IF THE TASTE OF SUMMER can be defined in one word, then perhaps that would be “sweetcorn.”
Whether fresh from the garden, vended at farmers’ markets, sold at self-serve roadside stands or purchased at a local grocery store, Minnesota-grown sweetcorn tastes of earth and sky, sun and rain. There’s nothing quite like biting into that first corn of the season.
Right now an abundance of locally-grown sweetcorn can be found throughout southern Minnesota. Randy and I picked some up at a stand just off State Highway 3 between Faribault and Dundas at Little Prairie Sunflower Maze, Pumpkins & Produce. I proclaimed it the best corn I’ve ever eaten. Randy reminded me that, given this was our first sweetcorn of the summer, I may have been biased in that declaration. But the corn was good, really good.
I shared my assessment with a young couple who pulled into Kaden Ernst’s roadside stand while I snapped photos of his business on wheels complete with homemade signage and an honor system drop box for payment. Ernst also offers the option of scanning a QR code and paying via Venmo. The pair, who recently moved to the area from San Diego, seemed pleased to hear my blue ribbon endorsement of this sweetcorn grown by a young man pursuing an agronomy degree. Ernst has vended his sweetcorn and other produce at roadside stands since high school and I was happy to promote his product.
Likewise, I could endorse many other local growers, including Hein’s Extra Sweet Corn, a family-run business since 1997. When Hein’s signs start popping up around Faribault, I know it’s time to purchase some corn. Customers can buy the fresh-picked-daily sweetcorn at the farm site four miles south of Faribault along Rice County Road 45 or at Hy-Vee grocery stores in Faribault, Owatonna or Mankato. Randy and I have also bought plenty of corn through the years from growers at the Faribault Farmers’ Market.
Many decades ago, I ate corn grown on my southwestern Minnesota childhood farm. Whatever corn we didn’t eat fresh, we froze in preparation for winter. “Making sweetcorn” was an all-day event which began with my dad and Uncle Mike harvesting a pick-up bed full of corn from their plantings. Then we, meaning adults and kids alike, husked the corn before Mom blanched it and the men cut the kernels from the cobs for packaging and freezing. That corn tasted of earth and sky, sun and rain in the deep of a frigid Minnesota winter. Just as sweetcorn still tastes today of earth and sky, sun and rain in the heat of a Minnesota summer.
© Copyright 2025 Audrey Kletscher Helbling
Minnesota Prairie Roots 
Clearly I needed to write about homelessness & housing insecurity in Faribault…read on August 6, 2025
Tags: church, commentary, Community Action Center, donations, emergency housing, faith, Faribault, homelessness, housing insecurity, Minnesota, mission, Ridgeview Heights, Trinity Lutheran Church, Vacation Bible School, workforce housing, writing
ON MY WAY TO SUNDAY MORNING church services, I missed an opportunity to live my faith. Reflecting on that moment, I’m still uncertain what I could have done. But the guilt I feel about doing nothing at the time remains.
Let me set the scene. While driving to church, Randy and I dropped off some mail downtown. Up the hill from the post office, I noticed a parked car crammed with stuff. Someone clearly lived out of the vehicle, one I’ve previously seen. Then my eyes shifted to the adjacent street corner and an individual, cocooned in a bright gold blanket, sleeping atop a bench. And then we turned the corner.
“I should take a picture,” I told Randy, my mind already creating a story that would enlighten others about homelessness in Faribault. But then I quickly realized that taking a photo wouldn’t be particularly kind. And so we continued on to church.
Still, I couldn’t shake the image of that person stretched atop a bench along Central Avenue. I wondered about his story, why and how he found himself without a home. And I considered how vulnerable and exposed I would feel sleeping like that in a public place. Those thoughts followed me into church.
“HOUSING FOR THE HOMELESS”
When I stepped inside the sanctuary, I immediately noticed a “Housing for the Homeless” poster near the organ. There are coincidences and then there are what I term “God moments.” And this, in my mind, was clearly divine. I’ve seen enough of these occurrences in my life to distinguish the two. God was assuredly nudging me to write on the topic of homelessness and housing insecurity in my community.
That sign in church was a promotional for the chosen mission of this year’s Vacation Bible School, which started that very evening at Trinity. Participants are donating their monetary gifts to Ridgeview Heights, an accessible, sustainable housing community to be built in downtown Faribault just blocks from the slumbering man on the bench. The VBS fundraising goal is $500.
That $500 may seem inconsequential considering the $2.5 million project cost. But every dollar helps in constructing the two buildings aimed at housing families with children, including those experiencing homelessness. Two of the eight units will serve as free emergency shelters and the other six will be market rate workforce units.
A COMMUNITY ACTS
The Community Action Center, which works collaboratively to alleviate hunger, homelessness and poverty among individuals and families in the community, is the lead on Ridgeview Heights. With an in-kind land donation from the city of Faribault, two grants, gifts, community donations and financing, the CAC is able to break ground at 4 p.m. today, August 6, for the much-needed two and three-bedroom units.
So first I saw the sleeping man, then the poster. And then came the sermon…with a directive that congregations ought to think, plan and act in ways that bless people. The guest pastor encouraged us not to think less of ourselves, but to think of ourselves less (a loose quote from C.S. Lewis). In other words, turn the focus outward on the community rather than inward to the church’s needs. The VBS kids will be doing exactly that this week with their “Housing for the Homeless” mission focus.
A FAMILY THAT CARES
Now you may think my story ends here. But it doesn’t. On July 28, I received a mass email about an upcoming Helbling family reunion. Organizers are changing things up this year by raffling items made by family members. One of several ways to qualify for a raffle entry is via a $5 charitable donation. All donations will go to the Community Action Center in Faribault with a dollar-for-dollar match from my eldest niece’s employer.
Truly, I was meant to write this story. I may have bypassed the man sleeping on the bench. But I got the message, loud and clear, that I needed to write about homelessness and housing insecurity in Faribault. I’ve seen the tents pitched along the river, beside train tracks, behind evergreen trees, next to a park. I’ve seen the homeless in the library, sleeping in the Central Park bandshell, biking and walking about town, including past my house. I am aware of the long waiting list for emergency shelter. Even if I failed to “do” something, I can raise awareness through my writing. And by doing that, perhaps I am helping in some small way to bless my community, including the man sleeping on a bench in the heart of downtown Faribault on a Sunday morning.
© Copyright 2025 Audrey Kletscher Helbling