NEWTON, Ia. — The hammering of nails and swishing of paint rollers echo through an old horse barn here as a crew of six men works furiously to meet a mid-June deadline.

The barn at the Newton Correctional Facility is being repurposed into an office and classroom. The crew is made up of inmates serving time at the low- and medium-security prison.

They're working to get the site prepared for a new Iowa Prison Industries program in which the Newton inmates will build affordable homes from the ground up.

The homes, which will have everything but the kitchen appliances and flooring, will be sold and moved to rural Iowa communities facing housing shortages — a problem so widespread and urgent that some have labeled it a crisis.

"We're at an all-of-the-above point when it comes to addressing the housing crisis in small towns," said Bill Menner, executive director of the Iowa Rural Development Council. "The idea that you could have another producer of affordable single-family homes that can be placed on a lot on a small town is impactful.

"Even if it's four homes, that’s going to make a difference for four people who want to live in a small town."

Iowa Prison Industries provides work training to men and women incarcerated at Iowa prisons. When its new program is fully operational, it hopes to complete up to 50 homes with a crew of 100 inmates per year. The inmates and the program's six employees will be responsible for constructing everything from the home's framing and drywall to its plumbing and electricity.

At the same time, inmates can work toward apprenticeships for jobs that are in high demand in Iowa, putting them on a path to employment outside the prison walls.

"It's just a win-win for Iowa to build really good, quality homes for citizens and communities that need them, and at the same time give our guys skills to make them successful when they get out," said Jeremy Larson, acting warden at the Newton Correctional Facility.

Rural communities face housing shortage

Population in rural Iowa has declined at a steady clip, as people have sought jobs concentrated in urban areas. More than half of all Iowans now live in 10 counties, all of them in metropolitan areas.

Many businesses and industries in small towns are now looking to hire, but people in small communities tend to hold on to their homes, forcing new hires to commute from farther distances, Menner said.

Additionally, there's a gap between the wages in rural areas and the mortgage payments needed to cover the cost of new construction, leaving little benefit for home builders to focus their efforts in small towns. Nearly 150 Iowa towns have seen no new housing built since at least 2010, according to U.S. Census figures from 2017.

Take for example the counties of Henry, Des Moines, Lee and Louisa, in southeast Iowa. Thirty-six percent of the homes in that region were built before 1940, said Mike Norris, executive director of the Southeast Iowa Regional Planning Commission and a member of the board that will oversee the inmate home building program. Just 14% of the housing stock was built after 1990, he said.

Many residents don't see the benefit of putting additional investment into their homes because of their age, size or condition, Norris said.

"People don't want to fix up their home or build a new home if they don't think it will be worth it in the long run," he said. "These (new) homes could be a way to change that perception in some of our neighborhoods."

Iowa is not reinventing the wheel

Five years ago, Norris and other members of the regional commission began strategizing ways to bring new housing to Mississippi River communities.

They found a program at the Mike Durfee State Prison in Springfield, South Dakota, called the Governor's House, in which prison inmates build affordable homes for low-income families in the state. Since 1995, inmates in the Governor's House program have built more than 2,700 homes for South Dakota families in need.

The Southeast Iowa Regional Planning Commission asked Iowa Prison Industries to re-create that program, hiring inmates from Mount Pleasant Correctional Facility and the Iowa State Penitentiary.

But, given that the housing shortage is not isolated to one area of Iowa, the idea quickly blossomed to a statewide program based at the centrally located Newton Correctional Facility, Norris said.

In South Dakota, homes can be purchased and settled anywhere — as long as they stay in the state. For now, homes built in Iowa will be sent to rural communities.

"But the growing counties have their own housing challenges, so we really think this is a fit for every county in Iowa, eventually," Norris said.

Affordable homes for the working class

Inmates will build one style of house — a 1,200-square-foot, three-bedroom, two-bathroom, energy-efficient home with an open floor plan. It's modeled after the most popular floor plan built in South Dakota.

The homes will be built on prison grounds and moved to their lots upon completion.

