An innovative partnership between Habitat Sarasota, Suncoast Technical College (STC), and the Sarasota Office of Housing and Community Development (OHCD) tackles two growing problems: the lack of affordable housing and the growing shortage of skilled workforce in the home construction industry.
In August 2018, Habitat Sarasota formed a partnership with STC to provide their industrial technologies students real-world experience working on an active construction site. Habitat Sarasota formed the partnership last year after receiving funds from the State Housing Initiatives Partnership (SHIP) to fund construction costs for affordable homes in Sarasota.
Habitat Sarasota makes the single-family home exclusively available to students in STC’s plumbing, electrical, HVAC systems and construction technologies programs five days a week. Habitat Sarasota purchases the land, provides the permitted build-able lot, the construction materials, tools and site supervision for the project. STC provides the classroom curriculum, teacher support for each trade, and transportation for the students.
Seventy students from STC worked on the home. All of the work was installed according to code, and passed County inspections, taking classroom learning to a new level.
A Habitat Sarasota homebuyer closed on the home and has an affordable monthly mortgage payment. Being in a permanent, stable home is reducing day-to-day barriers for the homebuyer’s child, who has a degenerative medical condition that could result in vision loss.
Habitat Sarasota digs deep every day to leverage partnerships that enable us to do more for the community and the families we serve. Our partnership with Suncoast Technical College and the Sarasota Office of Housing and Community Development brings out the best in all of us!
Renee Snyder, President and CEO, Habitat for Humanity Sarasota
“We are thankful for diverse learning opportunities, like constructing a Habitat Sarasota home, that challenge our students. It’s important for them to have immersive, real-world scenarios that engage their collective abilities. We’re also proud that our students desire not just to further their own development and success, but seek to positively shape the community and pay-it-forward” says Dr. Ron DiPillo, executive director of Suncoast Technical College.
