North St. Louis County Habitat for Humanity

What does it take?

What does it take to build Habitat homes on the Iron Range? Well, let me go back to a conversation I had with my board president, Paul Knuti, when I was hired as the first employee of North St. Louis County Habitat for Humanity way back in 2003. During an impactful orientation session, Paul said, “Nathan, your job is easy, you just need five things to build a Habitat home. You need a partner family, land to build a home on, money to buy 2X4s, volunteers to pound nails, and leaders to help them.”

I have found that when we put these five elements together, we build a home. We’ve done it over 100 times in 15 Iron Range communities: Aurora, Babbitt, Biwabik, Buhl, Chisholm, Cook, Hibbing, Ely, Embarrass, Eveleth, Gilbert, Mountain Iron, Tower, Soudan, and Virginia.

Each year presents unique challenges or blessings in these areas. I continually keep them in mind to stay ahead of our organization’s needs as we seek to maintain and grow our capacity to help our neighbors in need. In 2025, we have been blessed with strong support from our funding partners at Iron Range Resources & Rehabilitation. Some might think that means that we don’t need as many dollars. Not so! With more funding comes more building, and we are working to bring in additional dollars to match the IRRR funding. This will allow us to serve seven households while starting two additional foundations this fall. Each dollar is vital to reaching our 2025 goals.

You may have noticed our increased advertising for partner families in newspapers and on the radio. We have now selected all our future homeowners for 2025 except one more needed for Virginia. Maybe you know a family or an individual you could encourage to apply. It would change their life! We are also accepting applications for our 2026 projects across the Range to stay ahead of our needs.

When you are building six or more homes per year and planning for subsequent years, an adequate supply of land can be a real challenge. We have recently been blessed with lots donated by the City of Hibbing and Virginia, plus two individual donors in Virginia! Many people don’t realize that donating an empty lot, a lot with a home that needs to be torn down, or a lot with a home that we can rehab is a great way to contribute. We make the transition of these properties easy, and it may bring a tax benefit to the donor.

We have been blessed with great leadership. Our 18-member board of directors provides strategic support and direction for our legal, HR, architectural, financial, and business needs. We are grateful for our board! The build site also needs great leadership, and we are blessed with volunteers who have the know-how and ability to guide volunteers on construction sites. Maybe you benefited from some of them when you volunteered! We are always looking to add to this vital human resource. If you are knowledgeable about building and like working with people, contact us to become a regular part of our volunteer go-to crew.

Volunteers are the heart of Habitat. Without volunteers, we simply could not build homes. Volunteer labor is a big part of keeping our homes affordable. They also govern the organization and help us select and support our partner households. We typically engage over 1,000 community volunteers each year. With increased productivity, our need for volunteers has gotten much greater! This year, we are being blessed in the areas of funding, families, land, and leadership, but we urgently need more volunteers. You can volunteer as an individual or with your friends, church group, business, or club. We need your help, and getting on the schedule is easier than you think. Call Tucker Nelson at the Habitat office, and he will get you scheduled. You don’t have to be a skilled builder. Our leaders on the build site will guide you through each task.

Now that you know what it takes to build a Habitat home, call us if you can help in any of these areas. We greatly appreciate your support.

Nathan Thompson, Executive Director