Habitat for Humanity Monroe County and the Kelley School of Business broke ground on a new construction project Saturday morning at Osage Place in Bloomington. The house is expected to be completed by Spring 2022 and will focus on sustainability.
The collaborated project is the first build after a year-long hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Representatives from Habitat, the Kelley School, and the Whirlpool Corporation heralded the groundbreaking with speeches, after which ceremonial keys to the home were given to the family.
The homeowners, Veronica Marquez-Tecpanecatl and Javier Linares-Arizmendi, symbolically accepted the keys to their home during the post-ceremonial proceedings Saturday at Memorial Stadium during the football game against Michigan State University.
Marquez-Tecpanecatl and Linares-Arizmendi are heavily involved in the construction of their home, which will house them and their five children, as part of Habitat for Humanity’s sweat equity requirement. The two of them must each contribute at least 250 hours of labor towards the construction of their house, according to a Kelley School announcement.
“This house will provide us with more space and more privacy,” Linares-Arizmendi said. “Our kids will be able to study better when we’re not packed together so tightly.”
This build is the first in a series of projects Whirlpool plans to facilitate as part of its world tour, which will provide more than $6 million in funding to Habitat projects across the world, according to the Kelley School announcement.
The two-story, five-bedroom house will be the largest built since Whirlpool began collaborating with Habitat for Humanity. The house is being built with an emphasis on sustainability and will be built to have net-zero energy capability, Wendi Goodlett, Habitat for Humanity Monroe County CEO, said.
“The house will be wired for solar paneling,” Goodlett said. “It will also be fitted with energy-efficient heating and cooling systems.”
Whirlpool began partnering with Habitat for Humanity to build homes in Monroe County in 2010, according to the Kelley School announcement. Business students make up the bulk of the volunteer force, along with friends and relatives of the family moving in.
“We were amazed by the reception from faculty, students and staff,” former Whirlpool CEO Jeff Fettig, said at the ceremony. “They’re doing tremendous good for society.”
Over 300 volunteers from the business school have signed up to participate in the build, Shawna Meyer-Niederman, associate director of the Kelley Institute for Social Impact, said. She said this turnout is two to three times the turnout of the last project in 2019.
In addition to coordinating volunteers, the Kelley School will also provide drivers and help organize speakers and special events for the builds. Meyer-Niederman said the collaboration is a great learning experience for undergraduate students and represents the intersection of business and community at IU.
Interviews with Veronica Marquez-Tecpanecatl and Javier Linares-Arizmendi were conducted in Spanish and translated to English.
