ABOVE: MVAC Fairmont staff, from left: Tammie Hested, Stephanie Conrad, Cheryl Kumm, Dave Kumm and Rita Brown stand with a display showcasing how the MVAC logo has changed from their opening in 1965 to today.

FAIRMONT–The Fairmont Minnesota Valley Action Council (MVAC) celebrated 60 years of working with Fairmont, Martin County, and Southern Minnesotans in need on Thursday.

MVAC works across Brown, Blue Earth, Faribault, Le Sueur, Martin, Nicollet, Sibley, Waseca and Watonwan counties.

Housing Rehab Coordinator Dave Kumm started with MVAC as a weatherization carpenter in 1982. Since then, he’s been a weatherization crew chief, warehouse manager and then the position he is in today.

Kumm said he remembers loading insulation in the mornings right down the street from 820 Winnebago Street, their current office, and heading out to insulate homes. He said nowadays weatherization looks quite different.

“We do floor and door diagnostics,” Kumm said. “Pressure dynamics of the home. That helps us determine heat loss and where the bypasses are hidden in the home because they’re never apparent.”

The biggest change from 1982 to today? How far a dollar can spread to help people.

“Back when I started a rehab project, totals in the 80s were like $7,500 per project,” Kumm said. “Back then you could do roofing, siding, windows, plumbing and electrical upgrades all for that amount of money. Now to do those same improvement costs can cost upwards of $65,000 and it’s not enough money to cover all the improvements.”

MVAC has been able to help numerous people with their home needs. From 2015 to 2020, Kumm said not as many projects came in and he was worried about cutbacks due to lack of need. Since COVID started, he said requests for assistance have skyrocketed.

“I came from a very low-income family,” Kumm said. “I take it to heart. I enjoy doing my work, helping low-income families and helping problem solve their issues with their homes. It’s vast, from sewers to foundations collapsing to roofs leaking.”

Outside of housing rehab, Human Resources Coordinator Rita Brown said MVAC helps with energy assistance, senior employment, youth employment assistance, travel assistance for those without working vehicles and more.

In addition to the gratitude exuded by those assisted, Brown said it has instilled calls to action for some individuals.

“So many people want to give back to the individuals who’ve been in the programs they’ve participated in,” she said. “We see that gratitude where they want to come back and they want to know how they can get a job and work for us too, once they get education.”

With 60 years under their belts, Brown said she is looking forward to all the possibilities to uplift area people.

“Making sure we have the funding to continue to deliver these different products to people who are in need,” she said. “To see them where they’ve been so desperate they don’t know if they can continue,”

MVAC also provides Head Start. Head Start Director Stephanie Conrad said it’s geared toward income-eligible families but is also open to those on SNAP, SSI, or other county benefits.

While this includes a free preschool program to get kids in need ready for kindergarten, Conrad said it includes much more.

“It serves children and families from prenatal,” she said. “If there’s a pregnant person in the home, we can serve that pregnant person until the child’s age five. It’s a life readiness program to get those kids ready for pre-kindergarten, get those families ready to be successful.”

Looking forward, Conrad said she feels good about the state of Fairmont Head Start but is slightly concerned with funding.

“We’re pretty confident we’re going to be funded at the amount we were last year,” she said. “That’s kind of concerning because it doesn’t give us the ability to expand for more kids. As far as the state of our program, we have quality staff, we have awesome families. I think our programming meets the needs of our communities as well.”

For more information on MVAC and its programs, visit https://www.mnvac.org/ or call 507-238-1663.