Local woman gets a helping hand

5/3/2010
By Laura Podgornik
For 91.3 KUWS FM

From hammers to paint brushes, University of Wisconsin-Superior business students spent their Saturday making a Superior woman’s home more accessible and safer.  

Students and volunteers gathered on Sat., May 1 at the home of Mary Cox. 59 year-old Cox relies on an oxygen tank to assist with her breathing. She suffers from chronic back problems and spends time in a wheelchair. Cox says she’s had these problems for a while. 

“Well ever since I got in a car accident, 1968 actually, but I was able to maintain it. But now, I’ve got COPD and it’s harder to get around, you know. I can still walk and stuff but I mean I can’t go the distance,” she said. 

Around 15 people worked outside Cox’s home. Some students worked on the ramp while others painted siding. Business professor Bruce Kibler noticed more work could be done. 

UW-Superior marketing major Jamie Hebb said she’s happy to give back. 

“I really liked working with Habitat. I’d do it again on a Saturday afternoon, instead of just doing, you know, sitting around the house or cleaning or what not. You know you can get out you can help somebody like Mary. She’s been in and out of the build site today and you can just tell that she really appreciates that we’re here, because otherwise, she’d have no way to continue to get in and out,” said Hebb.  

Cox says her church, Cathedral of Christ the King, surprised her by the raising money for her ramp in one weekend. 

“I missed church that day and my friend called me ‘You better come to church,’ coming to church knowing that they were going to do it and I didn’t know. They kind of did it behind my back…stinkers,” she said.

Students worked until they ran out of supplies Saturday afternoon.  

UW-Superior and Western Lake Superior Habitat for Humanity began their partnership last fall. They have 12 building projects planned for this summer.