Meet Gwen and Lillia: Habitat’s graduating interns!

Two students on two different campuses both ended up on the western side of the state after growing up in eastern Wisconsin, and both eventually found their way to Habitat. Habitat’s mission goes far beyond our construction sites and ReStore, so recruiting help from interns allows us to create a far greater impact in the community.

Lillia Rather, double majoring in Business and Spanish at Viterbo University, will be pursuing her Master’s after graduating this spring. Gwen Hinz also graduated this year with an English Major: Writing and Rhetoric Studies Emphasis from the University of Wisconsin La Crosse. Lillia was Habitat’s Marketing Intern while Gwen’s internship focused on sustainability. Gwen’s parents actually used to donate items to their local Habitat ReStore!

Incorporating Habitat’s mission into outreach for events and other communications was one of Lillia’s favorite parts of the spring internship. Lillia helped ensure Habitat’s annual Women Build, Neighbors Day, and Housing Week events all went smoothly. Whether it was crafting newsletters in Mailchimp, verifying recipient data before dispatching volunteers, or swinging a hammer on jobsites, Lillia played a fundamental role in our success.

When Gwen described her experience as an intern, she talked about the transformation from strictly a social media focus to more broadly supporting our sustainability efforts. One of the very first meetings she sat in on was with municipalities involved in the La Crosse Urban Stormwater Group. Their collective community education initiative, La Crosse Area Waters, educates citizens about runoff pollution. As the spring semester unfolded, Gwen helped Habitat Sustainability staff with BINGO at Drugan’s, Earth Fair at The Nature Place, and a ReNew the Block volunteer day for local Rotary clubs.

When asked for their biggest takeaways, Gwen’s advice is to be up for anything! After all, versatility and adaptability are more than just words on a resume. Lillia spoke at length about being a “connector” and how there was so much information to soak up throughout the semester. Can we make a stormwater mitigation joke here?!

Lillia mentioned she really appreciated being given the opportunity to research too, to dig into what zoning regulations are and how they influence the shape of our communities. Gwen also jumped in to add that like our new volunteers on construction sites, Habitat staff in the office were always there to train, guide, and support our interns.

If you are interested in getting involved with Habitat, whether it’s with our recurring volunteer opportunities or a collaborative project we can partner on together, please don’t hesitate to reach out.

Contact our Volunteer Coordinator Kelly to get started: [email protected].