Madison-area community heroes need help in national makeover contest

MADISON, Wis. (WMTV) -There is just under a week left to cast your vote for a Madison-area nominee in the national Design for a Difference: Home is Where the Heart Is contest

The public voting period to choose 10 nominees ends on September 27.

The contest honors community heroes to help give them the home of their dreams.

Five people from the Madison-area are hoping to advance in the contest.

The grand prize winner will get free flooring and one-on-one design consultation with a leading design expert for a complete room makeover. The prize is valued up to $10,000.

Four regional winners will receive prizes valued at $2,500 in the Northeast, Midwest, South, and West.

Madison-Area Nominees

Oscar Mireles: Director of Madison’s Omega School, and helped transition young-adult students to online GED instruction. He also coordinates a leadership group of Latinx in Dane County called the Latino Consortium for Action.
Lynn Aspinwall: Past Exalted Ruler of the Madison Elks Lodge. She has written grants to help several local organizations and helped to raise more $35,000. She has also recently helped two community centers with food shortages during COVID-19.
Diane Small : Started a community garden in her back yard, called Mamie’s Backyard Garden. The garden provides vegetables for the community and plans to distribute the vegetables through community organizations.
Brenda Szarek : An interior designer who inspires others and volunteers with Design for a Difference.
Vickie Tauscheck : Life Enrichment Director at New Perspective, a senior living community center in Sun Prairie. While she is not coming up with events for residents, she is helping set up virtual meetings for residents with their families amid the pandemic.

Vote now for the nominees, by clicking here.

If someone from the Madison-area wins, Floor360 will lead the makeover. Floor360 and NBC15 have been partners of Design for a Difference-Madison for more than five years to transform a local non-profit, but it was postponed this year due to COVID-19.