Cleanup & Debris Removal

Greater Fox Cities Habitat for Humanity has scaled its Rock the Block programme into a tornado-specific effort aimed at repairing storm-damaged homes.

Rock the Block · 920-830-8400

What you get, and what it costs

Eligible homeowners are offered repairs and improvements at no cost. Habitat asks for "sweat equity" instead — you contribute your own time to the work where you are able to. That is a genuine expectation, not a formality, but it is negotiated around what you can actually do.

The limits, stated plainly

• Exterior only on Rock the Block. It is minor exterior repairs and improvements — not interior rebuilding, and not a replacement for an insurance settlement
• Income-qualified. It is aimed at low-income homeowners and people who cannot manage exterior maintenance for financial or physical reasons
• Homeowners. If you rent, this is not the route — see the $1,000 relief grant, which explicitly covers renters
• For anything larger, ask about their separate Home Repair Program, which is a different and bigger thing than a Rock the Block day

Also worth knowing

The Habitat ReStore at 5402 W Integrity Way, Appleton runs Pay What You're Able for storm-affected households — building materials, appliances, cabinetry, doors and windows. Bring ID. See its own entry.

The Greater Fox Cities Habitat for Humanity ReStore is running "No One Rebuilds Alone" — storm-affected households can take essential home recovery items and pay what they are able.

How it works:

1. Bring a valid form of identification
2. Select the recovery items you need
3. Pay what you're able

That is the whole process. There is no means test to fill in beforehand and no proof of damage to assemble.

5402 W Integrity Way, Appleton · 920-830-8400

A ReStore carries building materials, tools, appliances, cabinetry, doors, windows, fixtures and furniture — the things that get expensive fast once you move from clearing up to putting a house back together. Worth ringing ahead to ask whether what you need is in stock, since it varies with what has been donated.

Team Rubicon sends trained volunteer teams into storm-damaged neighbourhoods to help homeowners stabilise their properties.

All of their work is free. Their own description names who it is aimed at: people who are uninsured, underinsured, or financially vulnerable. If you have been putting off work because you cannot see how to pay for it, this is the call to make.

310-640-8787 · TeamRubiconUSA.org

What this is and is not

They provide reliable labour — the muck-out, the tree off the roof, the tarping, making a damaged structure safe to be around. They are not a building contractor and will not rebuild your house.

They are a national organisation and their teams move between disasters, so availability is not guaranteed and can change week to week. Ring and ask rather than assuming.

Nobody from Team Rubicon will ask you for money. If someone claiming to be with them asks for payment or a deposit, that is a scam — see Avoid Scams.

Also try Crisis Cleanup on 844-965-1386. It is the shared hotline that several volunteer relief organisations work from, and putting your address into both raises the chance that somebody reaches you.

If you would rather not wait for a collection pass, residents can take tree debris and brush to these sites.

Village of Fox Crossing Wittmann Park, 920 W Airport Rd. Fox Crossing is not requiring a request form for August chipping, so you can also just leave brush at the curb.

City of Menasha Bucklin's Tree Service, 936 Appleton Rd.

City of Neenah Tullar Road Drop-off Site, 1495 Tullar Rd. If you want to drop off larger items as well as brush, you can use your punch card for that.

Brush and tree debris only. Furniture, drywall and other demolition debris go through a different process — and remember a building cannot be demolished at all without a raze permit first, which is covered in the Report Damage section.

The burn ban is still in effect in Neenah, Menasha and Fox Crossing. Do not burn brush as an alternative to hauling it.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is offering free help across three things the county lists separately:

• Home repair knowledge — advice and practical help working out how to put something right
• Loading and unloading boxes if you are relocating. This is the one people do not think to ask for, and it is exactly what is hard when you are moving a household you did not plan to move
• Basic care needs, and mental health and religious care if you want it

773-766-5667 · churchofjesuschrist.org

You do not have to be a member of the church, and nothing here is conditional on becoming one.

The Village's tornado debris operation is over. Both deadlines have passed, and what is left is the ordinary service.

Construction debris — you dispose of it yourself now

Collection ended on 21 August. Siding, shingles, fencing and other construction materials, and general household items, are now the property owner's responsibility to dispose of. If you still have a pile, you need a skip, a hauler, or a trip to a transfer station — the Village is not coming for it.

Storm brush — last pickup was 11 September

Storm-related branch and brush collection on the Thursday garbage route ran to Friday 11 September. Since then the whole Village has returned to its regular chipping schedule and policy, which means the normal request process applies again rather than the no-form arrangement that ran through August.

What does still run

• Bi-weekly yard waste collection continues as normal, for biodegradable bags and small containers
• The regular chipping schedule — contact the Village for how and when, since it is the standard policy again, not the storm one
• Drop-off sites: the permanent site at 2000 Municipal Dr, Neenah. Wittmann Park was a temporary storm site — check before hauling anything there

The burn ban was rescinded on 18 August, so burning is legal here again under the Village's normal permit rules. It is still a poor way to deal with a large storm pile, and neighbours three weeks into a recovery will not thank you for the smoke.

If you cannot afford disposal, that is worth saying out loud to someone rather than leaving the pile. Team Rubicon does free removal for people who are uninsured or financially stretched — see their entry — and Crisis Cleanup on 844-965-1386 puts your address in front of volunteer crews.