REHABILITATING HOUSES, CREATING HOMES

Home. For many of us, it’s a place where we can walk through the door at the end of a long day. It’s a place where we can put up our feet, spend time with the people (or pets) we love, and feel safe and warm.

Housing organizations ensure safe and affordable housing options are available all across our community. For more than a decade, ecoREHAB of Muncie has help create homes through sustainable design, rehabilitation, and education. The organization started in response to Muncie’s blight elimination plan. With the support of students from Ball State’s College of Architecture and Planning, ecoREHAB transformed dilapidated dwellings into inviting, energy-efficient homes to restore neighborhoods while promoting sustainability. The organization fosters economic prosperity, environmental protection, and social equity.

From 2009 to 2019, ecoREHAB revitalized homes following green-building principles. As the organization stepped into its second decade of service, it felt growing pains. A plan was in place for increased staff and community-wide fundraising. There was a focus on its mission to position it as more than a housing organization.

Step participants build tool boxes as an introduction to construction drawing and tool use.

Operational support can be vital as an organization seeks growth. The Community Foundation awarded ecoREHAB a $20,000 grant in 2019 to support developing capacity. That funding helped ecoREHAB rebuild its staff, hire a new executive director, enhanced internal controls, increase brand awareness, and implement bookkeeping efficiencies.

“There was a desire to grow in the number of houses rehabbed and do more across the community,” said Jason Haney, executive director of ecoREHAB. “This grant allowed us to build capacity. It allowed us to focus on partnerships. We can rehabilitate housing, strengthen the workforce, and share expertise with other organizations.”

Electrician Jay Ullom Teaches STEP students how to install electricity.

The Community Foundation awards grants, like this one, through donations to The Unrestricted Fund of The Community Foundation. From the Foundation’s beginning in 1985, donors have put their trust in the Foundation. Through relationships and connections across the community, the Foundation identifies community needs. The Foundation helps address them those needs through grantmaking.

With increased capacity, the staff and board of ecoREHAB had the opportunity to assess their role in the housing community. In addition to a continual pipeline of houses needing sustainable rehabilitatation, a challenge presented itself – there aren’t enough qualified workers in the construction field.

Then, opportunity knocked. Muncie Mission was seeking to expand transitional housing available for graduates of its recovery program. In partnership, ecoREHAB would rehabilitate a home near the Mission’s campus. The new home would use sustainable design, making it a long-term win for Muncie Mission.

The next step was to marry sustainable housing rehabilitation with opportunities for at-risk individuals to receive introductory job training.

Providing learning opportunities has always been a part of our mission. Extending skill-building to community members seemed like the next step in making our community more sustainable.

In late 2020, ecoREHAB approached the Foundation with a grant request to pilot STEP, a Skilled Trades Education Program. The sixteen-week construction trade training combines classwork, prototyping, job shadowing, and onsite training. STEP expands ecoREHAB’s educational mission. The program serves at-risk individuals, sixteen and older, interested in introductory job training in the construction field. Participants receive technical training in carpentry, HVAC, plumbing, and electrical. They also build soft skills.

The grants committee and Board of Directors of the Foundation saw this as an opportunity to be a part of something innovative. The Community Foundation was able to respond to this request with a $25,000 grant from unrestricted funds.

The program was conducted in partnership with Eastern Indiana Works and Ball State University’s College of Architecture and Planning. Through Eastern Indiana Works, trainees were paid and provided clothing and tools for the program. They also had access to career counseling and interview preparation services. Ten participants started the program.

On May 7th, eight participants graduated from STEP at a small ceremony in the chapel at Muncie Mission with their families present. For four participants, the introduction to the construction trades propelled them toward jobs within the industry. For others, STEP provided a safe platform in which they learned how to work as part of a team, develop interview skills, gain confidence, and hone problem-solving skills, all skills transportable to other industries. The success of STEP may lie in providing participants with a safe space to explore their talents, personality, and work style.

ecoREHAB plans to continue the program in 2022 with a second cohort. A $25,000 grant awarded during the fourth quarter of 2021 will support the program in the coming year.

STEP students on the first day at the work site.

STEP was designed to build the workforce, but it does so much more. It offers hope to the participants and their families.

Jason shared how participants created their own wooden toolbox during the first week. “Many of these participants came in as dropouts – from school, the workforce. In one week, they became builders. We asked them to consider, “if you can do this in one week, think about what you can do if you keep going.”

Just as ecoREHAB will continue to focus on sustainable design, rehabilitation, and education to improve our community’s housing, The Community Foundation will continue to work toward making Delaware County a place that people choose to call home. Because of donors like you, The Community Foundation can continue to open doors for organizations like ecoREHAB and the community members they serve.