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.

An older man with gray beard and mustache wearing a beige suit and tie standing beside a woman in a blue lace dress at an event.
The letter Q filled with images of school supplies, woodworking tools, and a car workshop, representing community service activities.

Serving the community for 27 years!

3% Cover the Fee

PHP is a 501 (c)(3) nonprofit

Our School Supply and Adopt a Family programs

focus on community needs.

Man standing next to a table filled with grocery bags, holding a loaf of bread and a package of lunch meat, inside a room with a closed garage door.
A Venn diagram showing core values with five overlapping circles labeled Truth, Love, Peace, Joy, and the center labeled PHP Core Values.

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.

Community Service Awards, Grants, and Accommodations

Prevail Bank

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

“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.

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Volunteer
Collection of canned goods and boxed food items on a table, including green beans, cranberry sauce, sweet corn, pumpkin, mushroom soup, turkey gravy mix, and mashed potatoes, with bread rolls and a bag of raw chicken in the background.
Inside a garage looking out to a red minivan with two people loading bags into the trunk. There are bags of goods on the floor inside the garage and some orange and white traffic cones outside on the street.
A man arranging red bags and boxes on a long table inside a warehouse or garage.
Several canned foods and boxed items on a white table with red bags of Baraboo Motors Group in the background. The cans include green beans, sweet corn, and cream of mushroom soup. The boxes include turkey and pie crust mix.
A man standing beside the open tailgate of a red pickup truck, holding a bag of fresh produce. The truck bed is filled with mesh bags containing various fruits or vegetables. The background shows a suburban neighborhood with trees, houses, and a stre
A man standing in a garage or workshop, holding food items, next to a table with red gift bags and cans, with car service instructions posted on the wall behind him.