Discipline.Purpose.Trust.Self-Reliance
 
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ABOUT US

The home is an engine of production, and nature is an endless inspiration. Mission Homestead brings human creativity and nature’s inspiration together to teach vocational trade skills and farming agricultural skills to veterans and their families.

 

Mission Homestead has a special interest in aiding veterans and their families.  Families are the foundation of a purposeful life.  Bonds strengthen when we learn together, especially while completing tasks that are productive and meaningful.  Mission Homestead’s goal is to help veterans gain career competitive vocational and farming skills while incorporating their family into the learning process. Team based skill development creates trust, confidence and camaraderie. By developing skills together in the home, families become resilient as a unit and as individuals. 

 

Only 50 years ago, skills such as homemaking, sewing, carpentry, welding, gardening, and hunting, were everyday practices among American citizens. People worked to produce their own food, clothing, and maintain their homes in a very self-reliant way. Today, as global consumerism of mass-produced goods increases, Mission Homestead’s goal is to reconnect Americans to their roots, and give them a greater sense of confidence and purpose in their own self-reliance abilities.  Re-establishing our self-reliance in the home will help build trust within the family unit while supporting community environmental stewardship efforts.  There is more value in the things we consume when we make things ourselves.

 

Mission Homestead is a 501(c)(3) organization, which was incorporated in 2017.  While we are still seeking a permanent location, we conduct "on location" workshops in the southwestern PA area.   

 

OUR VISION

To reconnect Americans to their sense of purpose, their relationship with their community and their relationship with the land.

OUR MISSION

To teach self-reliance skills, vocational skills and farming/agriculture skills to military veterans & families in a home setting. 

 

 
 

OUR TEAM

 
 

Allison Yeckel, FOUNDEr and PRESIDENT

Mission Homestead was founded by Allison Yeckel, who has both the practical experience and the education to lead the organization.  

Allison has a B.S. in Mathematics from Chatham University and a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Pittsburgh. She is a Master Gardener, a member of the American Legion Auxiliary and a local Boy Scout adult leader. She has been working in project management, environmental stewardship and the S.T.E.A.M. fields as a professional for over 12 years, having held positions at U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), Elliott Turbo Machinery, Northrop Grumman, Johnson Controls and Westinghouse.  Personally, Allison has been involved with farming, agriculture, and homestead living for her entire life. She feels strongly that the home is the most effective classroom, and nature inspires everything that we do.

 
 
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Board of Directors

Mr. William A. Bell, Treasurer

Bill is a Vietnam era Army veteran, serving 25 years.  He has held executive positions with local Chambers of Commerce, served as a Board of Director for other nonprofits and also as the Commander of an American Legion post.  His civilian career included Lockmaster with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, as well as owning a horse farm.   

 
 

Mrs. Dawn M. Bell, Secretary

Dawn has 20+ years experience working in the nonprofit sector.  She has held various Board of Director positions, including Executive Director of a local library.  She is an experienced fundraiser and comes from a family of farmers, including sheep and horses.  

 

 

 
 
 

General Advisory

Legal

Thomson, Rhodes & Cowie, P.C.

http://www.trc-law.com

Financial & Accounting

Mr. John A. Marino, John A. Marino & Associates