Record Number of Students Break Ground on High School House

A record number of students gathered to break ground on the 44th High School House in Great Falls on September 9th. Up from 26 students last year, 40 high school students from Great Falls High and C.M. Russell High School will come together each day to construct the next affordable home in our community! The site for this year’s house is located at 316 5th Avenue South in the heart of downtown Great Falls.

Sherrie Arey, Executive Director of NeighborWorks Great Falls, elaborated on the importance of neighborhood revitalization, “As we removed the house that was here before, we realized how important it is to bring a new home to this location that will stand for the next 100+ years. Just across the street from this site stands three High School Houses that were built in the early 2000s, and we are excited to bring another quality, affordable home downtown.”

NeighborWorks Great Falls was founded in 1980 with a mission to revitalize the city’s historic neighborhoods, provide affordable housing and help residents become first-time homebuyers. A primary strategy in our work is collaboration with local partners, and one of the most significant examples of this is the High School House program.

NeighborWorks Great Falls joined forces with Great Falls Public Schools in 1997 to create the program, which gives high school students valuable employment skills while providing a new, affordable home in our community. The students provide the labor while NeighborWorks supplies the lot, arranges subcontractors, and finances the construction. We also work with potential homebuyers to get them mortgage-ready with homebuyer education and individual homeownership planning.

Learn more about the program: nwgf.org/highschoolhouse.