Volunteers worked Tuesday in the 90 degree heat, under the sun — placing windows, nailing in beams and doing what they could to help build one of 14 single-family homes as part of Habitat for Humanity and Pathway Community Christian Church’s affordable housing project in Olathe.

Foundation Recovery Systems, which offers home repair solutions, had a group of employees volunteering this week at the Habitat project near 159th Street and Black Bob Road. The organization has volunteered on Habitat projects before, so coming out to this one was a no brainer, said Office Manager McKensie Haushalter.

“Our company, we enjoy giving back to the community in many ways,” Haushalter said. “This is one of many things that we do and we feel like it’s important, our team feels like it’s important, to get on site to physically help with the builds.”

8 of 14 homes may get built this year

Two structures are up and being worked on at the site, with others having foundations ready to go. The goal is to have eight of the homes completed by the end of the year, said Melissa Jones, vice president of development for Habitat for Humanity of Kansas City.

Additionally, the neighborhood will have green space and a park.

“In the next like 12 to 18 months, this will all be completed,” Jones said. “The first foundations were completed and in the ground in mid-May, but we’ve been working on infrastructure for a while. It takes a lot of time to put roads in and everything else that comes along with that.”

The $5 million project broke ground in January 2024.

Funded by donors, the Sunderland Foundation, Johnson County and Olathe, the project will offer the 14 homes at below-market cost to eligible applicants. The land itself will remain in a trust and is excluded from the sticker cost of the home.

The new neighborhood has its first homeowner

Habitat has already accepted their first homeowner to the project, Jones said.

“She is exactly the reason that this neighborhood is important,” Jones said. “She needed to be able to live closer to where she works — she works for a social service agency — and this is going to provide her and her two kids that opportunity.”

“Being able to build a whole neighborhood where soon we will have families playing, children in their yards, enjoying their home — that’s what Habitat’s all about, is providing safe, stable and affordable homes,” Jones said. “To be able to bring this neighborhood to Johnson County is incredible and we’re really fortunate to have such great partners with the county and the city that have really embraced this vision and made it possible.”

For Brock Small, a service manager with Foundation Recovery Services, stepping in to help felt even more personal and important.

“For me, I’ve grown up in the community,” Small said. “You want to see it continue to do well, and partnering with companies and other people that are like minded in that sense is fulfilling.”

Keep reading about the project: Olathe backs plan for 14 affordable Habitat for Humanity homes