Mission
The Blue House offers a compassionate sanctuary for those suffering from the sudden loss of a loved one to violence. Through peer-led advocacy, we support people in navigating complex systems and managing crucial matters during a time of overwhelming heartache. Our creative support programs empower them to build the strength, skills, and permission to cope, nurturing resilience, connection, and hope for a renewed sense of purpose.
Vision
A supportive community where people who have lost loved ones to violence are surrounded by unwavering care, empowering them to cope today and take steps toward tomorrow. Through shared empathy and understanding, they find hope in the possibility of moving forward, not moving on.
Our Origin Story
The Blue House began long before it had a name. It began in a small blue home on St. Paul’s West Side, where a young girl was raised by grandparents who believed in “community tithing”—the idea that one decision, one act of generosity, could change the course of someone’s life. That home was more than shelter. It was a sanctuary, a place where people arrived with burdens and left with a little more strength than they came in with.
Decades later, that same belief is the foundation of The Blue House: that healing is not a service, but a relationship; not a program, but a community; not a moment, but a journey.
Rooted in Loss, Love, and Purpose
On October 16, 2022, Katrina Mendoza's youngest child and only son, Gabriel "Dino" Mendoza, was murdered while working security at a Minneapolis nightclub. He had just turned 23. His case remains unsolved.
In the months that followed, Katrina found herself navigating a maze of legal systems, unanswered questions, and a grief so heavy it felt impossible to carry alone.
She searched for a place to put her pain, a place that understood that "moving forward" is not the same as "moving on." She didn't find one. So she built it.
Katrina Mendoza is the founder of The Blue House, an organization she created for people like herself: individuals and families whose lives have been shattered by violence and who are left to navigate grief, justice systems, and daily survival all at once. It is a sanctuary, a justice hub, and a healing ecosystem built from lived experience, professional expertise, and the collective wisdom of community.