La Crosse Habitat

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La Crosse, WI
La Crosse Habitat

Bringing people together to provide and preserve affordable housing opportunities.

We believe that decent, affordable housing should be a matter of conscience and action; we realize that there are people in our community who are living in inadequate conditions and that joining together we can provide a hand up – not a hand out.

06/24/2026

Leaving our mark!

As we’ve been rehabbing our Division Street house, we’ve uncovered small reminders of the people who built it a hundred years ago.

Some of the original trimwork is signed “John J Stangl 10th & Ferry.” According to tax records, John Stangl was the original property owner and builder. A century later, his handwriting is still here.

Today, a new generation is leaving its mark on the house. Volunteers from Women Build, Team Builds, former residents, and Habitat staff have signed 2x4s offering their love and support to future homeowners Zang and Xia.

Other volunteers have carefully labeled the original trim so that it’s easy to return them to their proper places in a few months. Some markings will be hidden, but they’ll remain part of the house’s story.

From the builder who first raised these walls to the volunteers restoring them, this house is filled with reminders of the many hands who made it a home.

06/23/2026

For those of us in the affordable housing world, this comes as no surprise. It keeps getting harder to buy a home in Wisconsin.

In La Crosse, we need to build hundreds of units of housing every year to meet current demand. We are working every day to build and repair homes that stay affordable and accessible for our community.

06/22/2026

When you walk through the front door, you can tell right away: this house has good bones.

Built more than a century ago, it's a home that was made to last. And with the work happening now, it will be here for another hundred years.

By choosing to rehab rather than rebuild, we're preserving high-quality materials and craftsmanship that are difficult to replicate today. Much of the lumber in homes built before the 1960s came from old-growth forests, producing wood that is often denser and stronger than lumber used today. We've kept the original walls intact, preserving all of that valuable hardwood right where it belongs.

Every original door and piece of trim has been carefully removed, labeled, and stored by volunteers, ready to be reinstalled once the walls are complete.

And it's not just the structure. It's the details: the leaded glass windows, the staircase railing, the doorknobs…

We're preserving everything we can, honoring the craftsmanship of the past while creating a safe, affordable home for the future.

06/19/2026

🏡 This week in Washburn! 🏡

Things are looking different inside our Habitat house thanks to the hard working Care-A-Vanners! Check out that checklist…

✅ Hang 2nd floor ceiling drywall
✅ Fur out interior walls
✅ Add studs behind tub surround

And that’s not even half of it!

Thank you to these traveling volunteers for spending the last two weeks in La Crosse. 🩷

Interested in helping us turn this house into a home? Sign up to volunteer today: habitatlacrosse.org/volunteer.

06/18/2026

It's incredible to see how neighborhoods evolve - and how much history can still be found in a single photograph. 📷

This image from 1931 shows our Habitat house sitting in its original location on 10th Street. Earlier this year, we carefully moved that house to Division Street, where our team is rehabbing it for its next generation of homeowners. 🏠

The photo also captures landmarks that have shaped the Washburn Neighborhood's story, including the former St. Ann Building and Lincoln Middle School.

This summer, we'll break ground on a second Habitat home and begin site work for the revived Washburn Gardens.

Thank you to the La Crosse Public Library Archives and Local History Department for helping us tell the story of this house and its neighborhood.

Learn more and stay in the loop here >> habitatlacrosse.org/washburn

06/17/2026

Tonight's Volunteer Appreciation Picnic and Loggers Game will be RESCHEDULED due to the rain in the forecast. ⛈️

We will announce the new date soon. Thanks for understanding!

06/15/2026

Meet the Dolezel Family.

Originally located one block away at 526 10th Street, Habitat's current rehab project was home to four generations of Dolezels, beginning with Matthias and Elizabeth, who moved there in 1938. Recently, family members stopped by to visit the house and share their memories. Margaret, pictured in the center, is the only surviving child of Matthias and Elizabeth.

As redevelopment began on this block several years ago, Habitat jumped at the opportunity to preserve a legacy home in the Washburn Neighborhood and give it a new life for another family.

Thank you to Jim Dolezel and the entire Dolezel family for sharing their memories and helping us celebrate the home's history.

06/14/2026

Here at Habitat, we turn your discarded aluminum cans into funding for affordable housing. ♻️➡️🏡 Habitat for Humanity has joined forces with Novelis, a global leader in aluminum recycling, to promote this effort and reward affiliates with the most aluminum recycled.

Every year, we’re making it a little easier for you to donate your recyclables. Find our can cages at the following locations:

📍Habitat ReStore La Crosse
📍Swarthout Park, West Salem
📍Veterans Park, West Salem
📍Goose Island, La Crosse
📍Whiskey Creek Family RV Park, Sparta
📍WHISPERING PINES CAMPGROUND, Holmen

In 2025, we hit 8,900 pounds of aluminum recycled and placed 5th out of all participating Habitats! Will you help us top last year??

06/13/2026

What a joy it has been to work alongside the sudents of La Crosse Logan Middle School for the past few years. They’ve been involved in every part of this project. From designing the mural to envisioning landscaping to planting and tending trees…we are honored to call them our partners and collaborators!

But the work isn’t over yet. Will you help us Pave the Way for the final phase of ReNew the Block?

Your donation will fund the edible schoolyard and permeable paver pathway at Logan. Customizable paver options start at $150. Purchase yours at habitatlacrosse.org.

06/12/2026

This week in Washburn:

🚐 The Care-A-Vanners volunteer crew are hard at work. The team is insulating walls, caulking + sealing, and starting to sheetrock. One week down, one to go!

🏘️ Yay new housing!! We celebrated the ribbon cutting at C&C Residences, bringing high quality housing that fits a wide range of life stages and needs.

🌱 Planting seeds… the Washburn Gardens are soooo close to taking shape. Plans are being finalized, dirt is moving. Stay tuned for updates!

Check in at habitatlacrosse.org/washburn for all the updates from the corner of 10th & Division.

Address

3181 Berlin Drive
La Crosse, WI
54601

Telephone

+16087852373

Website

http://www.habitatlacrosse.org/

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