Rakhma Homes

11/21/2025

Thank you.
Whether you donated, shared a post, sent encouragement, or simply followed along with our stories this Give to the Max Day, we are deeply grateful.

Because of your generosity, Rakhma raised $8,223 toward our mission.
Every single gift helps protect a model of care that is quickly disappearing in Minnesota — small, home-like environments where residents are seen for who they are, not defined by a diagnosis or a medical file.

Yesterday, you helped us bridge the gap between what the system will support and what humanity requires. You helped ensure that people like Barb, Adam’s residents, the painter with the railing, the woodworker in the basement, and Ron* have access to dignity, purpose, stability, and true home.

You showed us — once again — that Rakhma is sustained by the people who believe in this mission just as deeply as we do.

Thank you for standing with us.
Thank you for helping us care with heart.
And thank you for keeping this rare model alive for the families who need it most.

*Name changed to protect identity.


Rakhma Homes

A Champion of Rakhma’s Mission
Today we want to recognize someone who embodies Rakhma’s mission in every possible way.

Our $10,000 matching donor, Rick Onsrud, whose wife Sandra lived at the Peace Home, continues to support Rakhma as both a volunteer and a donor. Last year, Rick made a historic $100,000 gift ahead of our 40th anniversary event.

Rick’s generosity reflects something we see often at Rakhma:
our strongest champions are the people who have lived this mission alongside us.

Families who have experienced the compassion of our homes firsthand are the ones who continue to carry the mission forward — just as Rick does, year after year.

We are deeply grateful for him, for Sandra’s memory, and for every family member who becomes part of the Rakhma community long after their loved one has passed.

11/21/2025

Give to the Max ends at midnight, and we are ending the day with $6,973 raised so far.

Every gift right now still counts toward our $10,000 match. Every single gift helps us climb.

Rakhma’s rare small-home model exists because people like you believe that dignity, purpose, and a real home should never be luxuries.

If you’ve been planning to give, this is the moment that matters most.
Your gift tonight helps us bridge the gap and keep this model alive.

Give here:
https://give.mn/73sdbg

Thank you for helping us finish strong.

11/21/2025

Part 7: Seeing the Person, Not the Medical File

Before coming to Rakhma, Ron* spent years without stable housing. He struggled with alcohol and cycled between shelters, hospitals, and bus stops. In the year before admission, he spent 300 days in the hospital with dozens of readmissions.

When a social worker called us, Ron had been placed on a court-ordered hold until a secured unit could be found. Most memory care providers would not even consider his case. Our Director of Nursing went to meet him anyway. What she found was not the man described in the paperwork, but a warm, funny older gentleman full of stories and wisdom.

After careful deliberation, we admitted Ron.

As you might expect, there were a few initial challenges as Ron adjusted to a life with more structure. When we shared one of these challenges with someone at the Department of Health, their response was, “He probably belongs in a more institutional setting.” We not only disagreed, we took it as a challenge.
And we never looked back.

As time went on, Ron became the heartbeat of his home. He looked out for more vulnerable residents and greeted every visitor with a smile, a fist bump, and a piece of wisdom. He danced, played games, and made friends with everyone he met. And, in spite of the dementia, we believe Ron may have lived some of the most stable, secure, and happy days of his life within our doors.

This is what it means to bridge the gap.
To see the person, not the medical file.
To choose possibility over judgment.
To offer home instead of institutionalization.

*Name changed to protect identity.

Your gift helps us see the person, not the medical file. Help bridge the gap today.
https://give.mn/88t00g

11/21/2025

Part 6: The Case of the Curious Pencil Sharpener

Over the past few days, we’ve shared a number of ways we’ve reshaped our spaces and activities for our residents. One of our favorite stories about this involves a determined resident named John and a pencil sharpener that had absolutely no business being where it was.

Grace Home used to be a convent, and even after forty years, we still find odd remnants here and there, one of which was a pencil sharpener mounted in the basement laundry room. Most of us walked by it without a second thought. Not John.

John was baffled by this strangely placed sharpener and felt it was his personal mission to solve the mystery. He led residents, staff, and visitors downstairs to show them the infamous sharpener, offering theories about why it was there and, more importantly, ideas about where it should be.

Eventually he chose the perfect spot: on the wall of a common area near tables where residents sometimes drew or colored. From a design perspective, it wasn’t ideal, but it mattered to John, so we agreed. The next day, we installed the sharpener in its new location, with John beaming from ear to ear.

For years afterward, even as John declined, he lit up whenever we mentioned that sharpener and joked that it deserved a plaque with his name on it.

This story may seem simple, but it’s the heart of what we do. Rakhma bridges the gap between simply caring for people and creating a home shaped by who they are and what they love, no matter what it is.

