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March 25

March 25, 2021 

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 

 

CONTACT: 

Derek Rayment 

Public + Media Relations Manager 

531-MCC-2876, office 

402-960-0697, cell 

 

MCC partners with NeighborWorks to address local housing needs 

 

OMAHA, Neb. — Metropolitan Community College has partnered with NeighborWorks Home Solutions for the College’s 2022 capstone project, an effort that brings students into the lab to build a house that will be placed in the community after completion. The partnership is an opportunity to provide funding resources and community development through service learning to help address affordable housing needs. 

 

NeighborWorks® Home Solutions will furnish direct funding support for MCC’s Capstone service-learning project on and off campus, supply administrative project management, select and obtain a parcel for the final project designation, sale of the single-family dwelling and cultivate the significance of nonprofit work with affordable housing development through our interactions with students and staff. 

 

The purpose of our partnership is to enhance the community college’s mission of providing pathways to postsecondary credentials and innovative instructional models that have a labor market value for learners,” said David Hazlewood, COO of NeighborWorks Home Solutions. This partnership allows MCC to focus on what it does best, educate and prepare students for the job market as lifelong learners. The students are perhaps the partnerships biggest beneficiaries. This experience will cultivate our future construction industry workforce and leaders. We are excited to take part in this opportunity and looks forward to our engagement. Further, NWHS finds significant value with this collaboration to assist in filling the labor shortage in the construction industry. 

 

MCC construction and trade students have completed previous homes through the capstone project, placing homes in the North Omaha community. The capstone project uses a large two-story tall lab inside the Construction Education Center on the College’s Fort Omaha Campus.  

 

“MCC is all about partnerships and this is one of many that we have that will allow us to continue educating students while positively impacting the community at a time when it is so important,” said Nate Barry, MCC dean of Career and Technical Education.  

 

About NeighborWorks Home Solutions 

Our mission is simple, but has lasting impact in our communities: NeighborWorks® Home Solutions stimulates revitalizations of neighborhoods by creating quality housing choices in the communities we serve. We have been a vital part of the communities we serve for a number of years. New Community Development Corporation dba NeighborWorks® Home Solutions (NWHS) is a community-based nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization. 

 

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Metropolitan Community College, accredited by the Higher Learning Commission, is a comprehensive, public community college that offers affordable, quality education to all residents of Dodge, Douglas, Sarpy and Washington counties. Founded in 1974, MCC has the largest enrollment out of six community colleges in Nebraska and is the second largest postsecondary institution in the state. MCC serves more than 40,000 unique credit and noncredit students.