Welcome everybody to Midday Magazine for this Wednesday, January 8th, 2025.
Have your host James here and we're joined right now by our great friends from Encourage.
One introduced first, Kim Shields, Kim, always good to see you, always good to talk with you.
Great to see you.
Thanks for being here, Kim, more with you in a moment, but we also want to introduce
to our friends Wisconsin Rapids area habitat for humanity.
We have Guadalupe with us, Larry and Jim, I'll let you guys go ahead and introduce yourselves
in a moment.
But thank you very much for being here and bringing this topic to our audience.
Kim, want to start with you though and get an update a little bit about Encourage and
some of the matching donations that you're going on?
Yes, so I just want to make sure to send a very special thank you to all of our community
members and donors that have supported us during our 30th year and since we have begun.
Last year, as I had mentioned several times, we were celebrating our 30th year and we had an
anonymous supporter that provided several match opportunities and we are just so appreciative
of the outpouring of support that we received from our community to match those donations.
So a huge thank you to everyone.
Those donations went to our Friends of Encourage fund and really helped us to do our work
in the community and we can't do our work without you.
So thank you so, so much for those donations.
We got an amazing community and more on that in a moment here and everything.
One of the most powerful things in this area in Central Wisconsin is the idea of strangers
helping strangers and you see it so often and these anonymous donations, they just they
every time it gets you, it never gets old.
It's beautiful and it also in many ways helps free up or helps initially right straight up
the online scholarship applications and those are open.
Absolutely, yes, they're open.
The application had opened mid-December and the applications are being completed which I'm so
pleased to see. I actually talked with some Lincoln High School seniors yesterday and we asked
how many students had started their application and about half in the room raised their hand which
was wonderful. They had some great questions and some specifics about scholarships themselves,
the process and one thing I told them was these scholarship applications are due on Friday,
January 24th at 11.59 pm. But don't wait until 11.59 pm to hit submit.
It's good lesson to learn early.
Exactly, so start them now. We have a wonderful partnership with international scholarship
tuition services. It's a national organization and ISDS has helped us with our online application.
They have customer care staff available to answer questions as students may have while they're
filling out their application and so we really encourage those students to start early and reach out
if they do have questions. And one of the before we wrap up talk on touch on the bridge and the what if
grants a little bit with us. Yes, absolutely. With the New Year it's always a great time to talk
about the different grant opportunities that we offer. We have a responsive process so applications
can be submitted at any time. They are for smaller grants so grant requests up to $2,500 and the bridge
grant is really intended for nonprofit tax exempt organizations. Kind of two purposes. If there's
an unforeseen emergency or a small amount can make a big difference. $2,500 is still out of
money but you know when people have a need it's often greater so that's why we do say small
amount. We also have our what if grants and that's really for resident led projects. Three unrelated
individuals they have a great idea. Want to see something happen in their community. Join forces.
Do you have any examples of that Kim just possible just out of thin air just anything out of
the stands out. Yeah so one of our recent examples was science by the river so that just happened
in October and residents general residents also people from the UW Extension connected with
Clean Green Action Committee and we have this wonderful event that happened this fall. That's a great
example. Already have had people coming in talking about next year and what to expect in everything
like it's become that popular already. That's wonderful. That's wonderful. A recent example for
a bridge grant application are as affiliated with our guests here today for Habitat for Humanity.
They had you know costs of cabinet flooring equipment supplies. We all know that they were
increasing and they were working on the recent home builds and had a need for to help support
the increased costs and so we were able to come in with the bridge grant and award $2,500 to
help offset those fees. So we're just so appreciative to have that flexibility to do that.
