Eric “Red” Bjerstedt was a proud father, a loving husband, and a hardworking mechanic who had the respect and patronage of the tight-knit River Falls, Wisconsin, community. And, most importantly, everyone knew the Packers would always reign supreme at the Packer Palace – Red’s garage that was filled with Packer memorabilia and where the TVs were always tuned to Green Bay Packer coverage.

In 2008, the Packer Palace served as the birthplace of the concept for Red’s Place. As the father of a daughter with autism, Red was not shy about the fact that he and his wife had countless sleepless nights trying to prepare for his daughter’s future, especially if something were to ever happen to him or his wife.

It was on an October night in 2013, as Red was in the final days of his battle with brain cancer, when our founder, Bruce Danielson, made a deathbed promise to his childhood friend to create a loving and caring residential environment that serves the autism spectrum disorder (ASD) community.

Red’s Place is named in honor of Eric “Red’ Bjerstedt, and we are dedicated to infusing each location with Red’s spirit of joy and kindness.