ABOVE: A Habitat for Humanity house on N. Elm Street in Fairmont on Thursday during the dedication ceremony.

FAIRMONT– They built more than just a house, but a home. Habitat for Humanity (HFH) of Martin and Faribault County dedicated its latest house, on N. Elm Street in Fairmont, on Thursday evening.

Executive Director Staci Thompson said that the last house they dedicated in Fairmont was about two years ago.

“We were doing about four houses a year, but we relied a lot on funding from USDA’s (United States Department of Agriculture) rural development program and that got cut by about two-thirds in April with no warning, so we don’t know how many we’ll be completing in the next few years,” Thompson admitted.

The house, which was donated by John Thate, was moved a year ago from its original site in Fairmont to the current location and work started in earnest in January and finished up just this month.

Thompson noted that the house didn’t need a ton of work, but because of the size of it– two stories and five bedrooms– they did work on it a lot. While Thompson said they’ll likely never take on a house of that size again, she did say that the house fits the family perfectly as it’s going to single mother Carissa Ricard and her four children.

At the dedication Ricard said they had applied for the house before her partner unexpectedly passed away. After finding out they had been selected, Ricard said, “I thought, this was going to be hard and I’d do it alone, but we made it and everything fell into place and I couldn’t do it without all of you.”

HFH relies on the work of volunteers, which the organization has seen increasingly less of. However, future homeowners need to put in 500 hours of sweat equity.

“With this house, we didn’t need a lot of volunteers because we had an absolutely fantastic group of future homeowners who worked really hard and were there almost every single Saturday so that things got done quickly,” Thompson explained.

In order to be selected, families go through a fairly lengthy application process and income guidelines are also followed. The family also has to have a need and a willingness to partner with HFH.

Speaking to the important role that HFH plays, especially given wide-spread housing challenges, Thompson said, “we fill a niche that isn’t getting filled. The cost of housing these days is outrageous. Every time there’s a major flood, a hurricane or something like that, the price of materials goes up, up, up and up.”

She said by doing the home rehab projects, they don’t have to pay to do all of the framing above the foundation line. Also, because they use a lot of donated materials, as well as volunteer labor, they’re able to keep the cost of the house lower, compared to if a family had to purchase a home off the market.

“We also help families build their credit and give them a bunch of homeowners classes. We really prepare the families for the future,” Thompson said.

She added that by putting in the sweat equity hours, families pick up landscaping, gardening and other home improvement skills.

As the local HFH serves both Martin and Faribault counties, Thompson said they’re also working on a rehab in Blue Earth and will be doing one in Wells soon, too. HFH has also partnered with some local schools for projects, too.

Martin County West students and Fairmont High School students in woodworking classes have built sheds for the organization and MCW will be doing a home project for HFH in the fall of 2025 and FHS in the fall of 2025 will be starting a new construction.

“We’re definitely looking forward to more future projects in greater Martin County and we ask for continued support of people,” Thompson said.