All told, the homes should cost about $125,000, including the construction, delivery, sidewalks and the price of the lot.

"For income-qualified Iowans, I think that's going to be a great way for them to enjoy the American dream," said Dan Clark, director of Iowa Prison Industries.

A board of directors called Homes for Iowa Inc. will oversee the program and sell the homes. The board, made up of industry professionals such as Realtors, home builders and bankers, will take applications from individual Iowans and communities interested in purchasing homes. Each home will be built based on the orders received.

Homes for Iowa has decided any family earning below the state's median family income — $73,100 per year, according to 2018 U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development guidelines — would qualify to purchase a home.

The homes will be built on 100 acres of farmland owned by the Department of Corrections, just outside of the Newton Correctional Facility. For now, six minimum-security inmates are working to prepare the site, including building a secure perimeter fence so medium-security inmates can join the crew.

In its first year, Iowa Prison Industries hopes to build four homes. Homes for Iowa has decided to send them to Marshalltown, which is recovering from an EF-3 tornado that hit the town of 27,500 last summer.

The program should grow from there. Eighteen homes are planned for 2020 and 36 the following year.

Each home will be sold for a nominal profit to invest back into purchasing bulk materials for more efficient building, Clark said.

'Anything helps, it really does'

While closing the housing gap is one goal of the program, teaching inmates skilled trades that will help land them jobs outside of prison is another.

Iowa Prison Industries currently has 24 apprenticeship programs such as welding, computer operation and woodworking for men and women incarcerated statewide. Inmates in the home building program can earn apprenticeships in plumbing, electrical, carpentry and general labor.

The programs are certified by the U.S. Department of Labor, meaning any inmate who doesn't complete his field hours or tests before release can finish the rest with an employer or a union outside of prison.

The program has generated "a lot of buzz" among inmates interested in learning construction labor, said Chad Squires, the Newton site supervisor. He estimates at least 60 inmates have already shown interest and more than half have officially applied.

Many recognize the need for skilled trade workers on the outside, and know construction is one industry that is willing to hire employees with felony records, Squires said.

According to data from Iowa Workforce Development, the four trades are adding more jobs annually at a higher rate than all other occupations in the state. The organization predicts a combined 4,575 jobs will be open in those trades each year, paying from $17.82 to $25.47 an hour.

Inmates earn about $1.05 an hour after court fees and restitution are deducted from their checks.

Jay Iverson, executive officer of the Home Builders Association of Iowa and a Homes for Iowa board member, said he hopes the program will create a pipeline of talented workers for his member organizations.

"We don't have enough people in the skilled trades to begin with, let alone serving these small areas," he said.

For 31-year-old Joshua Goemaat, the program is a chance to earn a new certification he doesn't yet have. He's worked in construction in the past, though it's been odd jobs.

Goemaat, who is serving a 10-year sentence for third-degree burglary and criminal mischief, said he hopes that gaining the apprenticeship will help him find a full-time job outside of prison. He's also earned a certificate in forklift operation during the 13 months he's been incarcerated.

"It's just a great opportunity," said Goemaat as he was painting a ceiling in what will become the program's classroom. "Anything helps, it really does."

'It's an idea they want to be a part of'

All told, the program is anticipated to cost about $4 million to be fully operational.

The cost for the security fence and cameras — about $1 million — is coming from the sale of land owned by the Department of Corrections. Iowa Prison Industries is using some extra funds to complete the rest of the site work.

And the Iowa Finance Authority's board of directors approved $1.2 million to assist in the development of the project this week.

Homes for Iowa and Iowa Prison Industries hope to raise the rest of the funds through private donations and employer partnerships.

For now, the plan is to learn how to build homes and grow as fast as the budget allows, Clark said. The group is certain that more support will come as the homes are built and housing needs are realized.

"We realize we don't have as much as what we want, but what we've found in the last few years is the idea really captures people's imaginations and it’s an idea they want to be a part of," Norris said. "We think that will keep continuing and the money will be there."

The first swing of a hammer to build a home will be by Gov. Kim Reynolds at a groundbreaking later this month.