ABOVE: This house will be moved into MCW’s new school starting in the fall of 2025 and completely refurbished before being used by Habitat for Humanity in Sherburn.

FAIRMONT – Fairmont and Martin County West schools have received grants of $99,999 each to build or rehab homes for Habitat for Humanity starting next school year.

Executive Director Staci Thompson said Habitat for Humanity of Martin and Faribault County just had its 25th anniversary doing what it does best.

“What we mainly do is build or rehab homes and sell them to low-income families at either a 0 percent interest or a low interest rate,” she said. “We utilize donations and volunteers to keep our costs down as much as we can.”

Thompson’s interest in working with schools started as a volunteer with AmeriCorps VISTA in the late 90s, where they did a build with a school in St. Peter.

Habitat for Humanity has worked with Fairmont in the past, supplying them with a project build in 2023. Now they have received grant funding to continue the relationship and education efforts, which Superintendent Andy Traetow said will be a three-year collaboration.

“We will receive funds from the state and work with Habitat for Humanity for the construction of a home that will then be taken off-site,” he said. “There’s still a lot of details we’re working through, connecting with our Habitat for Humanity representatives and resources to make sure we’re very clear on the responsibilities in the school as well as outside supports to make that project happen.”

The partnership with MCW is brand new, which Thompson said started when she received a call from industrial arts teacher Jonah Mayo.

“We met several times and talked about what we wanted to see a partnership look like,” she said. “What our joint vision was. We wanted to wait and see if the referendum for the new school had passed. Sometimes the stars just need to align, and the stars aligned for us.”

The space to work on a house was not available in the current school building but will be when the new school is constructed. Thompson said working with MCW works with their goal of branching out through Martin County.

“We have only done houses in Fairmont and one in Welcome,” she said. “We are trying to be more inclusive as an organization and reach further out.”

While not building a house from scratch, MCW will be taking an existing house and completely redoing it.

“First they’ll have some demolition to do and open up the walls and everything because it will need to be completely rewired per the state of Minnesota,” Thompson said. “It’s a lot easier to do that with open walls. Then they’ll insulate and sheetrock; completely redoing the kitchen and bathroom.”

MCW Superintendent Cori Reynolds said they are very excited to add a course around this initiative, given their dedication to career and technical education.

“We are very proud of the opportunities we offer students in areas such as Agricultural Education and Industrial Technology,” she said. “The class we envision starting with this grant and through our partnership with Habitat for Humanity will be a welcome addition to our catalog of courses offered at our high school that prepare students for the workforce.”

In addition to the work experience, Reynolds said it is an invaluable way for students to give back to their community.

“Students will be learning by doing real work on a real home for a family that may not otherwise have been able to access homeownership,” she said. “In turn, that family and our whole community enjoy the benefits of homeownership. It’s a beautiful example of the amazing good that can be done when nonprofits collaborate with governments and schools to address community issues together.”

When completed, the home will be placed in Sherburn.