A Jefferson County deacon’s two-year vision recently came to fruition.
The Healing Homes Ministry, an organization mainly composed of members of the Good Shepherd, Our Lady and Sacred Heart Catholic parishes, repaired 10 homes in southern Jefferson County from June 15-19.
Gene Mattler, who is a deacon at Good Shepherd in Hillsboro, organized the group after working with a similar organization in Texas in 2024.
“My son (Kevin Mattler) called me up, he lives in Houston, and said, ‘Hey, dad, do you want to go on a mission trip with me,” said Mattler, 66, of Hillsboro. “I said, ‘No, I am really not interested in going out of the country.’ When you think mission trip, you think of going somewhere out of the country to work.
“He said, ‘No, we are going to south Texas.’ I jumped at being able to do that and spend a week working with my son. It was through a Catholic church down there.”
Mattler said the group worked on a home in Mission, Texas, that had no running water, a leaking roof, a stove that did not work, electric issues that forced the family to turn off an air conditioning unit to use a microwave and didn’t have beds for the children at the house.
He said the Texas group restored running water to the home, fixed the roof, installed two new air conditioners, fixed the electric issue and built a bunk bed for the children.
“It was the most humbling and best experience of my life,” Mattler said. “I am in a couple of Bible study groups. I was sharing (his experience in Texas) with one of the groups, and a lady in the group said that can be done here in Jefferson County. As a deacon, I have felt called to do something out in the community, but nothing ever really appealed to me. That is when the lightbulb went off.”
Mattler said he didn’t start forming Healing Homes Ministry right away.
“I waited to make sure it wasn’t my spiritual high that wanted me to do it,” he said. “I prayed about it.”
When the motivation to hold yearly missions to repair homes throughout Jefferson County didn’t go away, Mattler said he met with the Rev. Michael Lydon, the vicar for the Archdiocese Southern Vicariate, about starting the group.
Lydon said he was happy Mattler wanted to replicate the Texas home repair mission in Jefferson County.
“I think there is a lot of need in Jefferson County regarding home repair,” he said. “When (Mattler) put it in the aspect of healing homes and making a connection in Christ’s mission to do that, I was ecstatic.”
Mattler said for the first year, the Healing Homes Ministry limited itself to working on homes in Crystal City, Festus, Herculaneum, Hillsboro, Mapaville and Pevely. He also said the plan is to expand the ministry’s reach.
“The early thought is we are going to move around Jefferson County,” he said. “We want this thing to grow, and we want to help as many people as we can.”
A website, healinghomesministry.org, was created for people to apply for assistance, donate money or volunteer to work at homes.
Mattler said the ministry is not limited to those in Catholic parishes. He said the group will assist anyone who applies, and volunteers and donors do not have to be Catholic.
“Our goal is to help people living below the poverty level, but we also look at (homes) on a case-by-case basis,” he said. “We select houses based on need.
“The volunteer application is on the website, and it is for anybody who wants to give their week to God and this mission.”
Forming
Mattler said after Lydon supported the effort, he recruited 10 people from Good Shepherd, 703 Third St., in Hillsboro; Our Lady, 1550 St. Marys Lane, in Festus; and Sacred Heart, 555 Bailey Road, in Crystal City to serve on the Healing Homes Ministry board.
The three parishes were combined into a pastorate as part of the St. Louis Archdiocese restructuring “All Things New” plan in 2023, meaning the three share the same pastor, the Rev. Zac Povis.
Mattler said the board started meeting near the end of 2024, and in October 2025, he spoke at seven masses seeking volunteers and donations.
Mattler said the response was overwhelming.
“My goal was to raise $15,000 going into the first year, and we exceeded that amount,” he said.
Mattler said 25 people volunteered to help work at the homes this year.
“I would say 90 percent of our volunteers are retired,” he said. “We had several people take a week of vacation to volunteer to do this. That is very impressive. They just want to give back to the community and give to God.”
Mattler said volunteers were given a form to rate their skill levels.
“We had several categories like electrical, plumbing, drywall, yard work, food service and flooring,” he said. “When we got those back and set up who would go where, we knew the needs of the house. When we put the people on there, we would say this guy is versatile in all of the needs and can be the lead. We would then fill in according to their skill levels for the needs of all of the houses.”
Mattler said Healing Homes Ministry received 12 applications for repairs this year. He said one home was eliminated because it was in Fenton, and another applicant did not return phone calls.
He said members of the ministry went to the homes – seven were in the Crystal City and Festus area, one was in Pevely, one was in Hillsboro and one was in Hematite – and assessed what needed to be repaired.
“A lot of people do not know what they need,” Mattler said. “We had one lady who said she had some rotten boards on her deck. We walked back, and there were boards missing on two of the steps. I said, ‘You need more work back here.’ She said, ‘Oh, I haven’t been out here for so long. I guess I do.’”
Mattler said a list of repairs and work ranging from installing flooring, water heaters, vent fans in bathrooms, painting, hanging doors and yard work is made for each home. Volunteers then purchase supplies.
He said the ministry may spend a few hundred dollars on supplies to a few thousand dollars, depending on what needs to be done at a home. He said the group budgets at least $1,000 for each home repair project.
“The week before work, we spent six hours shopping at Home Depot, buying what we needed,” he said.
Going to work
Mattler said volunteers were divided into five groups to work at five homes every day during the weeklong mission.
He said homeowners were notified about a week before the group starts working at a house, and that phone call is rewarding.
“It is neat,” he said. “One of the ladies said she had reached out to several churches and no one ever responded. She was very grateful that we responded and helped her out. People have been so grateful.”
On June 17, Mattler was with four other volunteers working on a home in Pevely. He said the group put in new flooring, repaired a kitchen counter, replaced steps and railing on a backyard deck, and did yard cleanup.
Matt Hrdlicka, 54, who lives in the Festus area and is a member of Our Lady, worked on the deck. He and his wife, Kara, own Excel Sign and Design, and he said they are skilled at woodworking and installation.
Matt said he and Kara, who worked at a different home on June 17, volunteered for Healing Homes Ministry after Mattler spoke at a mass they attended.
“It was very moving what he said,” Matt said. “Our mission as Catholics is to do onto others as we would ourselves, and this mission really spoke to that. We looked at each other after church and said we need to be part of that. We wanted to give back to people in need and the area that we love so much.”
Timothy Johns, 35, who lives in the Festus area and is a member of Sacred Heart, helped install flooring at the Pevely home. He said he learned about flooring and other repair work while working at Lowe’s and Floor Decor.
He said it was satisfying to spend a week helping someone repair their home.
“There is something about work that you do with your hands that is meaningful and knowing it is going to have an impact on someone’s life,” Johns said.
Jim Reiter, 53, who lives in Hillsboro and is a member of Good Shepherd, also helped install flooring at the Pevely home.
“It is a great thing that I love doing, helping others,” he said. “If I could do this year round, that would be great.”
Mattler said Healing Homes Ministry plans to repair homes in the second week of June every year.
“It has been a lot of fun,” he said. “The volunteers are having fun on the jobs. That is what it is about. It is not only about helping people. It is about camaraderie and making new friends. Several of the volunteers I have talked with said they are in for next year. We have a comfort level going into next year.”