Firefighters for Healing Transitional Healing Center to help burn survivors in downtown Minneapolis

It’s a first-of-its-kind center that will create a legacy of health and hope.

A groundbreaking ceremony was held Wednesday for the Firefighters for Healing Transitional Healing Center in downtown Minneapolis.

The building will include 12 apartments that will provide burn survivors emotional, physical and financial support.

"We’ll have our new home that will serve burn survivors, firefighters, first responders for any medical prognoses at all," said Jake Laferriere, founder of Firefighters for Healing. "They will come from a seven-state reach. They will be able to stay as long as they need free of charge."

The center is expected to open in about a year and a half.