by Dennis Dalman
The partnership between Central Minnesota Habitat for Humanity and Sartell High School’s SabreCon program was recently strengthened, thanks to a 50 percent matching grant of $84,606 approved by the city council in late January.
Habitat for Humanity approached the city, asking for financial support for the SabreCon program. The funds came to the city via the Statewide Affordable Housing Aid Program. That same amount will be available again sometime this year.
The grant applied for and given is known as a Sartell Community Service grant. In this case, the grant can help purchase construction materials and training for the SabreCon students. Eighty students have completed the SabreCon course.
SabreCon (Sabre Construction) is a hands-on, home-building class taught by technical education teacher Joe Schulte. Now in its fourth year, SabreCon students built one affordable home each year for low-income families eligible for homes under the Habitat for Humanity program. In doing so, the students learned many skills of the trade and about 50 percent of the graduating students went on to technical-college programs to become electricians, plumbers, carpenters, HVAC technicians and more.
SabreCon students are currently building a two-bedroom, two-bathroom house.
Instructor Schulte and Habitat President Chad Bouley addressed the city council at its Jan. 22 meeting.
Families who apply and are accepted to the Habitat for Humanity program receive zero-down, zero-interest loans with payments calibrated to their income level. They must put in 200 hours of sweat equity on helping build and/or refurbish homes.
Central Minnesota Habitat for Humanity has received 60 applications from people who need homes, and 10 of those have been approved so far.
One of the challenges in building SabreCon homes in Sartell is the steep prices of available lots on which to place the home while it’s being built or after it’s totally built.
Members of the city council all praised the SabreCon/Habitat for Humanity partnership, especially council member Tim Elness, who is vice president of business development for W. Gohman Construction, based in St. Joseph. Elness said he has seen many times first-hand how programs like SabreCon help the building industry locally and elsewhere.
“It’s amazing for kids coming out of (high) school to have that level of interest and desire built into them, literally,” Elness said. “It’s a really good program, and we’ve hired a number of kids who have gone through that program over the years, and we’ll continue to build on that.”
State Rep. Tim O’Driscoll (R-Sartell), at left, recently visited Sartell High School, including these students in a SabreCon course, which is short for Sabre Construction. Instructor Joe Schulte is in the middle row, at far right.
