(Anita, Iowa) – Officials with the Southwest Iowa Planning Council (SWIPCO) posted on their social media page, Wednesday, a picture of  home being delivered to the City of Anita, in preparation for the structure to be set on its foundation. The house was constructed through the Homes for Iowa program. SWIPCO says it “Was glad to be a part of connecting the city and this wonderful program.”

Photo of the home delivered in Anita through the “Homes of Iowa” Program. (Photo from the SWIPCO Facebook page, 1-14-26)

Inmates at the state prison in Newton began building homes in 2019 and the program reached a major milestone. The 150th modular home built on a 100-acre site inside the prison complex was delivered to Mason City last week. Iowa’s Department of Corrections and Prison Industries works with Habitat for Humanity programs throughout the state on the “Homes for Iowa” program.

In the program, incarcerated individuals acquire marketable job skills, so that they can become contractors and subcontractors when they get out of prison. The hope is that those prisoners learn skills they can use so that they don’t go back into the system. So far, over 160 of the inmates who’ve gone through the program have become certified in one of the construction trades, like carpentry.

Each house built in the “Homes for Iowa” program has three bedrooms and two bathrooms. The program has placed homes in more than 50 counties in the past five years.

(Some information in this report is from Radio Iowa)