Life House director leads the charge to help Duluth's homeless youths

from The Woman Today June/July 2018

Improving the Local Economy One Business at a Time

By Andrea Busche

Asshe leads a tour of Life House’s downtown campus at the corner of West First Street and First Avenue West, Maude Dornfeld’s eyes sparkle with pride. She talks as she walks, explaining how Life House provides a drop-in center, a housing program, and mental health services for one of our most vulnerable populations — homeless youths.

In her role as Life House’s executive director, which she has held since 2013, Maude has led the way in seeing many of its initiatives through to fruition. But her primary goal for Life House is to ensure they will be, as their tagline says, “Here today. Here tomorrow.”

The Woman Today is pleased to introduce you to the recipient of our Leadership Award.

A relatable leader

While today, she is a competent, well-educated woman, Maude relates to many of the challenges her clients face. Born in St. Paul, her father died suddenly when she was 12. “This made for a very difficult adolescence for me in many ways,” she said, “Which I think is how I eventually found my way to this work.”

Throughout the next few years, Maude struggled. She completed two years of college, but dropped out because of failing grades. She later suffered with severe clinical depression, requiring hospitalization.

Eventually, however, she bounced back. She enrolled in the sociology

Maude Dornfeld Leadership Award

program at Macalester College, where she discovered her niche. “I loved it,” she said. “The world started making sense to me.” It was during college that Maude met her husband, Ken Dornfeld, now a radiation oncologist at Essentia Health.

The Dornfelds moved a couple times over the years, living in Ann Arbor, Michigan, for 10 years, and Iowa City for five. Maude worked in marketing research for most of her career, while Ken concentrated on his profession as a doctor. They, along with their three daughters, Celeste, Beatrice and Hazel, moved to Duluth 10 years ago, and reside in the Lakeside neighborhood.

Services in a calm setting

Life House’s downtown campus is a place where individuals can shower, eat, do laundry, sleep and receive mental health services. There is also off-site housing, both in the form of regular apartments and through the Sol House, catering to individuals who have been victims of sex trafficking. There are cleverly named classes, such as “Cribs, Yo” (where youths learn about housing) and “Girl Talk.” There is an employment course, aptly named “Legitimate Hustle,” where the youths operate a candle-making enterprise. When visiting any of the Life House sites, visitors usually notice that the lighting and paint colors are warm and inviting, and the spaces feel very soothing. Maude said this was all intentional. “We’ve invested heavily in the look and feel of our spaces,” she said. “We utilized interior designer Suzi Vandersteen to help us create a traumainformed space. I want our youth to know that their worth is the same as anyone entering a five-star spa.”