The flashing lights at a boarded-up house in Plainfield recently went viral on social media.

And now homeowner Wally Czwodzinski is putting those lights to good use – by giving them away.

Wally Czwodzinski and his daughter Isabelle Czwodzinski have partnered with Will County Habitat for Humanity to “Shine a Light on Affordable Housing” and turn the attention on these blinking lights into impact for the nonprofit.

Anyone who donates to Will County Habitat for Humanity and “shines a light” may enter the drawing for a chance to win the famous lights, according to Will County Habitat for Humanity’s website.

Will County Habitat for Humanity will accept donations “through the end of the day” on Friday and announce the winner of its social media channels on Saturday, according to the website.

In a news release from the nonprofit, Nicole Murray, CEO of Will County Habitat for Humanity, said, “We are incredibly thankful to Wally for thinking of us and seeing the potential to turn this moment into something meaningful.”

“This unexpected attention has given Habitat a powerful platform to reach a broad audience and invite people to support the dream of homeownership,” Murray said in the release.

Small glitch, big impact

Wally Czwodzinski is still surprised how something relatively innocuous received so much attention. His father had bought the house and 22-acre property on 143rd Street in Plainfield in 2020 as an investment, he said.

His father died in 2021 and since then the family has been trying to sell the property, Wally Czwodzinski said. They boarded up the house after vandals started breaking windows and spray painting the building, he said.

The family also installed motion sensor solar lights – the house has no electricity – to further deter vandalism, Wally Czwodzinski said.

Last week, Wally Czwodzinski learned the lights were blinking after speculation to the cause had gone viral, he said.

So he went to the house to check it out, assuming the batteries had malfunctioned.

“I don’t know how long rechargeable solar batteries last,” Wally Czwodzinski. “They weren’t expensive, maybe 30 bucks apiece...so we thought it might be a good idea to change them.”

Still, people posted videos to TikTok implying the flashing lights were an SOS message. The Will County Sheriff’s Office refuted that in a Facebook post.

“A two-story Plainfield home on 143rd Street has been receiving a lot of attention on social media, specifically TikTok, with videos of flashing lights that some believe are signaling SOS,” the sheriff’s office said on Jan. 30. “That has led to a heightened concern that something suspicious is happening on that property.”

After they changed the lights, Isabelle Czwodzinski filmed a video for social media of Wally Czwodzinski walking through the house to show it was empty of people and ghosts, Wally Czwodzinski said.

They also had an idea. Could these lights actually help someone attain a home of their own?

Wally Czwodzinski reached out to Will County Habitat for Humanity, because he had previously donated flooring to the nonprofit from his business, Flooring First in Lockport.

“We just thought it was a good way to do something good since it had gotten so much attention,” Wally Czwodzinski said.

Wally Czwodzinski said his “15 minutes of fame” also highlighted the goodness in the community.

“The majority of people have been supportive and glad nothing was wrong,” Wally Czwodzinski said. “In today’s ‘fake news’ world, I’m glad to know people are out there still believing in truth.”

Wally Czwodzinski hopes once the winner is announced, people will associate the SOS house with Will County Habitat for Humanity.

“People need a place to live,” Wally Czwodzinski said. “And I think everyone deserves a nice house, someplace to call home.”

To donate and for more information, habitatwill.org.