By Linda Holmen, whose sister, Anne Bailey, is supported by Hammer & NER. Linda has served on the Board of Directors and various committees and is active in many aspects of our work. 

August 18, 1972, was a very important day in the lives of my sister, Anne, and our family. That was the day, 51 years ago, that Anne moved into Hammer Residences. At that time, Hammer was located on a single campus in Wayzata with a large dormitory. Anne moved into one of the rooms on the women’s floor in the dormitory and began her life as part of the Hammer family.

Prior to Anne moving to Hammer, our family had made the difficult decision that Anne needed a place to live that could offer her more training, opportunities, and a better quality of life than we could at home. Trying to find that place was not easy. Anne had already endured several years of living in very difficult situations both in local hospitals and state schools. We were told about Hammer during one of her hospital stays and jumped at the chance to move her there as it sounded like the perfect solution.

The sisters volunteered at the 2019 Lambert Open, a fundraising tournament hosted by Hammer Residences.

It turned out to be more than the perfect solution. Hammer was and is the best thing that could have happened to Anne and to our family. Anne was at a stage in her life where she was unsure of where life would take her; she had few prospects of living a happy and productive life and she needed guidance and social and life skills training that Hammer was ready to give her.

Anne lived in the dormitory for some time and then began to move into new living situations as she became more and more capable of living semi-independently. She started in the Carlson apartments (which were part of the Carlson house on the Hammer campus) first, and, after several moves, now lives in the Stone Creek apartments with the support of Hammer staff. Anne lives a busy, happy, and fulfilled life. She loves living at Hammer, has many good friends there, and participates in as many activities as she can. Anne also has a job at General Mills that she loves. She has become an amazing adult with far more skills, abilities, and knowledge than we once thought possible. We have Hammer to thank for that.

Anne’s life at Hammer is a wonderful example of that. Many doors have been opened and possibilities unlocked for her that would never have happened without the work of the caring staff at Hammer. We are so grateful for all that Hammer has done for Anne and look forward to her continuing to be part of the Hammer family for many years to come.

In the photo above, Anne (in red jacket, second row right) with her Carlson apartment friends and staff on a camping trip in the 1980s.