And we're going to talk with the gang from Habitat from our local Habitat for Humanity right now
thanks to you Kim and appreciate that bringing you to bringing them in. And this is such a
I hope I want people to keep in mind with this conversation anytime we talk with Kim and
encourage. This is one example. This is one example of the many many ways it encourages impacting
our community, helping our community. This is the tip of the iceberg and it's a strong tip and
it's a it's a very important tip. But so many of the times we have people come in I can't help
it sit here and think in the middle of the conversation. Well this is one thing we're talking about
of the so many things it encourage does. And again we appreciate you and your team over there Kim
but we can't do it without this community. Absolutely. And that that also sticks to what we're
talking about here with Habitat for Humanity. We're going to get into some conversation with
about that. But before we do, I'd like to introduce our guests. If you all wouldn't mind going down
the line here and introducing yourselves to the community and how you're associated with Habitat
for Humanity. Yes good morning everyone. Good morning James. I'm Guadalupe Ansel and I'm president
of the our local Habitat. James Kim thanks for having us. I'm Larry Turba. I'm the treasure
of Wisconsin's Rabbits Area Habitat. And I'm Jim Chase. I'm also on the board and I'm the
volunteer coordinator for Habitat. Appreciate you all being here especially you Jim. I will not
forget your name. It's a great name. It's great name. Guadalupe thank you again for being here
as well. It's talking about great names. You got just the best name in the room. I'm sorry
what you do. And the name Habitat for Humanity is something that stands out. And I think that
at this point in time most people know about the organization. But they I don't know that they
know the organization that they know that inner workings and the details of the logistics of it
and everything. I want to talk about that, the mission of it. If I could start one of my favorite
lines I've ever heard in TV by land. God ain't making any more of it. It's a great line but it's
also very factual. And it speaks to the importance and what it means as a human being to own land,
to own your own home, to have somewhere to hang your hat. It's one of the oldest things in
history and in human existence. But it's something that as time has gone on has become harder and
harder for individuals to have to achieve. My mom and dad were in the kids were all out of the
house. They're in their late 40s, early 50s when they own their first home. And it's something that
was difficult. But boy, when it happened, it's something that they've owned their own home for
almost 20 years now. And it's something they still like revel in and pride. And we came from
the projects. We came from apartment buildings that barely had walls to them and everything,
to for them to own their own house, their own land. It's something that I guarantee right now
they're still taking pride in and Joe Minnan. It's something that almost every individual,
I would say every individual deserves and deserves a right to feel. That's all well and good.
But for decades and decades, we never had anything to really help individuals that were in those
situations. Then Habitat for Humanity came around and I want to start right there with you guys and
who founded Habitat for Humanity and what the mission of it is. All right. Great question, James.
Well, there were two gentlemen and one of them was named Millard Fuller and he was a lawyer
and a businessman and his friend, Dr. Clarence Jordan, he was a scholar and a farmer. And just like
your family, they looked at their community in America's Georgia and they knew that there was
a problem and it was substandard housing in their community. So these two people got together
and did a what-if conversation. Awesome. Yeah. They did a what-if conversation and they said,
what if we set up a program where we lend people money to buy a house at zero interest,
a zero interest loan? What would that do for people? So they got together with other community
members, churches especially and they formed what was called the partnership housing
and fund for humanity. And it was a no-profit, no-interest loan program for people in need who
could apply for affordable, decent housing because that's what they noticed. Substandard housing,
people need something better. So Fuller established this idea and he wondered, what if I took this
to a different continent? So he went to Africa. He went to Zaire and moved his family there
and decided to set up the same model there and established Habitat for International there.
It wasn't called Habitat for International. It was just known as the partnership housing
and fund for humanity at the time. But with the help of the churches and other organizations,
he was able to successfully set up the fund for Habitat in that part of the world.
And it still continues to this day. And so in 1976, he returned home and he decided to change
the name to Habitat for humanity. And it really became a movement of love in action with the
with the mission to provide families in need with the opportunity to apply for and purchase
affordable housing. And so today, 50 states in the United States, plus Washington, D.C. and
Puerto Rico have a Habitat for Humanity. And there are 70 countries worldwide that have a
Habitat for Humanity International Organization. But one idea can do, you know, but one thought,
one idea and the see-through of that idea and to branch it out to evolve it to take it to other
places and everything. There's so many different topics we can talk about that have impacted our
world. Few have done what this has done. It's remarkable what this has done. And what it's done
even locally and local levels to many people out there listening and maybe other areas and such.
I'm curious about our own Guadalupe. Who founded the local Habitat for Humanity in our area? And how
is that mission changed? Well, the mission hasn't really changed. But it's interesting how this
was set up. The local affiliate known as Wisconsin Rapids Area Habitat for Humanity was founded in
1992. And at that time, there were a group of community residents who were taking and participating in
the Chamber of Commerce community leadership classes. And the leadership classes then asked the
groups, okay, think of something that you want to do for this community. And a smaller group then
decided, let's do a Habitat for Humanity Affiliate in our area. And so those members took
on the ambitious role to raise the funds to build affordable houses in our area. And as we know,
raising funds is not an easy task. But to date, our local Habitat has built 20 houses with the
last house being sold just this past November 2024. And the first house having been built in 1994.
