Two non-profit organizations are working to help others: West Central Iowa, a local affiliate of Habitat for Humanity and Shelby County Community Outreach.
West Central Iowa
West Central Iowa is a local Habitat for Humanity affiliate made up of Audubon, Carroll, Crawford and Shelby Counties. The board consists of approximately 20 people from the counties and their headquarters are in Carroll.
Dave Pedersen first became involved with West Central Iowa after learning about it at a Kiwanis meeting eight to 10 years ago.
"I thought, 'gee, that'd be kind of fun,'" Pedersen said, who has served as secretary for four to five years.
A Habitat House is currently being built in Glidden and should be done by the end of August, Pedersen said.
Their next proposed house is in Harlan and will be the eleventh house built by West Central Iowa. Three houses have been built in Harlan so far, Pedersen said. Harlan has been very supportive of the Habitat Houses, Pedersen said, and gracious in donations of local supplies and work.
The Harlan Community High School has wanted to help with a Habitat House and he is hopeful this will become a reality in the fall. Coming up is a garage sale and auction for the house in Harlan. In the past they've held fundraisers at the Pizza Ranch.
Committees within West Central Iowa handle different aspects of the Habitat house, including the building committee, the family selection committee and the family support committee.
Habitat Houses are built by volunteers. A site supervisor is paid a stipend who lines up the workers. A lot of the work is done at night and on the weekends, Pedersen said when people aren't working.
"It's really a labor of love when these houses go up," Pedersen said. "It's a real compliment to the city."
The layout of the house is based upon the number of occupants, Pedersen said.
Before the house is built, they try to have all the money needed.
The only county a house hasn't been built in is Audubon, he said because there hasn't been enough volunteers there. But he hopes they'll try for it again.
The weather plays a role in how long the house takes to complete. Pedersen estimates it takes three to four months to complete a house in the spring, summer and fall, while it can take six or more months to construct in the winter.
"Our main reason for not completing on time is the weather," Pedersen said.
Before the house is built a groundbreaking and dedication takes place, then an open house is held when it's completed and the owners receive keys to their new home. Although the Habitat Houses don't have a garage or air conditioning, each family is given extra money from donations for projects they'd like to do.
Pedersen said the transition as new homeowners can be difficult for some.
"We've had to have hard love on a lot of this stuff," Pedersen said.
A common question about the houses, Pedersen said is how they prevent the owners from selling the Habitat houses for a profit. Until the homeowners pay the first mortgage payment, the house is in Habitat's name.
If you're interested in learning more about West Central Iowa, please contact Dave Pedersen, or visit Habitat for Humanity's Web site: http://www.habitat.org/.
SCCO
Since Shelby County Community Outreach began in 2004, it has expanded from only doing home repairs to undertaking "more interpersonal activities" and "focusing on actual needs of people," said Ron French, SCCO Executive Director.
When they started doing repairs, French said, they began to realize the needs of others.
"It runs deeper than repairing their doors," French said.
SCCO is interdenominational and not affiliated with a particular church.
"Our core objectives are still the same," French said, "basically to help people out around the county from a biblical standpoint."
In the beginning, SCCO aimed to be a "clearing house for volunteer groups" but this was not manageable, French said. Originally groups such as 4-H and youth groups, would come to SCCO for projects. As a result, SCCO felt pressured to find something for the group to do.
"Our focus has turned away from the coordination effort," French said. "It was way more coordination than we had time to do."
But some parts of SCCO haven't changed. They still do home repairs, which French handles. Just in the past year SCCO did 402 individual repair jobs and received 227 service calls.
SCCO President Dave Boettger, enjoys fixing doors, windows and leaks.
"I've always had an interest in handyman stuff," he said. "I like to see things fixed and working properly."
SCCO is a "good way to help others," Boettger said.
More people have been taking advantage of SCCO's resources based upon personal referrals.
"I think we've seen an increase mainly due to people finding out we're around," French said.
Some new projects SCCO has undertaken include a short-term temporary housing facility located at Westridge Acres. The short-term housing facility is available to those in need of temporary housing.
Programs also being held in the housing facility are the Women's Discipleship Group and the After-School Program for Children. These mentoring programs were a vision of Barb Wirtjes, SCCO Board Member.
Hero's Attic is a household storage facility that takes furniture and larger items and is a collaboration with West Central Outreach.
One goal SCCO has reached is having a member from AmeriCorp VISTA help with SCCO. Julianne Marken is the second Ameri-Corp member who has worked with SCCO since February 2008, specializing in resource and marketing development. Marken is paid through AmeriCorp and has an office at the West Central Community Action Agency.
SCCO's vision for the future is county-wide involvement with a contact person in each of the 11 communities of Shelby County. French said this goal will require a lot of coordination.
But one thing standing in the way of this is funding and "a steady stream of income," French said.
"We have a huge financial need," Wirtjes said.
Currently, French said they "have a small, but growing number of people in Shelby County supporting us with monthly donations."
Approximately 90 percent of SCCO's income is based on individual donations, French said.
If 80 percent of the community donated $5 monthly, French said that would make a huge difference for SCCO.
"The only way we are going to survive and thrive is to have community and county involvement," French said.
Wirtjes pointed out there are needs in the country and world but "we also have needs right here, locally."
"Forty percent of the population is potentially in need of our services in Shelby County," Wirtjes said.
As president Boettger said he helps "to keep us on track for our vision and help everyone accomplish the same goals."
Boettger also makes sure the organization isn't taking on more than they can handle. This can be a challenge, Boettger said "because there's always needs somewhere."
"We do it because it's kind of an honor to the Lord," Boettger said of SCCO.
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