Additional housing is coming to southeast Iowa thanks to the work of Homes for Iowa, Inc. 

To provide affordable living in rural areas of the state including the city of Winfield, the Southeast Iowa Regional Planning Commission and Iowa Prison Industries have partnered together to create the non-profit group, Homes for Iowa Inc. The private-public partnership offers offenders building apprenticeship in hopes of increasing the skilled trade workforce and reducing recidivism. Over 40 offenders are currently on the crew going through training and assisting in building the single-family homes near the Newton Correctional Facility. Southeast Iowa Regional Planning Commission Executive Director and Homes for Iowa Board President Mike Norris explains his thoughts on the importance of the work being done, “I think as everybody knows, especially in the pandemic and the effects it’s brought to the workforce, there’s just not enough people to do all of the things that our communities need to get done. And that includes the skill trades. So we think we’re gonna have an impact there, by training men in the skilled trade that will be released and hopefully be able to enter into that.”

Norris added that a total of 21 homes will be built in counties throughout Iowa by the end of this year and they hope to double that in 2022. The house constructed in Winfield is currently owned by Victory Lane Adventures and up for sale at 305 South Chestnut Street.  Homes for Iowa pays for the labor and construction of the houses through grants, private bank loans and house sales. Governor Kim Reynolds has also allocated $10 million of the state’s $100 million federal COVID-19 rescue  funds to help further production while scaling efforts. For more information, visit here.