Thank you for helping create a place where even the smallest things, like John’s pencil sharpener, help turn a building into a home.

Give to the Max continues, and with your support we have raised $4,495 so far. Every gift today is doubled through our $10,000 match, and every donation helps protect a rare model of small-home, relationship-centered memory care.
https://give.mn/vdik9f

11/20/2025

Part 5: Purpose in the Everyday

Earlier we shared how we reshaped a space to meet Barb’s unique needs. This is something we do all the time at Rakhma, whether our spaces or our activities, because purpose looks different for every person living with memory loss.

There was the lawyer who wanted to keep working, so we created an office space where he could draft and sign documents.

There was the woodworker who set up shop in our basement, fastening nuts and bolts and tinkering with tools his family brought in.

There was the former painter who kept pointing at the deck railing. After some time, we realized he wanted to paint it so we set him up sandpaper and non-toxic paint and sent him to work.

There was the resident who dressed up as Santa and delivered a full reading of “The Night Before Christmas” to a group of children at the holiday party.

There are residents who help blow leaves, power wash the deck, or fold laundry because purpose comes in many forms.

And soon we will share a similar story involving a strangely placed pencil sharpener and a resident with a great idea.

This is how Rakhma bridges the gap between activities that simply fill time and moments that carry meaning, purpose, and pride.

Give today > https://give.mn/ags2wf

11/20/2025

Part 4: Kindness beyond his years

As Give to the Max continues today, we want to share one more moment from Barb’s journey that her husband, John, recently shared with us. It is a simple scene, but it captures what your generosity makes possible at Rakhma.

A few months ago, when Barb was nearing the end of her life at the Peace Home, John and his family spent long hours at her bedside. One evening, a caregiver named Adam, who had only recently graduated from high school, stepped into the room to offer care.

Adam moved with a gentleness that John never forgot.
He moistened Barb’s lips, rubbed her hands with calm patience, and quietly asked, “Are you ok now, Barb?” even though John wasn’t sure she could still understand.

For Adam, understanding was not the point.
It was about dignity.

When Adam stepped back into the hallway, John’s son asked him, “Where did you learn to be so kind?”

Adam replied, “We get good training here, but I also took care of my grandparents.”
He did not offer any more explanation, but to John, the meaning was clear. Adam cared for Barb the way he would have cared for someone in his own family. With tenderness. With patience. With love.

Your support helps create a home where young caregivers learn to care with their whole hearts, and where residents like Barb are met with humanity until their very last breath.

Thank you to everyone who has already given today.
If you haven’t yet, your Give to the Max gift truly matters — and it helps us meet our $10,000 match.
https://give.mn/ags2wf

11/20/2025

Power Hour begins at 10 AM, and this is one of the moments that can truly move the needle for Rakhma.

From 10:00 to 10:59 AM, Give to the Max is offering a $6,000 prize pool to the organizations that raise the most during that hour. Even small gifts help us climb the leaderboard because it is based on the number of donations.

Your support this hour also helps us meet our $10,000 match, which means your gift goes even further.

For a small-home model like ours, these early boosts matter more than people realize. They help us bridge the gap between what the system will fund and what our residents actually deserve. They help us keep homes warm and human in a landscape that is becoming more institutional and less personal every year.

If you plan to give today, this is one of the most impactful times.

Give here:
https://give.mn/ags2wf

Full details about GTMD, lotteries, and the match are in our pinned post.

11/20/2025

Rakhma’s model has always been rare. Residential memory care is sadly uncommon in the U.S., and providers that welcome residents on Medicaid are even rarer.

But today, during an unprecedented aging boom, small homes like ours are becoming nearly impossible to build or sustain.

In the past year, Minnesota added more than 500 new memory care beds. Yet among homes Rakhma’s size, 15 beds or fewer, only four new beds were created in the entire state. Four.

Small homes, which offer the familiarity and intimacy people with dementia need most, are disappearing because new state regulations make them financially out of reach.

This is the gap we face: between what people deserve and what the system finds convenient to regulate.

And this is the gap you help us bridge. You are the reason families on Medicaid have a real home instead of an institution. You are the reason high-quality, relationship-based care is still possible.

Give to the Max is today and your support keeps this model alive!
https://give.mn/pdpumf

11/19/2025

Part 3: A Little Corner That Felt Like Home

Before moving to the Peace Home, Barb spent most days in a public library with her husband, John. It was one of her favorite places—quiet, familiar, and filled with books to flip through. The rhythm of the library was a source of comfort, one of the last places where the world still made sense.

Because we knew this before she arrived, we transformed a common area near Barb’s room into a cozy reading nook with comfy chairs and soft natural light.
When her family arrived on move-in day, they brought a small stack of her favorite books and added a beloved painting: Flowers on the Windowsill by Carl Larsson.

