Volunteers hammer away until the work is done

Area volunteers rolled up their sleeves in May and helped five families with home repairs through a program called Hammer with a Heart.

Project Home, a nonprofit Madison organization that works to improve the quality and affordability of low-income housing in Dane and Green counties, coordinated more than 300 volunteers and more than 50 businesses for the one-day effort.

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Project organizers said the donations of building materials from area businesses made this year's event the most successful since it started in 2001.

"I'm so happy with what they did here. I have a 1950s house and everything is pretty outdated," said Chris Blechl, a single mother of four who is unemployed and on disability. "They've made the quality of our lives so much better."

Hammer with a Heart participants installed electrical fixtures, painted interior walls, built fences, patched a leaking roof, trimmed trees and did other tasks at five houses.

Blechl said she was impressed with the professionalism of the volunteers and the quality of their work.

"I was expecting just volunteers, but these were professionals who build decks and install cabinets for a living," she said. "I'm used to paying a handyman to do basic repairs, but these guys did an amazing job. I've never seen such a beautiful fence."

Blechl said the repairs to her home were almost $10,000.

"The community really came together," said Lisa Friedlander, outreach specialist for Project Home. "We did over $85,000 in repairs in one day."

Construction professionals like Doug Wichern, owner of North American Building and Remodeling, volunteered to make the houses more livable. "They approached us four or five years ago and we've been involved ever since," he said.

When repairs for a leaky roof exceeded the material and time limits for the one-day program, Wichern volunteered to return and finish the project at his own expense.

"It just didn't seem right to just do half the job," he said. ABC Supply Co., Beloit, donated shingles to help Wichern complete the roof.

Several others also came through with supplies for the program. Marling Lumber of Janesville, for example, provided all the lumber for each project. Drexel Interiors, 2126 S. Stoughton Rd., contributed the flooring and countertops. Waunakee Remodeling provided roofing materials.

"This was the first year we had so many of our supplies donated," Friedlander said. "Money we would have used to buy materials can now be used to help more people. We were able to put those funds into a bank account so we can help more than five families next year in other neighborhoods."

Local companies said they look forward to continuing their support of Hammer with a Heart. "We do it because we really enjoy it," said Kent McKevley of Drexel Interiors. "It's a lot of fun to see guys who haven't worn a tool belt in years or a senior executive of a company pushing a shovel around," he said.

Volunteers from several local groups, like High Point Church and Blackhawk Church, also worked to clean up parts of the Capital City bike path, area parks, the Allied Drive neighborhood center and Project Home's affordable housing complex, Prairie Crossing.

Project Home provides home-repair services and volunteer opportunities year-round. On Aug. 20, it will sponsor the Dane County Paint-A-Thon. Exterior painting services will be provided to low-income people, older citizens and those with disabilities.