Habitat Homes Going Up In Woodbury

Woodbury has more Habitat for Humanity homes than any metro area city outside Minneapolis and St. Paul.

You’ll be able to add five more homes to that total by next spring.

“Community Build Week” kicked off Monday at a new Habitat for Humanity project in Woodbury.

The project was spearheaded by the , which identified housing among its following a a couple of years ago, said Alisa Rabin Bell, the organization’s executive director.

“Habitat was a natural fit,” she said.

More than 20 volunteers, area officials and Habit workers were at the site Monday. The townhome is being built at the Garden Gate area along Settlers Ridge Parkway south of Hudson Road.

Mayor Mary Giuliani Stephens kicked off the morning event by thanking the volunteers and Habitat for Humanity for bringing affordable, high quality housing options to the city.

Nancy Brady, a vice president with the Twin Cities Habitat for Humanity, said the group is excited to have another project going up in Woodbury.

“It is the community that makes things happen,” said Brady, who lives in Woodbury. “Without stable housing, it’s tough to do just about anything.”

Andersen Corp., 3M Cares and were instrumental getting the project to this point, she said.

The mood was upbeat Monday as crews gave the volunteers a brief orientation. Caleb Brunz, owner of , was on hand at the event. His company will bring in about 20 volunteers on Thursday.

There’s still plenty of work to do, but Jake Kirchgessner, senior site manager with Habitat for Humanity, said the 30 or so volunteers who help each day will keep the construction moving along.

“It takes everybody to do it—that’s the fun of the project,” he said.

Each unit will be about 1,600 square feet, Kirchgessner said. One should be ready by the end of the year, with the rest likely finished in February or March 2012.

The volunteers range in skill, he said, from seasoned contractors to “people who have never picked up a hammer before.” Organizers match the volunteer’s skill with the appropriate work.

Bell, meanwhile, said the Woodbury Community Foundation can’t cut a big check to get such projects started. “But what we can do is connect people.” And so the partnership with Habitat for Humanity began.

The townhomes will house five families that have to go through a rigorous screening process, Bell said. (Brady noted that they will have to take 11 classes on being a good homeowner.)

This structure is the first step of a three-year project that will see another two similar buildings constructed at the site, Bell said.

For more information on future volunteer opportunities, email Bell at alisa@woodburyfoundation.org.