The Western Lake Superior Habitat for Humanity returned to Carlton County on Wednesday, Oct. 17, after an extended absence to help a homeowner make some needed repairs.
The group has gone through some transition over the past few years, with the current incarnation representing Carlton and Lake counties, as well as the southern half of St. Louis County and Douglas County, Wis.
Now based in Superior, the group has completed several projects in the other counties, but there hadn't been a project in Carlton County in "many years," according to Community Engagement Coordinator Madeline Kvale.
Habitat staff and volunteers descended on a home near Mahtowa on Wednesday, Oct. 17, to complete some repairs to the home as part of the organization's Age in Place Repairs program. Age in Place projects partner with aging homeowners to make modifications and repairs to existing houses in order to help residents stay in their homes as long as possible.
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Volunteers from RAM Mutual Insurance in Esko and Wells Fargo in Cloquet worked to tear out and reconstruct set of stairs leading to the home, cleaned and installed new gutters and replaced some window trim.
The air was a little crisp, but the sun was shining making it a "perfect day" for some late-season home repairs, according to Age in Place Repairs Coordinator Zane Zimbelman.
Habitat has completed a number of projects similar Age in Place repairs for seniors in Duluth, Two Harbors and Superior, but Zimbelman said volunteers' time and commitment is the lifeblood of any Habitat project - from simple repairs to full home builds.
"We wouldn't be able to do anything," he said. "I mean, we are four people in four counties. We can't do anything without the help of volunteers. We would be nothing without them."
Volunteer Cheri Olson of RAM, who also serves as a WLSHFH board member, said one of the best things about supporters' time, energy and even money given to Habitat is that it all stays in the individual communities.
"For me, a lot of it is to be able to keep it local," she said. "A lot of places you donate to, it goes other places, but here, it stays in the community and projects like this help people stay in their homes. With the (home) builds, when you drive by a house, you say, 'I helped build that.'"
