Habitat for Humanity update

Those of us at Habitat would like to thank the following for assisting in a Neighborhood project this afternoon. 

The Boys and Girls Club

The Oshkosh Police Dept
The City of Oshkosh
Several neighbors in the Near East Neighborhood.

A few weeks ago Habitat was contacted by the city who advised us there had been some yard work done at a property on Grand St that was not done properly. After speaking with the planning dept. it was agreed Habitat would assist in correcting the problem.

One of Habitats goals with our new Neighborhood Revitalization Initiative is to engage the community and ask for assistance on projects. 

We first contacted Sgt Schuldes and asked him if he could put us in touch with someone from the Boys and Girls Club to see if they would be able to help. Tiffany was more than willing to help out. 

We also contacted Thatcher Peterson who lives in the area. He also was more than happy to help. 

A few days before the project, Thatcher and I walked around in the neighborhood passing out pamphlets and making contact with people in the 500 blk of Grand St. We explained what we were doing and advised people to feel free to come and assist. 

The project consisted of planting several shrubs, planting a tree, roto-tilling, spreading dirt, moving a couple yards of wood mulch, spreading grass seed and preparing some wood surfaces for paint.

Along with both homeowners, Tiffany showed up with a 1/2 dozen kids from the Boys and Girls Club. Sgt Schafhauser showed up with Officers Pechacek and Achterberg. Thatcher showed up as did some other neighbors from the neighborhood. Some of the neighbors provided tools that we did not bring or did not have enough of.

It took about 2 1/2 hours to finish the project which the homeowners were very happy with. The only issue we had with the entire project was one of the volunteers thought Thursday was Friday and originally showed up a day ahead. Now that is enthusiasm !

While the city could have pursued enforcement of the violation, correcting the problem was a much better solution. We thank the city for their patience in allowing us time to coordinate  this project.

Habitat thanks all of you!

 
Steve Kaiser
Habitat Board Member