In 1977 a small group of Sauk County citizens formed and incorporated Renewal  Unlimited, Inc. with a desire to put the unemployed to work on much needed housing rehabilitation in the county.  Houses in need of substantial renovation were purchased by the newly formed agency, and income eligible people with barriers to finding and keeping employment were employed and trained by Renewal to remodel their homes. The trainees received tutoring to complete their education, if needed, and all received assistance with finding jobs in the community when they left the program.  Upon competition the houses were sold to low or moderate income families thereby benefiting the buyers, people in need of job training and employment, and the community in general.  The original concept of this program, referred to as the Base Program, has continued in the Wisconsin Fresh Start Program.  Little has changed through the years although the sources of funding was waxed and waned and generally brought new challenges to the implementation of the program.   By the early 1980’s Renewal Unlimited has begun to expand the agency Job Training services beyond the original housing focus, and the area of service now included Columbia, Dodge, Jefferson, and Sauk Counties. A group home for juvenile male offenders was started in Sauk County and continued until 1988. In 1981 Renewal Unlimited won a competitive award to operate the local Head Start Program in Adams, Columbia, Juneau and  Sauk counties.   In 1984 Renewal Unlimited won statewide competition to initiate a demonstration program aimed at increasing the self-sufficiency of teenaged parents. In 1986 Renewal Unlimited initiated the Parenting Enrichment Program to teach parenting skills to young parents at risk of child abuse and neglect.   As the decade drew to a close, Renewal Unlimited won competitive federal and state funds for Rural Housing, The Wisconsin Housing and Economic Development Authority, and the Housing Cost Reduction Initiative.  Head Start expanded to Dodge County and Renewal won a competitive federal demonstration grant to provide family literacy training to illiterate Head Start Parents.  Since then the Parents Reading Project has gains national recognition as a model program.   The 1990’s have seen continued expansion of the agency housing and Head Start Programs. Of particular note was the award to Renewal in 1991 of a highly competitive federal research and demonstration grant, the Head Start/Public School Transition Demonstration Project, designed to continue the development gains children make in Head Start through the third grade.  The result of the project study are expected to influence the direction of national educational policy and school reform.  In 1993, Renewal Unlimited secured funding from a variety of sources to open the Family Resource Center in Columbia County to provide education and resources to build and strengthen healthy families.  In the fall of 1995 Renewal Unlimited was selected to develop an Early Head Start Program, one of only 68 agencies in the nation to be funded.   The 21st century has shown continued growth in Renewal's housing grants.  In 2005 Renewal will be implementing the new housing program know as HODAP-the Housing Organization and Direct Assistance Program formerly known as Housing Cost Reduction Initiative (HCRI) and Local Housing Organization Grant (LHOG).  The funds will be used to assist with rent and security deposits, foreclosure prevention, and for down payment and closing costs for homebuyers as well as housing counseling.