The current project for Habitat for Humanity of the Northwoods is mostly a shell right now.
Exterior walls are framed in on the Rhinelander house, with plywood across all but the openings for doors and windows.
High school students, some volunteers, and local construction companies like Wickman’s have been working on the house since it broke ground in September.
“Wickman Construction from Woodruff came down with a whole crew of people and helped us sheath the roof with the students. The students got to take a whole day off and be onsite with the professional crew. That was a really exciting day,” said Ann Sorensen, the chair of Habitat’s build committee and the construction manager.
Right now, Habitat is in a place where it needs to get the roof finished before it can start doing more work inside the house.
“We’re kind of at a turning point. We’re almost done with our roof system. It’s been a bit of a struggle with the snow, but we have the shell up for the most part. We’re about to start installing windows and putting up soffit and then moving inside to do interior walls,” said Sorensen.
Sorensen is putting out a call for volunteers this week to help get it done.
Tim Hoeft has volunteered with Habitat for Humanity for more than 25 years. He first started when he lived in Tampa.
“Our company sponsored houses in a subdivision they were building there. Our employees would build the entire house. We liked it so much, my wife and I kept going back every Saturday, helping whether it was our house or any of the other houses,” said Hoeft.
He’s worked on Habitat for Humanity House all over the country and even the Jimmy Carter build in Mexico.
Now, Hoeft and his wife live in Milwaukee and have a place in St. Germain. They work on the house whenever they’re in town. He calls it a rewarding experience.
“It’s a good opportunity. You can work with your hands. Meet people. If you ever have the opportunity to attend one of the dedications of the house. I encourage people to do that. It’s a pretty heartwarming experience to see somebody getting their first home,” said Hoeft.
You don’t have to have home-building skills to volunteer.
The main requirements for this part of the build are good balance to work in the snowy setting and up on ladders and scaffolding. You also need to dress warm enough to keep working throughout the day.
“Warm boots. Dress like you’re going ice fishing. Come out and have a nice afternoon with us,” said Sorensen.
You can contact Sorensen to sign up to volunteer, her email is sorenann@yahoo.com.
You can also stay up to date on volunteer days on the Habitat for Humanity Northwoods Facebook page orwebsite.
They plan to hold workdays this week on Wednesday and Thursday from 9:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. They’ll also need volunteers going forward.
