Some of the best work in the building trades never shows up on a permit report. In Bismarck, a group of women from across the industry is spending its time making life easier for people fighting cancer.
The Bismarck-Mandan Professional Women in Building group held demolition day at the Bismarck Cancer Center's patient apartments, pulling out old cabinets and tearing up worn-out carpet, KFYR reported on Oct. 14.
The group started the project in 2025, updating two of the upper-floor apartments. Now it's back to transform the remaining two units on the bottom floor.
The apartments are a short walk from where patients receive treatment and serve as a home away from home.
"Cancer patients stay here while they're going through treatment at the Bismarck cancer center and they come here and they stay for long periods of time and when they are not feeling well we want them to have a comfortable place for them to come back and stay and relax and feel at home," said Kari Anderson, who is working on the project.
The crew planned to start painting the day KFYR visited, with the rest of the interior design work beginning the following week.
The renovation team brings together professionals from every corner of the construction and housing world, KFYR reported, including builders, real estate agents and marketers, all working toward the same goal.
Last year's work set the pattern. When the group renovated the first two apartments in November 2025, KFYR reported the project upgraded four bedrooms, two kitchens and two living rooms. "We want this apartment to be a relaxing and welcoming space for cancer patients," Karli Skjeret, team lead for the group's Room Refresh Committee, told the station then. She said the goal was a place where patients could go after treatment to truly relax and recover. The group said it hoped to continue the Room Refresh project every year.
Why the apartments matter
The Bismarck Cancer Center Foundation says many patients stay in the community for four to eight weeks during radiation therapy, making the apartments their home away from home. Patients travel from across North Dakota, South Dakota and Montana for treatment. The foundation provides affordable lodging so patients and their caregivers can stay close to treatment and avoid long drives, unsafe weather and the cost of hotel stays.
In the past year, the foundation says, its apartments provided 3,969 housing nights, and 270 patients and caregivers stayed in them.
The foundation is honest about the condition of the units. "Our apartments have faithfully served patients for many years, but they are showing their age," it says. It has launched a broader renovation project with planned improvements that read like a remodeling contractor's scope of work:
- Walk-in showers and accessibility upgrades.
- New flooring throughout.
- Kitchen renovations.
- Updated furniture and decor.
- Improved lighting.
- New doors, trim and fixtures.
- Comfort and safety enhancements.
- New window treatments.
The foundation says the renovations will improve accessibility, increase safety and create a more welcoming environment for patients and caregivers.
The foundation is looking for patient apartment sponsors, both individuals and businesses, to sponsor an entire apartment or support a specific renovation project.
Professional Women in Building is a council of the National Association of Home Builders. According to the Bismarck-Mandan Home Builders Association, its members are BMHBA, North Dakota Association of Builders and NAHB members, and the national council was chartered in 1955. It has more than 1,100 members in nearly 60 local and state councils across the country.
Why it matters for Contractors
Projects like this one show what the building trades can do for their own community beyond paying jobs. A small group of builders, designers and other housing professionals is turning tired apartments into comfortable places for cancer patients and their families to rest between treatments. For contractors, there's a way to help. The Bismarck Cancer Center Foundation's list of planned improvements, from walk-in showers and accessibility upgrades to flooring, kitchens, lighting, doors and trim, is the kind of work local remodelers, plumbers, electricians and flooring installers do every day. Businesses can sponsor an apartment or a specific project through the foundation, and contractors interested in joining or supporting Professional Women in Building can reach the group through the Bismarck-Mandan Home Builders Association.