Lyngblomsten

Serving older adults through healthcare, housing, and community-based services.

03/13/2026

03/10/2026

Caregivers, sign up for WOOP for Dementia Caregivers, a three-week online group where you'll learn a strategy to help you focus on what you can control and turn your important wishes into action plans. Join Lyngblomsten Community Services and Borrow My Glasses for a virtual information session on March 11! To register or learn more, visit https://bit.ly/4rgYY2A.

03/09/2026

A correction to something we posted last week. Our Memory Loss Caregivers Support Group meets in-person at our Lino Lakes campus on the 4th Tuesday of the month at 10:30 AM (not the 3rd Wednesday of the month, as we originally shared). For more information, visit https://bit.ly/3OMYROs.

Are you looking for resources or support for your caregiver role? You are not alone! We're here to guide you on your caregiving journey.

03/04/2026

Are you caring for an older adult with memory loss and are looking for support on your journey? Consider participating in a support group.

Lyngblomsten Community Services offers online and in-person Memory Loss Caregiver Support Groups twice each month. A virtual group is held on the 2nd Tuesday of each month at 10:30 AM (next session in one week on March 10). An in-person group is held on the 4th Tuesday of each month at 10:30 AM at Lyngblomsten at Lino Lakes (6070 Blanchard Blvd., Lino Lakes, MN 55014) (next session on March 24). Each support group meeting lasts about one hour. Registrations preferred.

Online meetings are hosted using Zoom; however, individuals can also participate by phone. New members are welcome!

If you're interested in participating, please contact us at (651) 632-5320 or caregiving@lyngblomsten.org or visit https://bit.ly/3OMYROs.

03/02/2026

The Lyngblomsten Foundation helps fund many activities and services for older adults on both our Como Park and Lino Lakes campuses and in the broader community. We are so thankful for the businesses that support the important work of the Lyngblomsten Foundation, which in 2026 includes Weis Builders (Platinum Sponsor), Forefront (Diamond Sponsor), ProRehab (Diamond Sponsor), Shanghai Henri's (Ellen & Hank Hanten) and Allegra (Gold Sponsors). Thank you for your commitment to enriching the lives of those in our Lyngblomsten community!

02/25/2026

Free wellness screenings are available for those 65+ at the Como Park campus of Lyngblomsten in Saint Paul! The Faith Community Nurse Network of the Greater Twin Cities is offering 60-minute wellness appointments to metro residents on Thursday, March 19, that offer a chance to check basic metrics like blood pressure, screen for mental health and cognitive changes, discuss overall well-being with a registered nurse, and get connected to resources in the community. ASL interpreters will be present. For more information, visit https://lyngblomsten.org/event/free-wellness-screenings/.

02/19/2026

Today is Ash Wednesday. For many Christians, this is a holy day of prayer and fasting and marks the first day of Lent. We wish those observing a blessed Lenten season.

02/18/2026

A belated Happy Valentine's Day from The Heritage at Lyngblomsten! Residents and staff celebrated love and February birthdays in style recently and wish you a very sweet week!

02/17/2026

Happy 120th Anniversary, Lyngblomsten! Today, February 17, marks the 120th anniversary of Lyngblomsten's incorporation as a charitable organization in the state of Minnesota. Residents, families, employees, and visitors celebrated in the care center lobby with cupcakes and a trivia quiz all about the twelve decades of Lyngblomsten's history. We loved seeing everyone have fun learning about how Lyngblomsten has been enhancing the lives of older adults since 1906.

Address

1415 Almond Avenue
Saint Paul, MN
55108

Telephone

+16516462941

Website

http://www.lyngblomsten.org/

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From Books to Bricks

In 1903, Anna Quale Fergstad gathered together several Norwegian women to form a literary club. Near the end of that year, Mrs. Fergstad expressed her desire for the club to take up charitable work of some sort. Thinking of a vivid picture of the snug little huts along the coast of Norway that sheltered the wives of fishermen who had lost their lives at sea, she realized that, in America, there were many older people without family or friends to care for them. They were in need of some shelter and care. How splendid and useful an undertaking for their club to give at least a few of these deserving kinsfolk a home in which they could spend their last years.

The idea took form on October 19, 1903, when the group formed an organization, the Lyngblomsten Society, dedicated toward that goal. Mrs. Fergstad was named president. The group selected the name Lyngblomsten to commemorate the national flower of Norway, the lyng.

The organization began to grow by establishing "branches" around the Upper Midwest. On February 17, 1906, they incorporated and began fund raising. In 1911 they bought land midway between Minneapolis and St. Paul. In 1912 construction of the home began at Midway Parkway and Pascal Avenue. The home opened in December of that year with 34 older Norwegians moving in.

The home operated on the concept of residents helping with chores as they were able, and receiving help at the level each person needed—very similar to how our continuing care campus works today. It is important to note, then, that Lyngblomsten did not begin as a “nursing home,” but rather as “assisted living”—a term that didn’t exist until decades later.

The Winds of Change

For several decades, the women, their daughters and granddaughters ran the Lyngblomsten Home through the sponsorship of member branches. But as women entered the workforce and had less time for volunteer work, along with increasing government regulations for board and care being established, it was no longer a feasible method.

In 1960, Lyngblomsten was reincorporated and its grounds and assets were gifted to what was then the St. Paul Conference of the American Lutheran Church. The members of the Board of Directors began coming from the churches (instead of from the branches) and staff were hired to handle the day-to-day operations. The branches were transitioned into the new Lyngblomsten Auxiliary.

Today Lyngblomsten is affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) and partnered in ministry with Twin Cities-area Christian churches. Lyngblomsten welcomes older adults of all faiths and nationalities.

Growing & Changing

In the early 1960s, the skilled nursing facility was added (a requirement given by the churches as a condition of forming the partnership). The next decade saw the addition of the Lyngblomsten Apartments and the Lyngblomsten Community Senior Center (known today as 2nd Half with Lyngblomsten). With heavy hearts, in 1993 the original building that housed the Lyngblomsten Home for the Aged was demolished to make way for the Heritage Apartments (market rate).

In the 1990s Lyngblomsten began developing community outreach programs (Care Team Ministry and Parish Nurse Ministry, specifically), known today as Home- and Community-Based Services. Work also began on adopting the Swedish model of care, known as “service houses,” a concept that would be modified a decade later, ushering in the neighborhood model of person-centered care. Superior Street Cottages located off campus opened in 1999.

In the early 2000s, major fundraising made way for the massive remodeling of the care center, readying the facility for “neighborhoods” and person-centered care. The shift in how care was provided took several years to fully integrate, but as an early adopter and embracing our call to innovation, Lyngblomsten soon became known as a leader in the Culture Change movement—the terminology used to describe a new era in skilled nursing care.

In 2005, our first transitional care unit opened, serving those who needed a place to recuperate between hospital and home. On the community side, our outreach programs were expanded to help support the growing number of older adults, including the launch of The Gathering. In 2006, with much fanfare, Lyngblomsten celebrated the 100th anniversary of its incorporation.