| |  Aeon has been recognized with numerous awards both locally and nationally for its excellence in design, commitment to quality, investment in the community and community partnerships. | |
Aeon's core values
Community - Collaborate in the design of vibrant, healthy neighborhoods
As a non-profit organization committed to improving lives and communities, we craft a development plan that fits a community's goals and needs. In the design phase, we foster relationships among people by prioritizing green spaces, gathering places and other community-building features.
We then build on this foundation by facilitating meetings and social events for residents. Aeon connects residents to each other, to the community and to stabilizing community resources. Our vision is that everyone has a home and is interconnected within community.
Trust - Develop strong, effective relationships
Strong, effective relationships are the foundation of our organization. The relationships we've developed with funders, public officials, communities and residents have made us a leader in Twin Cities housing development. Trust comes from our track record of making good on promises: producing high-quality work and then taking seriously our role as stewards. Trusting relationships between residents and property management are also important and measured by our yearly resident survey.
Diversity - Build an inclusive organization and community
As the work of providing affordable housing challenges diverse peoples to unite and live side-by-side, we continue to challenge ourselves to be a fully inclusive organization. We've designated two-thirds of the seats on our Board of Directors for resident and community representatives and have earned recognition for strong equal opportunity goals from the MN National Association of Minority Contractors, the Minneapolis Community Planning and Economic Development Department (formerly MCDA) and the Minneapolis Foundation.
Excellence - Set and achieve high quality goals and standards
"Doing it better" has always been part of our culture, even though the road from "good" to "excellent" is often the toughest. Financial strength and visionary design continue to distinguish our work. Architects know we'll meet their initial designs with a hundred ideas for improvements and they've come to expect nothing less. Excellence in affordable housing also means going beyond the bricks and mortar to support residents and promote successful residency.
Sustainability - Ensure properties are long-term community assets
Long after a property is constructed, Aeon ensures that it remains a long-term community asset. Our philosophy of investing up-front in high-quality materials helps ensure that in economic, environmental and human terms, our housing can last well into the future – not just 20 years, but 100 years or more. Sustaining relationships is just as important. We strive to maintain ties with every community we serve, even as our service area expands.
Leadership - Advance positive community change
As one of the leading nonprofit affordable housing organizations in Minnesota, Aeon is committed to being a strong advocate for both high-quality affordable housing and an effective political and social environment that supports it. On the local, state and federal levels, Aeon calls for continued commitment to affordable housing. Aeon intervenes when affordable housing is in jeopardy. We often tackle difficult projects that others reject. We’ve developed more permanent (non-shelter, non-transitional) affordable apartment homes for homeless persons than any organization in the Minnesota. Aeon has also done more historic preservation in Minnesota than any organization, for-profit or nonprofit. |
