A bit of history is bringing its beauty, color and artistry to Veterans throughout Minnesota. Classic stained-glass windows will be part of the meditation rooms at the three new Minnesota State Veterans Homes in Bemidji, Montevideo and Preston. The refinished windows come from a historic building on the Minneapolis Veterans Home campus.

The new meditation rooms were made possible thanks to the enthusiastic work of Mary Kuperus, past President of the Minnesota American Legion Auxiliary—and many others. During her one-year term, Ms. Kuperus devoted her statewide commanders project to the new Minnesota Veterans Homes and with a special request to focus on enhancing the meditation space for our future Residents. She worked with American Legion Auxiliary chapters across the state to raise these funds. In August, she helped deliver a $30,000 donation to the Minnesota Department of Veterans Affairs (MDVA) for the meditation rooms project. In addition to the stained glass, the meditation areas will feature special works from local artists.

“In each of the locations, the windows cause everyone to pause and look,” says Simone Hogan, Senior Director for Veterans Healthcare. “It’s such a fun story to share that they were recovered from the historic buildings on the Minneapolis campus. It’s a testament to our strong and long history supporting Veterans in Minnesota.”

Learn more about our /mdva/homes/preston/index.jspPreston, /mdva/homes/montevideo/index.jspMontevideo and /mdva/homes/bemidji/index.jspBemidji Veterans Homes, or how /mdva/donate/index.jspyou can donate.

Left to right: Deputy Commissioner Eric Meittunen, Minneapolis Domiciliary Resident Randy Hixon, MN American Legion Auxiliary Past President Mary Kuperus, Montevideo Veterans Home Administrator Ashley Bormann, Bemidji Veterans Home Administrator Kevin Gish and Preston Veterans Home Administrator Dave Dunn.