Operation Fresh Start Open House
media release: OFS participants ages 16-24 built this Community Development Block Grant House from the ground up. Speeches by OFS Executive Director Brian McMahon, Director of Build Academy & Construction Steve Gardner, Legacy Construction Supervisor Tom Griffin, and OFS participants.
Thursday, October 17 from 2-3:45 p.m., 1104 Kamperschroer Way, Sun Prairie, WI 53590
Speeches by OFS staff and participants begin at 3 p.m. to talk about their experience of working on the house and the skills they learned.
Tours: OFS participants will lead community members through tours of the home to show off their work from 2-3 p.m.
OFS has an ongoing partnership with Habitat for Humanity to build Community Development Block Grant Houses. OFS purchases the plots from Habitat and OFS participants and staff build everything except for plumbing, electrical, and HVAC. Nearly 75 OFS participants worked on this house for a future family to move into.
“I’ve learned how to read tape measures, how to do installation, put up walls, and install trim,” OFS Legacy Construction participant Kenyan Rowe Harper said. “My favorite thing was laying concrete in the basement and cementing the driveway. “After we came back the next week and it felt great walking on the driveway knowing I went through the process of cementing it.”
For Kenyon’s supervisor, Tom Griffin, it is his first house that he’s supervised from start to finish.
“I am very proud of our young people’s accomplishments,” Griffin said. “It’s been about a year since we started, and we’ve had multiple OFS crews helping us out. It’d been so fun to watch the participants grow and gain confidence in themselves.”
Operation Fresh Start (OFS) strives to empower young adults ages 16-24 on a path to self-sufficiency through education, mentoring, and employment training. Through its 53 years of history, OFS has established itself as one of the country's foremost training programs for emerging adults.