These were pieces of her world that still felt steady and recognizable.

And as it happens…

The view from the reading corner looked strikingly similar to her cherished painting.

While Barb’s transition to Rakhma was not without challenges (they never are), that little corner became an anchor as she settled in. Whether she could verbalize it or not, familiar and meaningful pieces of her life surrounded her—offering a quiet place to rest, flip through books, or sit with her loyal husband, John.

This is just one way Rakhma bridges the gap between housing and belonging.
Because “home” isn’t a single place or a fixed moment—it’s the spaces, memories, and meaning we help create around each person.

👉 Donate today: https://give.mn/pdpumf
Help us bridge the gap between need and care—one corner, one resident, one moment of belonging at a time.

11/18/2025

How You Can Support Rakhma This Give to the Max Day!

Give to the Max Day is Minnesota’s biggest giving celebration — and one of the most impactful days of the year for Rakhma Homes.
Every gift made on our GiveMN page helps support our mission of providing unconditional love, dignity, and person-centered memory care. 💛

Here’s a simple guide to how YOU can help (and how your gift can go even further):
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💛 1. Every Donation Enters Rakhma Into Prize Drawings
GiveMN runs dozens of random prize drawings on GTMD — and every donation of every size enters Rakhma into the Golden Ticket drawings throughout the day.
This is HUGE:
👉 A $5 gift could win Rakhma $500, $1,000, or even $10,000.
👉 There is no minimum donation for most drawings — truly every dollar counts.
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🏆 2. Prize Types You Can Help Us Win
Here’s how the GTMD prizes work:
• Golden Tickets (All Day)
Every donation = one entry. Winners are drawn throughout the day.
• Hourly Golden Tickets
More chances for Rakhma to win $500 or $1,000.
• Super-Sized Golden Ticket — $10,000
Any gift of $5 or more could turn into $10,000 for Rakhma.
• Power Hours
During designated hours, the top three orgs with the most gifts (not dollars) win extra prizes.
Only gifts made via GiveMN (credit/debit card, PayPal, Venmo) count toward Power Hours.
Full prize rules: https://www.givemn.org/gtmd/prize-structure
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✨ 3. Your Gift Is DOUBLED — $10,000 Matching Challenge
This year, Rakhma has a $10,000 match.
That means:
• You give $10 → Rakhma gets $20
• You give $50 → Rakhma gets $100
• You give $250 → Rakhma gets $500
Your impact is doubled instantly — AND your gift still enters us into all prize drawings.
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🌉 4. Why GTMD Matters for Rakhma
Rakhma “bridges the gap” every day — between need and care, between what’s funded and what’s truly required to provide loving, dignified memory care.
GTMD support allows us to:
• Keep our homes small, warm, and person-centered
• Support residents on Waivers
• Provide meaningful activities, connection, and comfort
• Continue saying “yes” when others cannot
Your gift helps ensure love is never out of reach.
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💚 5. How to Support Rakhma
1. Donate on our GiveMN page https://give.mn/pdpumf
2. Share this post to help us reach more people.
3. Encourage friends & family to give any amount — every gift counts.
4. Watch our stories on GTMD for updates and special hours.

Each time you make a gift during Give to the Max, you could help your favorite nonprofits and schools win part of the $100,000+ Prize Pool! In fact, there are nearly 150 chances to win during Give to the Max Day and Early Giving, beginning November 1!

11/18/2025

Part 2: When Music Opened the Door

As we head toward Give to the Max Day on Thursday, here is the next part of Barb’s story series.

As a pastor’s wife, Barb spent her life in church, surrounded by hymns and scripture. So when she arrived at the Peace Home on admission day and refused to leave the car, Rakhma staff knew what to do. They had studied her profile. Rather than push, they would adapt to her.

Within minutes, they gathered residents, queued up hymns on YouTube, found a Bible in the office, and, like that, an impromptu “hymn sing” filled the living room.

A staff member stepped outside, warmly greeted Barb at the gate, and invited her to join. To everyone’s surprise, she accepted and walked into a room of songs that held deep personal meaning to her.

As one resident read Psalm 23, something beautiful happened: other residents, including Barb, began quietly reciting the verses from memory. One resident remarked, “I do not even remember where I learned that, or why I know it, but it is beautiful.”

That was Barb’s way in.

And this is one of the gaps that Rakhma bridges, between a check-the-box, impersonal admission and a deeply personal welcome that continues long after the paperwork is signed.

More of Barb’s story and others coming soon.

This Give to the Max Day, help Rakhma continue bridging the gaps between uncertainty and belonging — and ensure that every person who comes through our doors is met with love, dignity, and a welcome made just for them. 💛

Here is a photo of Barb during that first hymn sing, smiling in a way that says it all.

https://give.mn/hy3dwf