On a chilly winter morning in 2012, Bill Harris, the founder of People Helping People, watched a group of homeless men leave the Baraboo Warming Center and walk down the street with nowhere to go and nothing to do. He envisioned creating an entry-level job-training program where they could learn a skill, get jobs and support themselves.
PHP volunteers redoubled their fundraising efforts and were able to buy and renovate a modest headquarters building in downtown Baraboo in 2015. With help from the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development, PHP has put together its job-training curriculum and has been teaching clients how to detail cars since August of 2016.
What We Do
People Helping People forms relationships between people who have needs and those who have time, talent and gifts to share. PHP volunteers conduct nearly two dozen brat fries and other fundraisers each year. These events, along with support from our corporate sponsors, fund our five programs.
“When WCCU Credit Union opened up our location in Baraboo in July of 2014, I wanted to belong to an organization that I felt was truly giving back to the community. That’s when I met Bill Harris. After meeting with Bill and discussing PHP‘s mission and vision, I knew that I had found the right one.”
- Merry Lynn Riek, WCCU Credit Union Branch Manager
You Can Help!
People Helping People operates as a low overhead, grassroots organization, so the maximum amount of your donation will benefit needy people in the Sauk County area.
5 Mission Driven Programs
People Helping People is available to help veterans, their families, and other community heroes.
People Helping People coordinates with elementary school secretaries to provide school supplies, clothing, and other necessities to students in need.
People Helping People provides groceries, including a turkey or ham, to low income families during the holidays so they can enjoy a full Easter, Thanksgiving, and Christmas dinner together.
People Helping People supplies food to families in crisis throughout the year, and keeps in touch with food pantries in Sauk, Columbia, Adams, and Juneau counties to help keep their shelves stocked with food.
The Work Ready Program offers personal mentoring and free career training to unemployed adults who want to enter or reenter the workforce. PHP looks forward to expanding this program in the next few years by creating a new Transitional Center, where even more job training opportunities will be available.
Community Service Awards, Grants, and Accommodations
The Baraboo Area Chamber of Commerce
SSM Health Care Foundation
The Greater Sauk County Community Foundation
ALM Charities Service Project
Dr. Al Dippel Community Service Award
WCCU Credit Union
2014 Baraboo Christmas Light Parade
2015 Green Bay Packers Tailgate Tour
2015 BACC Nonprofit Organization of the Year
Baraboo Elks Lodge Citizen of the Year 2015 - 2016
December 2017 Jefferson Award Winner
First Webber Group Foundation
2015 & 2020 W.R. & Roy A. Sauey Family Foundation
Sauk County Development Corporation
Walmart Foundation Community Grants
2016 & 2020 Hammond Power Solutions