Habitat for Humanity La Crosse Area

1. WE BUILD HOMES. This is what most people think of when they hear about Habitat for Humanity. With the help of hundreds of volunteers and thousands of volunteer hours, our organization builds 2-4 homes each year for income-eligible families in our area. Each family must contribute at least 350 sweat equity hours to help build their home and must pay for the home through a 30-year, 0% mortgage.

2. WE FIX HOMES. Many families struggle to make needed repairs on their homes. Through our Critical Home Repair program, we help 20-30 families complete emergency repairs on their homes, so they can stay in their homes and keep their families safe. Families must repay Habitat for the costs of the repairs through a 3-5 year, 0% interest loan.

3. WE REVITALIZE NEIGHBORHOODS. ReNEW La Crosse Neighborhoods (Revitalizing Neighborhood Empowerment With La Crosse Neighborhoods), is a partnership of neighbors and local organizations working together to make neighborhoods an even better place to live, work and play. ReNEW engage in home rehab and repairs, painting, new construction, weatherization, and help homeowners beautify their yard!

4. WE OPERATE A RESTORE. Open to the public, the Habitat ReStore is a unique retail outlet that enables you to buy the supplies you need for home or office renovation, remodeling, and decorating projects at a fraction of the cost. All proceeds from ReStore benefit the mission of the Habitat for Humanity La Crosse Area. Materials in the store are donated from individual and business donors, and include such items as appliances, cabinetry, furniture, doors, flooring, hardware, HVAC, lighting and electrical, lumber, masonry, plumbing, flooring, home decor, windows, and more. Through the donation process, tons of materials are diverted from the landfill each year!

5. WE SALVAGE MATERIALS. With the help from volunteers, we remove useable materials from homes being demolished or remodeled. The items collected are diverted from the landfill and are sold at the ReStore.

Habitat collaborates with a variety of community partners to accomplish our goals, including the City of La Crosse, La Crosse County, local businesses, and other non-profit organizations. We receive funding and pool resources to develop projects which will best meet the needs of people in our communities.

We also operate a ReStore, which sells donated household and construction items, and which all profits are used to further Habitat's mission.

We count on the dedication of hundreds of volunteers donating thousands of hours of their time to construct our homes, operate our ReStore, and provide guidance to the organization.

We also county on our many donors, both monetarily and to our ReStore.

Finally, we receive funding from a variety of local, federal, and State resources.

Habitat for Humanity La Crosse Area has been operating in the Coulee Region since 1992. Since then, we have built approximately two homes per year for low-income families. We have helped hundreds of families with repairs on their homes. We have operated our ReStore for over 10 years. We are a low-income housing leader in our community, with staff, partnerships, donors, and volunteers which help us grow year after year.

We would love to increase our capacity. The need is our community is great. We should do more to address the needs of affordable housing.
We also need to take a stronger advocacy stance around affordable housing to make people more aware of the issues.