Yesterday evening, our Shakopee House, which opened in November of 2021 with the partnership of Scott Community Corrections, hosted an open house and barbeque. It was a beautiful day for grilling and residents from all four of our sites helped set-up the House for the event. Our residents also helped prepare the food along with Reverend Wilder (a staff at the Shakopee House) and Site Director Todd Quiggle who coordinated the BBQ. In addition to our own Damascus Way employees, guests from Scott County Community Corrections, the Shakopee Police Department and various volunteers and friends of Damascus joined us for the Open House. There was great food, yard games and conversation! It is our hope that events like this can help bring together the community, law enforcement, non-profits and most importantly, the men we serve, with the purpose of breaking down barriers of communication and stigma about individuals coming out of prison. These kinds of events provide a great display of the value of our work to the community and furthermore, they bring people together in an environment that feels less institutional and more relational.
Damascus Way would like to extend our gratitude to all those who helped put this event together, particularly Shakopee Site Director Todd Quiggle. We’d also like to thank our Food Services Coordinator at Golden Valley (Anthony James) and Reverend Wilder for helping grill and prepare food for the BBQ!
