Volunteers coming to Wausau in July to help with home repairs

WAUSAU, Wis. (WSAW) - Hundreds of youth volunteers are traveling to Marathon County this summer to help with Habitat for Humanity’s Critical Home Repair program.

A group mission trip of up to 385 young people and their group leaders from Group Mission Trips, a Colorado-based nonprofit that sends volunteers across the country to help local communities, will be coming to the Wausau area.

“Most of the work that’s going to be done will be exterior projects, so ramps, decks, porches, skirting for trailer houses, painting projects,” said Tiffany Arnold, Executive Director of Habitat for Humanity of Wausau.

The volunteers will stay at Newman Catholic Schools and take on projects at homes within 30 minutes of the schools during the week of July 13-18.

“This is the only one that’s going to be in Wisconsin this year, so we are really excited that they have selected Wausau,” Arnold said.

The group hopes to serve 60 families in the community during the week in Wisconsin.

Ahead of their summer work, Habitat for Humanity is looking for people to apply for help.

“In our community we have a lot of aging individuals who have done a great job maintaining their house for decades, and then as their house continues to age and they’re no longer able to do that maintenance, projects like these tend to help our community keep our housing inventory in good quality condition, and keep a safe place for our residents to live,” Arnold said.

Arnold said residents should not hesitate to reach out.

“We encourage anybody who has some projects, please apply, and then we look at how we can best serve each of those individuals,” she said.

Applications for the home repair assistance project are due by Feb. 15.

Click here to download the WSAW news app or WSAW First Alert weather app.

Click here to submit a news tip or story idea.