Habitat for Humanity of Greater Dayton is now partnered with the Springfield-Clark Career Technology Center to give students hands-on learning opportunities building homes for their community.
Both organizations kicked off their partnership with a preview event on the school's campus Feb. 26.
Habitat for Humanity of Greater Dayton Executive Director Norm Miozzi said programs like these can offer solutions to major issues across the state such as affordable housing.
"We see it not just in college students, but we see it here in Springfield, in Clark County, in every community across America," he said.
'It started with a phone call'
Springfield-Clark CTC Superintendent Michelle Patrick said it took only a couple of years to bring this new partnership together.
“We've always done a project house in some capacity, but this one became unique, because we started having conversations with Habitat two years ago about how we might be able to build it here on our site while they're prepping their site," she said.
Now the collaborative’s first 1,300-square-foot home is nearly complete, built to offer a comfortable living space with three bedrooms, one bathroom, a kitchen and living room.
Miozzi said it should be installed by the end of the school year on land provided by the Clark County Land Bank.
"This is actually going to be the fourth home on a piece of property that the land bank provided for us," he said. "So we're excited to be able to get that to the site."
Miozzi said the program is partially funded through money from the $25 million American Rescue Plan Act.
"The state will help close to 1,500 families with housing and on top of that that $25 million dollars, we leveraged support from organizations like the Springfield Foundation to the tune of a $100 million dollars and so that's a huge effect on affordable ownership."
Accessible and affordable education
Seventeen-year-old junior Carson Doogs is one of 46 students working on the project. He said this experience was invaluable.
"Lots of hard work in the cold and heat but we did for the love of it and that's all that matters," he said. "And we learned teamwork and leadership and all kinds of great skills."
In addition to early, hands-on learning in carpentry, Doogs said the affordability of this training cannot be found elsewhere.
“I don't have to pay for a four-year college program just to learn," he said. "It's free, and kids get to come here and have that opportunity. It's just an amazing thing.”
Corinna Jackson, also a junior at Springfield-Clark CTC, worked on the house this school year. She said learning with her peers in a hands-on environment while serving her community has been invaluable.
“I did not expect us to make so much progress so quickly," she said. "I really thought that it was going to take longer, but genuinely within maybe two or three months we were rockin' and rollin', walls up, all of that stuff.”
Patrick said she is proud of the students' progress on the home and she looks forward to seeing how this partnership will open up new opportunities for them.
"They all chose to come here for a trade and where they take that from here, they have every opportunity possible because they had the opportunity here to start on a home," she said.
At the community event, Springfield Mayor Rob Rue shared a declaration to recognize February as National Career Tech Education Month.
"CTC's main campus, offers more than 20 career and technical education programs to over 100 high school students," he said. "While CTC satellite programs serve more than 650 middle and high school students"
