The Winona area faces a serious affordable housing shortage and building sufficient numbers of homes to meet demand has been challenging without enough skilled workers to replace those who retire.
Winona County Profile data shows that the County needs hundreds more affordable owner-occupied housing units. The construction industry needs an influx of new professionals. Habitat for Humanity Winona-Fillmore Counties and Minnesota State College Southeast are teaming up to forge a solution.
The nonprofit and the college will collaborate on the construction of one new rural home per year for qualified Habitat for Humanity homebuyers, and the work will serve as the lab for MSC SoutheastConstruction Technology students. Using post-construction financing through the USDA 502 program, funds used to build the home will immediately be recycled into the program.
Habitat for Humanity and MSC Southeast have begun approaching the community for an initial investment of $250,000 and are excited to announce that Jerry and Pat Papenfuss have come forward with a lead gift of $100,000 to kick it off.
Their incredible generosity will strengthen and benefit rural Winona County families for generations to come. This initiative will build home after home, year after year, and train cohort after cohort of construction students, strengthening the local construction industry while increasing affordable housing options.
Habitat partners with individuals and families from application, through construction, to when the mortgage is signed. Working together from start to finish helps people prepare for the responsibilities of homeownership, including learning about finances, mortgages, and home maintenance.
It helps ensure the long-term success of Habitat homebuyers, who must be active participants in building their homes. Previously focused solely on carpentry, the ConstructionTechnology program at Minnesota State CollegeSoutheast was relaunched in Fall 2018 with an expanded emphasis on planning, designing, estimating, and blueprint reading, as well as robotic building layout, solar, and green building.
The new program was designed around a partnership with Habitat so that students would learn the skills of the trade and the value of service to the community.
“The thing I like most about the Construction Technology program is the hands-on aspect of it. Last year we built an addition on the Habitat ReStore here in Winona. It was really great to be able to work hands-on with our instructor and mentors from ReStore instead of having to learn behind a computer. Another good aspect is working with the community by building a house for Habitat rather than working for ourselves,” said Joshua Husman, Construction Technology student.
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