In the 1980s, while working with the Mother to Mother Ministry through her church, Helen Rosenblad, realized there was a growing number of young mothers in our community who needed help with minor home repairs. On a mission to ease the burden for these mothers, Helen began to organize volunteers from the community to tackle the much needed repairs. And tackle them they did! These dedicaticated individuals gave up their Saturdays, paid for their own supplies and went out into the community to help these young families.
Steve Showalter still remembers their first project. Helen sent Steve, with Jack Mace and Randy Miller to a house on Faircrest, where a back door needed repairs to keep the cold north wind out. Two of them each contributed $10 to purchase a closer, weather stripping and a latch. The third individual did the repair. That simple act of fixing a door was the beginning of what eventually became Interfaith Housing & Community Services. It was the beginning of a service that has impacted the lives of many in Hutchinson and across the state throughout the last 30 years.
In response to the increasing needs of the community, a group of Founders came together in 1991 and created Interfaith Housing Services. They are recognized and applauded for their
leadership and vision, which laid a solid foundation for growth and community service. The list of founders included Jack Mace, Helen Rosenblad, Steve Showalter, Wayne Hochstetler and Randy Miller. Along with the Founders, also recognized for their hard work and dedication which exemplified volunteer service, moral support and sound guidance, as well as contributed greatly to the advancement of Interfaith’s mission, are Virginia Fesler, Harv Gehring, Sylvia Griggs, Bob Hodgkinson, Ed Johnson, Linda Laird, Ed Linberg and Walter Reineck.
From the very beginning, it has been Interfaith’s mission to provide housing repair and rehabilitation for low-income homeowners in Reno County. Operating on a very limited budget and trusting solely on donations in order to fund that mission, Interfaith relied on volunteers to make this happen. During the 1990s, volunteers were crucial for nearly every Home Repair and Rehabilitation project that was undertaken. To this day, volunteers remain a big part of Interfaith Housing & Community Services and continue to make many projects possible. Fortunately, Interfaith is blessed with not only local volunteers from Reno County, but also from other Kansas communities, other states, and even other countries.