Building a Future
The Leech Lake Tribal community needs new houses and a skilled workforce. An innovative program is helping build both.
By Gene Rebeck | Photography by Nedahness Greene
Joanne Paquette’s inspiration to pursue a residential construction career struck when she realized she could be the one to make needed repairs at her parents’ Cass Lake home.
“That made me want to know more,” she said. Paquette also saw numerous employment opportunities in the construction field: “You can’t go wrong by going this route.”
Paquette originally planned to pursue a degree in business when she enrolled at Leech Lake Tribal College last spring. She quickly realized, though, that a business career would likely lead to a “sit-down” job. “I need to be up and actively moving,” Paquette said with a chuckle. She also realized she liked working with her hands and “seeing the progress of a project going from nothing to something. Or fixing something and thinking, ‘Wow, I did that.’”
A new program launched in late 2024 has helped Paquette and other Leech Lake Tribal College students build new career paths while helping to improve their community. Supported by a $186,000 Initiative Foundation grant to Leech Lake Financial Services and Leech Lake Tribal College, and co-managed by Region 5 Development Commission, this workforce and housing development program aims to help 18 tribal college students earn construction and electrical credentials.
Funded by the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED), with additional support from the Wilson Family Fund and Margaret A. Cargill Philanthropies, the grant also established a partnership with Leech Lake Tribal Housing and Habitat for Humanity in Brainerd. Under the nonprofits’ mentorship, students will build homes and assist in energy-efficiency projects on tribal land. Once they complete the program, students are nearly assured full-time jobs with regional utilities and residential construction specialists.
Rob Aitken, executive director at Leech Lake Financial Services, said the program’s timing couldn’t be better. “From the community’s perspective, [this program is] absolutely wonderful because it’s creating an economy on the reservation that never really existed before,” he said.
Among its many activities, Leech Lake Financial Services educates potential homebuyers and prequalifies them for mortgages once they’re ready to take the leap. But Aitken can tell you that would-be Leech Lake homebuyers still face a significant barrier: “There’s never anything to buy!”
A recent study indicates an immediate need for 600 houses on Leech Lake land, Aitkin said. While the community is actively building 20 new houses, the larger goal is to “create a workforce in single-family housebuilding for all the rest of the homes that need to be built on the reservation,” he said.
Don Hickman, who retired in January as the Initiative Foundation’s vice president for community and workforce development, has continued to work in a part-time capacity to help manage this and several other projects. “I really want to see this one to completion because it’s a project that I’m infinitely proud of,” he said. “Leech Lake is a community with an acute need and a great deal of housing insecurity. To be able to create employment opportunities for Leech Lake students while they improve their community and create new career paths is just about as sweet a program as I’ve ever been involved in.”
The Tribal college oversees and guides the students. Leech Lake Financial Services, a certified Community Development Financial Institution, or CDFI, pays student wages, covers childcare and mileage reimbursements and disburses stipends when students meet their milestones. Jeff Phillips, senior project manager for the Staples-based Region 5 Development Commission, handles day-to-day operations, including setting up monthly training events at the tribal college or Otter Tail Power facilities. Students also gain on-the-job experience with the Leech Lake Housing Authority, solar and clean energy construction firms, and power companies.
There is no single “track” students must follow. However, they are required to complete 160 hours of combined training and work experience. “They’re not just going to a job site and working on a house for all their hours,” Phillips said. “They’re going to get a little bit of everything.”
While some students elect to work with the housing authority on homebuilding projects, others have opted to gain experience at the Cass Lake-Bena High School, where they’ll help install new high-efficiency HVAC systems and energy-efficient windows. Rounding out the partnership is Rural Minnesota Concentrated Employment Program (CEP), which manages the required documentation to comply with the grant guidelines, including program enrollment and the milestones students achieve.
What’s Next
As of early February, 13 students were participating in the program, and five more are expected to join soon. “We’re working to build capacity with the housing authority and other organizations in this sector,” Phillips said, “and we hope that construction at the school district buildings will commence this summer.”
Aitken, for one, is proud of the progress being made. “We lag in just about every economic category”—including housing, home ownership and jobs, he said. “The partnership with the Initiative Foundation fills a big hole because we’re creating more course development on the reservation in the residential construction area. This is an absolutely wonderful thing for our community.” Paquette’s pride is growing, too. She can list an array of skills she’s learned in the program: framing, trim work, drywall, roof trusses, flooring and more. She now looks forward to helping Leech Lake build the housing it needs to meet demand. And she still has her sights on her parents’ place. “My goal is to build them a new house, whether from scratch or on the current foundation,” she said. Whatever plan she pursues, Paquette knows she will be building a future for herself, her family and
her community.