So over 30 years ago, it was established by this. That's amazing. Just amazing. I'm speechless.
That's amazing. I knew those numbers coming into the conversation and just hearing you'd say
them, it's still just mine. That's wonderful. What role does the Wisconsin Rapids Area Habitat
for Humanity Board play in building a habitat house? Quite a looping. Well, we are an all-volunteer
board. None of us that serve on the board receive any compensation for our services. There are
some affiliates in the United States that do have administrators and staff that are paid. But we are
an all-volunteer board. And each one of us, Larry, is our treasurer, Jim is our volunteer coordinator.
And we have others, other members, what are we, 11 members, 12 members, we are 12 members. And so
all of us participate in committees. We work with our committees to decide how we're going to
manage the funds, how we're going to find a family, and then how are we going to build this next
home. And the board does focus mainly on raising funds and managing for construction. And it just
amazes me how weak as a group, this small group of people can go from the ground up a stick home
and build it into a beautiful dream. It's really amazing. And it's some of the better work going
on in our communities. Thank you for that, Guadalupe, especially that breakdown. And I appreciate
this conversation so much. One of the things that Terry John, CEO, United Way and I talk so much
about is transparency and how much so many people out there want to be a part of things,
want to volunteer, donate to things, but there's this hesitancy that exists. And I think that's
understandable. That's why we encourage you to ask questions. And why we have conversations like
this where we're letting people look by the man behind the curtain and all of that and seeing what
there is. And I think that not only can that encouragement people more empathy and more people
to be involved, but I think it's just interesting. I think it's fascinating. Like you say that a
board of people, individuals can come together, come up with these things, get to where we are,
and we'll talk with Jim and Larry more about the detail, the logistics of this, to the point where
somebody's getting a home, somebody a life is changing and not just a life, but possibly generations
can change from that handed down house to the next kids and things like that. There's no words
that you can put on something like that. How that can change a family and how that can change a
community that is one more family that is up on its feet that is putting back into its community,
paying taxes, doing certain things. It all ties together. It all adds up. It's a beautiful
domino effect that can happen from just those board meetings, just those conversations.
And at Habitat, we always say people don't want a hand out. They want and deserve a hand up.
Well said, and dignity, you know, the dignity that comes with something like this. And just
getting into a little bit more of the logistics of it, we're going to talk to you, Larry,
a little bit, and Larry, what are the qualifications of becoming a Habitat partner family?
Well, first of all, you need to be a Southwood County residents for the past two years.
You need to be renting a home or apartment that has some significant efficiencies. You may be
the heating systems not working or you have electrical problems, structural issues, anything that
can make the home difficult to live in. Or possibly it's too small. It's an adequate number of
bedrooms for the size of your family. And the other thing that we have is we deal mostly with
low to moderate income families. You have to have a household income that's less than 60%
of county median. So for example, if you have a family of four, the income has to be 52,000 or less.
You know, there's a there's a saving factor in that. And unfortunately we learned this through
the housing crisis and some of those things and everything when they were just handing out loans
to people that couldn't pay them that didn't help anybody. That just put people back in the same
spot. Doing having this caveat there is really helping a lot of the communities, a lot of the
families out there. It's not keeping anybody from anything. It's putting them in a not putting
them in a position that they can't succeed in. I think it's a really smart key part of this that
doesn't get brought up often, I think, but it's a noteworthy thing. Thank you for mentioning that.
Very true. We don't want to put them in a situation that's untoundable for them.
What is the application process like? Well, you can go out to our website, download an app and
complete it or you can email us, call us, we'll send you an app in the mail. After you've completed
the app, we do the initial financial review to make sure that that you do qualify under the
standards we just talked about. Qualified applicants at that point, we have our Family
Selection Committee go to their home and do an in-home interview with them to get to know the family,
make sure that family is qualified from the other aspects of their current living situation.
And that there will be a good partner for us in building a new home.
And what is the purchasing process like Larry? Well, first of all, they partner with us to build
the home. It's a partnership and we sell the home to them at our cost. I think James, there's kind
of a misconception about habitat that we give them the home and that's not at all the case.
We sell the home to them at our cost. Now, the savings for them is really with our wonderful
volunteers. None of our volunteer hours are charged to the homeowner. It's all free to them.
