ESCANABA, Mich. (WLUC) – On Tuesday, a group of Delta County high school students took the first step, or in this case, a shovel, to help with the housing supply problem.

Kimberly Everson, 16, is a junior at Bark River-Harris High School. He and his classmates threw shovels into the ground to celebrate the start of an affordable housing project. The students are part of the Career and Technical Education program at Delta-Schoolcraft Middle School District.

The Building Trades Program includes approximately 60 juniors and seniors from Bark River-Harris, Escanaba, Gladstone, Hannahville, Mid Pen, Rapid River and Carney. Students are building a house on Willowcreek Road between 7th and 8th Avenue South.

DSISD CTE Director Trent Bellingar is coordinating this effort.

“We stopped building houses in about 2008 due to the housing market crash,” Bellingar said. “We still had three lots in the city of Escanaba. I mean, we’ve been sitting on these plots for all this time.

Bellingar said it’s time for high school students to rebuild community housing because of the need for affordable housing. Everson agreed.

“It’s nice to be able to bring one that people can actually afford for their family,” Everson said.

The project also gives students broader experience in the construction industry.

“I think it would be great if what we’re doing in the classroom right now is built from the ground up instead of like a deer blind,” Escanaba High School junior Gavin Wagner said.

Financing of the project came from InvestUP To create program. The program is a housing development fund of over $15 million.

Build UP is investing $1 million in CTE programs in DSISD and Copper Country ISD and partnering with local secondary school districts to address the regional shortage of skilled trades workers needed to build new homes while also adding new housing to the market, according to a press release . .

“This has been a great partnership and great team effort,” said InvestUP CEO Marty Fittante.

Bellingar says it will take about two years to build the family home. It will be sold later.

“These homes will probably be below market value just because we want people, families to move into our areas,” Bellingar said.

Profits after the $200,000 Build UP loan is repaid will be reinvested in the next construction project and the next group of students, he said.

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