October 16, 2024 -- Columbus City Schools (CCS) students will assist the City of Columbus address one of Central Ohio’s most pressing issues: affordable housing.
Habitat for Humanity-MidOhio announced Fort Hayes Career-Technical Education (CTE) students will begin construction in fall 2025 on two city-owned lots. The announcement was made during the City of Columbus Department of Building and Zoning Services (BZS) and Fort Hayes Career Center partnership event, BZS Day. This marks Habitat for Humanity-MidOhio’s first involvement with the partnership.
The two lots selected for this project are located on Old Leonard Avenue and are within walking distance of the Fort Hayes campus. Columbus faces a shortage of 52,694 rental units for those in need of affordable housing according to the Affordable Housing Alliance of Central Ohio (AHACO).
“The work you’ll be doing next year is directly impacting the creation of more affordable housing in Central Ohio,” Brandi Braun AL-Issa, Habitat for Humanity-MidOhio’s President and CEO, told the group of construction trades students at BZS Day.
In its third year, BZS Day provides hands-on learning experiences by connecting students to building inspectors, who spend the day learning to become electricians, HVAC technicians, construction workers, and other trade skills. Throughout the day, building inspectors meet with students in each program to discuss their roles and responsibilities.
Fort Hayes Career Center senior Na’Vonn Lindsey, was excited when he heard about the Habitat for Humanity-MidOhio joining the partnership. As a student selected for the BZS internship this past summer, he loved seeing every stage of a building’s construction. Though he will have graduated by the project’s start, Lindsey is enthusiastic about the project.
“We do hands-on stuff in our labs, but actually building a house that a family will live in, that’s a win for everybody,” Lindsey said.
Human resources professionals assist students with creating profiles on the City of Columbus Civil Service websites, enabling them to apply for internships with BZS. Since the program’s inception in 2021, 13 Fort Hayes CTE students have interned with BZS. This year, Fort Hayes Career Center graduate Gus Hooley was selected for the department’s newly launched Trainee Program, which expedites former interns becoming certified building inspectors.
Department of Building and Zoning Services Building Services Director Scott Messer said Hooley’s employment is a testament to the partnership’s goals of increasing the number of people entering the inspection field in Columbus.
“This is real and we are excited to have him on with us,” Messer said. “We expect to continue that.”
The inclusion of Habitat for Humanity-MidOhio to the partnership increases students’ exposure to work-based learning opportunities. Students will work with the non-profit construction leads to learn all of the aspects of home construction.
“This partnership is going to provide students with direct experience, learning, and leadership opportunities,” Braun AL-Issa said.
Messer said the partnership has allowed his department to mentor and train highly engaged students. Furthermore, the students become familiar with the role of BZS inspectors in every construction process.
“I’m excited about this new partnership to give the students an opportunity to build an actual house,” said Messer.
Columbus Board of Education board member Michael Cole sees the partnership as a form of “community succession planning.”
“You are taking a cadre of young, talented minds, bringing them to one space, training them, uplifting them, encouraging them, and then giving them the skills to be prepared and build community,” Cole said.