So that really helps keep the cost a little bit lower, although, as you know, the housing
costs have risen pretty dramatically. So we do everything we can to make the house affordable
for the family. And then we also provide a 30-year fixed rate mortgage at no interest.
So they make payments to us to repay the cost of the home over 30 years. And then we also
have an escrow so that they can escrow for their taxes and insurance, just like the rest of us
that have a mortgage. So it's very, very similar to that except the 0%. It's a great breakdown.
Thank you, Larry. Appreciate the time and appreciate what you're putting into this very much.
Jim, one of the talk with you a little bit about the volunteering part of this.
Okay, the volunteers are the main part of our whole project. We partner with contractors.
We have a plumberan contractor, electrical contractor, HVAC, and excavator and cement contractor.
And then we provide all the work for the actual building of the house.
Typically, our guys work between eight and one o'clock. Most of us are retired.
I've got 32 on my list right now of which we typically have between six and 12 that show up
each day for the build site. And for those thinking about volunteering with this,
a good commitment, but not an overwhelming commitment, which I think will be surprising to
some people out there. But this is something that you can be a part of and doesn't necessarily
take away your whole month or something like that. I think that that's a cool part of this.
Right. I think guys can work one hour a day or they can work the full four or five hours a day.
We don't have any, you know, any time set. We have a lot of fun on the build site.
And part of that is the guys really take ownership of the house or they enjoy being part of this
project. They enjoy being part of the concept. And like I said, we just have a lot of fun. We
put in I think 20, 300 hours on the last house that we built. So typically a house is 50%
labor, 50% materials. So we provide the labor part of it. And we also get the homeowners involved
too to put in hours as well to help us out, which is such a cool part of this too. And really,
the volunteers are such the heart of this. They really are. While you guys in the board do such
amazing work and everything and really the brains of so many of these things, our volunteers are
such the heart of this and greatly appreciate them and look for more volunteers to be a part of
this in the future as we look to the future. And we hope to this organization to grow,
make more houses, all of these things we can do with our communities and our individuals out there.
As we wrap up, do you mind touching on what is in store? What are some of the needs for the
habitat for humanity? What are things we can do to help the future of this organization?
Well, James, our goal is truly to make the home as affordable as possible for the family,
as Larry mentioned. And to do that, we do need to keep the cost of labor and materials as cost
effective as possible. And so I think our big ticket items, as Jim just mentioned, are the
contractors. And if we could find contractors that would give us a good deal or even donate
their time and labor, that would be so appreciative. When Glenn Norr was owner of the
Valley Concrete or Concrete Valley, he generously donated the concrete for the projects.
So something like that will bring the cost down for the family, even donating gift cards
to us to purchase building materials, expensive things like showers for the homes are, you know,
sometimes really increase the cost. But if we can keep that cost down for the family,
it makes it more affordable for them. We are very appreciative of any donation, really. I mean,
we had a woman who gave us $10. And how can you put a price on that generosity? Yeah, you just
can't. The value of that $10 is amazing. Do you have another habitat house plant? Yes, we do.
All right. Jim and the volunteers have already started working on that.
Yeah, our present house is located on 21st Avenue South, just south of Grant Grant.
We started in December. We spent a couple days over there starting to brush out the area and
get it ready. We're probably going to break ground sometime early spring plant I'm
building the house to the summer. My come from a construction family, my father, my grandfather,
so many of it worked in construction our whole lives. And it was about a month or so ago. I took
my dad driving around town a little bit looking at some of the buildings that he's worked on,
because even 20 years later, he's still taken pride in a lot of that. This is something that our
whole community can do that with. We can all be a part of this. We can all take pride in these
buildings, whether it is donating dollars, where the volunteering and being a part of things,
picking up a hammer and showing up down there. These are the kind of ways that you can be a part
of this too, everybody and encourage it to. And if people do want to be a part of things,
in any of these ways, go ahead and loop it. How can they do that? What is some contact
information for Habitat Free Amanda? Well, our voicemail telephone number is 715-422-1925.
Our website is www.ahfh.org. And our email address is webmaster at www.ahfh.org.
Greatly appreciate the time and even more appreciate everything you guys and your
board and all these volunteers are doing for our community. Keep up the great work and we'll talk
with you again real soon. Thanks for joining us, everybody. Thank you, Jay. Thank you.
And thank you to Kim. And of course, we appreciate you guys. Well,
a more midday magazine coming up for you right here.
