Steve Kastendieck’s son, Ryan, is supported at Hammer & NER

My relationship with Hammer Residences began 15 years ago, when my colleague at Allina Health, and my friend, Joel Amundsen, invited me to sit with him on the Human Rights Committee as a volunteer pharmacist reviewing cases each month. He, like me, has a child (Sarah) with a developmental disability.

I did that for a few years until my wife, Jacklynn’s, health deteriorated, and I needed to be home right after work every day to care for her and our son, Ryan. After my wife passed away, Ryan began receiving in-home services from Hammer that helped fill a gap that I needed in the later part of the day when Ryan would get home from work before I would. This was a godsend to me.

Steve and Ryan at Gooseberry Falls

Through that time using in-home, I met several DSPs (Direct Support Professionals) from Hammer and became comfortable with Ryan moving into a group home, which he did in February 2019. I have seen Ryan blossom as a person these past five years.

It is one thing to live with your dad at home, and have everything taken care of, but it is different from living with your peers and having a job in the community. The staff at Holdridge are like a second family to Ryan (and me). His home is incredibly supportive, enriching, and is a safe and secure environment for him. It also provides me with a parachute. Those of us who are parents of these terrific kids at Hammer & NER know we are not going to be around forever.

I know that Hammer & NER can be there for our family members in the long run, for as long as they need it, if we do our part.

Fellow parent, Chris Klug, spoke about their family decision to name Hammer & NER as a beneficiary of their estate at a Spring Breakfast. That sparked some thinking on my part, and there were family discussions with Ryan’s brother, Adam, and my wife, Teresa, about what to do to ensure the future of Hammer & NER.

We knew we wanted to do something, and we started thinking about our Special Needs Trust. We set this up years ago to provide supplemental monies for Ryan to pay for things that government benefits will not cover. What we came to realize is that this trust has a specific purpose, named legally, but the day will come when it is not needed anymore. And then what?

And yes, you can give the monies back to the family, retake them, but we thought, why not hand them off to Hammer & NER to provide for others?! In this way, we are deciding to help perpetuate the organization we have found so valuable.

I am sharing my story with you to provide an example for others, as Chris Klug did for me a couple of years ago, to start thinking of creative ways that we can all financially support Hammer & NER for the long run. We not only owe it to people currently supported in the apartments and group homes, but for the future. It takes a lot to keep an organization like this successful. I hope you will think about ways you can invest in tomorrow.

To learn more about ways you can invest in tomorrow, contact Chief Development Officer Ellen Timmerman-Borer at 952-227-2433 or Ellen.TBorer@hammer.org.