500 Volunteers Fix 50 Homes in Wisconsin This Week

Homeowners across central Wisconsin woke up this week to something extraordinary: hundreds of helping hands ready to repair their homes for free.

Habitat for Humanity of Wausau teamed up with Group Mission Trips to bring over 500 volunteers to the region. Together, they're repainting houses, replacing railings, and tackling exterior repairs that many homeowners simply can't manage on their own.

The volunteers spread across Wausau, Merrill, Mosinee, and surrounding communities. High schooler Bianca Carlson joined five others to repaint a garage and fix a railing at one Wausau home.

"I think we got a lot of work done pretty quick," Carlson said. "They're doing pretty good painting too."

Courtney Heck traveled from Illinois to help. She's been participating in these mission trips since she was 12 years old.

"You're impacting the resident. But I think the true impact is like what they do for us," Heck said. The homeowner she's helping can no longer physically paint or maintain her house, but welcomed the volunteers with open arms.

The Ripple Effect

This wasn't a last-minute effort. Tiffany Arnold, executive director of Habitat for Humanity of Wausau, applied over a year ago to host this massive mission trip.

The timing couldn't be better. Arnold is also coordinating "Rock the Block" volunteers working on 10 additional homes in Wausau's Southeast side neighborhood revitalization project near the airport.

Combined, volunteers from both groups will complete repairs on over 50 homes this week. That's 50 families who will live more safely, 50 homes that strengthen their neighborhoods, and countless hours of work that would have been impossible for these homeowners to accomplish alone.

"Our team is really excited to see the number of families that we're going to be able to serve in such a short period of time," Arnold said.

For Heck, the formula is simple: "We're able to help people accomplish things that they just wouldn't be able to do on their own. That's kind of what it's all about."

Fifty homes transformed in one week proves what communities can do when they show up for each other.