At any given time, Habitat for Humanity Lakeside has about 50 volunteers helping with most facets of our mission, from building houses to office work to pricing items at the ReStore.

Join us, won’t you? Enthusiastic, generous people are key to our mission.

Please head to our website and fill out the volunteer form. When you’re finished, hang tight: We’ll get to you very quickly. Most volunteers can be working the very next day. In the meantime, here’s what you need to know about volunteering with Habitat for Humanity Lakeside:
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1. All skill sets and levels are welcome. We’ll train you.
2. We’ll provide tools and safety equipment.
3. We’re flexible with scheduling, mostly. We do ask that home-building volunteers spend at least four hours on sites because it usually takes that much time to complete a building-site project.
4. We do a background check on volunteers. Don’t take it personally, please. Habitat for Humanity Lakeside volunteers work with the public.
5. Looking for community-service volunteer hours? Apply, please. Thank you.
6. Age matters! If you’re 14 to 17 years old, you’ll need a parent with you to volunteer at ReStore. You’ll need a parent on a building site with you if you’re 16 or 17. Eighteen or older? You can volunteer on your own.
7. Expect a distinct experience every time you volunteer. ReStore volunteers, for instance, price items, clean them, repair them, and set them on the sales floor. It’s never boring.
8. Expect to feel productive. At Habitat for Humanity Lakeside, you enjoy the fruits of your labor at the end of your volunteer shift, whether it’s fresh shingles on a roof or a fetching display at the ReStore.
9. Expect to have fun. Few experiences match the camaraderie of a Habitat for Humanity home-building site, which brings people together to build homes, community, and hope.
10.  Expect to feel welcomed and appreciated.
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You’re in good hands when you volunteer at Habitat Lakeside. We want you to have fun and feel useful. And our volunteer coordinators know just how to do that. 

By Jon Hoffman, Habitat for Humanity Lakeside construction manager

Habitat for Humanity homes aren’t free. Our partner families pay a mortgage that’s tailored to their finances. Just as importantly, each adult who will live in the home invests 250 hours of sweat equity into the building of the house that will become their home.

Sweat equity, in case you are not familiar with the term, is the labor hours people invest in any project. During my 11 years at Habitat for Humanity Lakeside, I’ve seen sweat equity take many forms. One soon-to-be homeowner kept volunteers fed as they worked on his house. That same person also became good at pouring concrete. He helped finish his driveway and has since volunteered on concrete projects on other Habitat building sites. Other homeowners have hammered shingles on roofs, painted interiors and exteriors, and assisted trained volunteers with electric and plumbing projects. Yet another continues her sweat equity commitment by serving on a Habitat for Humanity Lakeside committee.

Sweat equity helps build houses. It also builds the homeowner’s relationship with the house and sets the stage for homeownership.

How so?

First, sweat equity bonds homeowners with their new homes. When they’re part of the process of building a house, they stake a claim to it and develop a relationship with it, as well as an understanding of how they will function and thrive in their new environment. Think about how you bond with something that you nurture from infancy to its full realization. A child. Or a vegetable garden.

Second, Habitat for Humanity’s homeowners are first-time homeowners. Sweat equity helps them think of themselves as homeowners, not renters. When you’re renting, you accept what’s there and make the most of it. When you and a community of people are building your home, details matter. That nick in the closet door? Good enough for a rental, not good enough for a house. As the house evolves from a hole in the ground to a comfortable and safe space for a family, a family that’s investing sweat equity into the house develops pride of ownership.
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A home, for most people, is the biggest investment they will make. Habitat for Humanity Lakeside partner families have traveled a long road to be able to make this investment. Sweat equity helps make sure that the investment is a sound one.

By Heather Russell, Habitat for Humanity Lakeside Partner Family member
 
Back in 2016, my young sons, Michael and Noah, and I were renting an apartment in the lower half of a house. Our upstairs neighbors were smokers, and the smoke smell would fill the hallways and our house, which would give me a headache. I’m not sure what their situation was, but whatever it was, they got quite a few visits from the police.

