Family:
Married to Timothy Jacobson, have 3 adult children and 2 grandchildren.

Career:
Landscaper for 15 years. My biggest project was a 125’ by 12’ hillside filled with beautiful plants, shrubbery and landscape accents. Kindergarten teacher for 30 years. I have taught over 600 children and led the building project of developing 3 playgrounds; including designing, fundraising and organizing a team of volunteers.

Passion:
Educating children and adults to be life-long learners who give back to their communities.

Hobbies:
Pottery, kayaking, biking, golf, ukulele, reading, upcycling, and hiking.

Friendship:
Lily and I met when she started teaching at Boscobel Elementary School. We became fast work friends and even closer friends outside of school. We share many interests and love helping others. We decided to volunteer at Habitat, we’re enjoying spending time together while giving back in our community. Watch our DIY videos….and you will see :)

Funny Story:
I helped friends with their landscape free of charge for over 10 years before starting my own business. I was training for a half marathon and passed a neighbors house and she asked if I happened to know anything about bushes. I told her I’d come chat after my run. After a free consultation, they asked if I was for hire and I decided to go for it!

Fun Fact:
I appear in the highly awarded science documentary Decoding the Driftless, which my husband co-produced.

Dream:
Help people realize their dreams and visions for their home, inside and out.

Social Media: Now-to-Wow.com and Facebook coming soon! My company, Now-to-Wow LLC serves southeastern Minnesota, La Crosse, Wisconsin and the surrounding areas.

Lily started volunteering at the ReStore in 2019, and as soon as I realized she was a well of creativity and passion, I let her know about our goal of growing the How-To side of things at Habitat. She grabbed the idea and ran with it! Between Lily and her volunteering partner-in-crime, Lisa Jacobson, this dream for a Habitat How-To blog and YouTube channel is finally underway!

Read on to learn a bit about Lily and stay tuned for more How-To videos and insights from her in the future!  

​ABOUT LILY

​Family:
Married to Dennis Rider for 46 years. We have 3 children and 7 grandchildren. 

Career:
Itinerant Services Director currently employed with Cooperative Educational Service Agency #4 (CESA 4) located in West Salem WI. My educational background is in the area of Speech Language Pathology working with children ages birth to 21 years of age.

Passion:
Learning about and working with individuals who live with autism.

Hobbies:
Upcycling furniture, scrapbooking, long walks, cooking, outside activities and spending time with family and friends.

Friendship: 
Lisa and I have been best friends for 24 wonderful years. We worked together as teachers at Boscobel Schools and always had each other's backs. We love to spend time together, working, playing, and just hanging out. Volunteering together for Habitat just made sense. Habitat for Humanity is a great organization that gives back to their communities and I am proud to be a volunteer.

Fun Fact: 
Honored to be invited by Jesse Horn, a wonderful young man who lives with autism, to proofread his book, Stacked Against the Odds, and add my comments. Very surprised when my comments were added to the book.

“Jesse not only tells his personal story but the story of thousands of individuals who live with autism.”
-Lily Rider, Stacked Against the Odds by Jesse Horn

Funny Story: 
Crafty as I am, one Christmas I decided to make an advent wreath for the centerpiece of my kitchen table. On Christmas day, we all lit the candles,  ham went in the oven, and the family went to watch a Christmas movie. A little while later my husband got up for a drink of water and yelled, "OPEN THE DOOR! OPEN THE DOOR! THE ADVENT WREATH IS UP IN FLAMES!"

And to think, I was going to make one for everyone in the family!

Dream: 
To retire and spend more time with my family.

Social Media:
Facebook: Rider Re-Creations - "Make Old New Again"