Former Waldorf school repurposed

Kathy Grinnell is a single mom who moved from Sartell, near St. Cloud, to Waldorf. She and her children–Faith, 19; Jake, 15; and Jacqueline, 9–are in the process of revitalizing the large building that was a public school for the area before the Janesville-Waldorf-Pemberton district closed it in 2010. The structure was used for a charter school for a time beginning in 2018, but that closed, too, about four years ago.

 

If revitalizing a school building sounds like an ambitious undertaking, it was. A lot happened in the last five years.

 

The Grinnell family has added many personal touches and is finding a wide array of uses for the former classrooms, offices, gymnasium and cafeteria. Available in the building now are a combined coffee house and thrift store; an area full of tables, books, and comfortable seating for reading and study; and an open space for play–including playing music on a piano and playing board games. The former gymnasium has been used for showing movies during warmer months. “Jake’s VR Gaming,” housed in another space, offers competitive virtual reality competition, all family friendly. All these and more to come are part of the family’s plan to create a welcoming place that inspires personal growth, faith, and creativity.

 

While her experiences as a real estate broker and a property manager assisted Grinnell as she sold her home and purchased the school building, her reasons for the change are far less earthbound.

 

A born-again believer, she had served as a youth worker and volunteered helping the homeless in St. Cloud in addition to her work in real estate. She and her children lived in a home she built back when she was only 22 years old.

 

She describes feeling a “strong nudge” to sell that home–the only one her children had ever known–move somewhere more rural, and get some chickens.

 

Initially, Grinnell resisted. Everything about it seemed impractical, yet the nudging continued. Eventually unable to fight it anymore, she put her Sartell home on the market.

With the decision made, she added, “I began seeing these miracles.”

 

One was a near accident when Grinnell was forced to come to a sudden stop even though a semi was close behind her. With the roadway blocked in front of her, she saw no openings and had to slam on her brakes. To a level that seemed to defy physics, the semi stopped “on a dime” without hitting her vehicle.

 

“When you realize those things in life are God’s protection, it’s good to thank him,” Grinnell said. When her kids get sick, they ask her to pray for them and she does so while also laying her hands on them. It usually doesn’t take long for them to feel better.

 

“Most of the time God heals them instantly or in minutes,” Grinnell said. “We see God's miracles weekly in our lives and those around us.”

 

With all this said, she said when God laid it on her heart to do something, she believed she needed to follow it. Such was the case with selling her house. When she asked her children what they thought, she found them surprisingly receptive. Faith asked Grinnell if they could design their dream home; when Grinnell approved, she began to see how the creativity flowed. Faith sketched a home that looked like a mansion with big commercial windows and tall ceilings. Originally, Grinnell expressed amusement, questioning how Faith believed her mom could find such a house on a youth worker’s salary.

 

The day Grinnell put her house on the market, she received a full-price offer.

 

“I was like, ‘Uh-oh – God wants us to move,’” Grinnell recalled, then laughed.

 

While she waited for her house to close, she was looking for land with five acres in the Sartell area, but found nothing that seemed to suit what the “nudge” was asking for. For the short term, the family moved to the tiny town of Alberta, Minn., two hours away, where Grinnell owned a $10,000 tax-forfeited house she had purchased two years before.

 

“While I drove out there, I had a long talk with God and we had this beautiful relationship,” she said. During that conversation, she describes hearing God telling her that he would restore her and make all things new as she fixed this dilapidated property which her children came to call “the flipper house.”

 

Two weeks before her house closed, she found the Waldorf school.

 

“It was everything,” Grinnell said, sounding amazed and listing off all the dream elements the building offered.

 

What became even crazier was it reflected her kids’ drawings of what they wanted in a house.

 

“God stepped in for my children and became their father and supported them with unconditional love. He provided a way for them,” Grinnell said.

 

Remarkable “coincidences” continued. When Grinnell put in an offer for $140,000 for the Waldorf school, the realtor told her he had begun receiving other offers, even though none had been received for the 264 days since the building was first listed.

 

Grinnell began prayerful conversations with God to let him know she would move with his will. She verbally increased her offer to the full price; the realtor responded he wanted to work only with her offer. Ultimately, he accepted the original amount of $140,000.

 

Even though Grinnell had sold her home in Sartell, the family could not move into the Waldorf building until May 4 of 2023, since it couldn’t be properly heated. Family members remained in Alberta for two months while they began moving small loads of their possessions to Waldorf.

 

“I’m just cool with the basics,” Grinnell said. “But God told me, ‘No – we’re going big!’”

 

Mentioning that the school building had received some attention and upgrades because Mayor Rob Wilkening and community members hoped the building might again be used for education, Grinnell said, “A lot of people got their heart broken, but it wasn’t all for nothing.

 

“I’ve been finding out that a lot of people in this community have been praying for something. I’m not saying that me and my kids are God and that we’re going to save the world. I’m just saying that God has sent us here with a purpose and it’s greater than who we are.”

 

Because Grinnell feels a strong conviction that God has gifted her with her house and is supplying all her needs, her heart has opened to give back. She says her desire lies within a circle of love and so she is trying to respond to community interests.

 

She has named her ventures “House of Restoration.”

 

While her thrift store has signs about prices for her clothes, she says she will accept donations of any amount as payment. The same goes for the nutritional drinks and muffins in her coffee space. She has discovered how ozone water can purify a person’s body just as an ozone machine can purify the air. She offers both bottled water and various flavored powder mixes. She has made some other discoveries regarding potential health effects from magnesium.

 

Ultimately, she believes that plays a part in how the community will heal.

 

In keeping with her plan of engaging with the community, Grinnell has frequent evening events, all beginning at 6 p.m. Mondays are Recovery Meetings in the coffeehouse.Tuesdays are movie nights in the gym. Thursdays are Bible studies, again in the coffeehouse. Fridays are for worship at 7 p.m. Grinnell also offers a concession stand for snacks and drinks for both adults and children to enjoy.

 

Bio Scans will arrive in February and Grinnell hopes to be able to offer additional food items and other events in the near future. There will be an “air bed and breakfast” opening in the House of Restoration starting in the spring and the community will be able to rent a classroom and gym for personal use.

 

If anyone would like to donate to Grinnell’s ministry, they may do so in person or through cash apps under HouseORestoration.