At the time, I was working as a special education aide for the Plymouth School District. One of the Habitat for Humanity Lakeside board members was head of the department. She knew about our situation from the occupational therapist who helped Michael, who has a degenerative vision impairment. The therapist asked if I wanted to be considered for a Habitat home. I didn’t even know what that meant.

I found out soon enough as the application process started. I filled out the first application. The next step was credit counseling. Then there was an in-home visit. Then there was a review by the Habitat board. I did it all without my sons’ knowing because I didn’t want to get their hopes up.

I found out we got the house on May 26, 2016, the same day Michael’s school surprised him with a field trip to New York to visit the Statue of Liberty, which was something he wanted to see while his vision was still good enough. I get choked up just thinking about it and this amazing community.

Groundbreaking was in the fall of 2016. My church was really involved and made meals for the workers. I did my sweat equity working at the Habitat booth at Plymouth’s Mill Street Festival. I also did drywall and siding and helped set up the trusses for the garage roof.

We moved into the house in 2017. Michael said the layout of the house was easy to maneuver. He and Noah had their own rooms, so they had more privacy and more space. I felt safer in the neighborhood, safe enough to leave them alone for a few nights so I could go back to school and earn a degree in cosmetology. I was able to make a career change and have been at my current salon for three years.

My family is more stable now. I don’t have to worry about finding a new affordable rental every three or four years as Michael and Noah grow up. We’ve been able to become part of this neighborhood and get to know our amazing neighbors. I feel more secure financially because my housing money is building equity in the house, not going to some landlord.  
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Has the experience been life-changing? Yes. As Noah says: “This house has affected my life greatly! I have my own spot to go to and it’s a very stable place to go to without having to move so often. We have been here for eight years now in July, and I am very lucky and happy to call it my home.”

By Dennis Ketterman, Habitat for Humanity Lakeside volunteer

​On July 8, I’ll start my 22nd bike ride to raise money for Habitat for Humanity Lakeside. Over the years I’ve raised somewhere between $80,000 and $90,000 for the organization. It’s been quite a journey, literally and figuratively.

The first 19 rides were for Habitat 500, a 500-mile race sponsored by Habitat for Humanity Minnesota. I got involved when Richard Manny, a friend who had completed many rides, asked my wife to ask me to do the ride. Richard knew I was exercising but not riding my bike 500 miles a year, let alone in one week. Plus, Richard knew that if my wife asked me to participate, I could not turn her down.

After my first year, I was hooked. It was very surprising and satisfying to be able to ride that far in a week. Richard had promised that I’d have a chance to meet new friends, and he was right. I met good people and looked forward to seeing them every year. We had such a fun time pulling each other in the peloton (the row of riders) and telling stories of our lives and just having great conversations. At the end of each ride day, we were off to the local pubs for food and beverages. It was also great because with more than 125 riders, you could always find those who rode at the speed you did.

This is what has kept me coming back year after year. This year will be my third year participating in Bike. Build. Home 500, a 500-kilometer ride launched by interested riders in 2023 after Habitat for Humanity Minnesota decided to sponsor a different fundraising adventure.

All the remarkable things about the Habitat 500 are also true with the BBH 500 — the camaraderie, fun rides, new and old friends, and the chance to raise money for Habitat for Humanity Lakeside and Habitat for Humanity St. Cloud, Minnesota, which is sponsoring this year’s event. I have always relied on a small group of friends and relatives for sponsorship. You can find more info on riding on the BBH 500 website. I strongly encourage you to take part in this wonderful event. You’ll be happy you did.
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If you would like to support Dennis in this year's Bike.Build.Home 500, please send a check payable to Habitat for Humanity Lakeside, with “Dennis” in the memo line, to the office: 1911 N. 8th St., Sheboygan, WI, 53081. Thank you!