A new initiative calls for houses to be built inside the men's prison at Bowling Green and sold throughout the area.

The Aspire Partnership Prison Homes Program is an effort of the North East Community Action Corporation and the Carpenters Union Apprentice Program.

Completed houses would be a little over 500 square feet and available for purchase for around 45 thousand dollars. A foundation, utility hookups and transportation would be an additional cost.

The Carpenters Union and its apprentices would oversee construction, expected to take a little more than a month each. NECAC would offer homeownership classes to buyers and oversee sales.

The finished homes would be trucked to the purchaser’s site. NECAC developed Aspire based upon a similar program in South Dakota.

Details are still being worked out and a timeline for the start of construction has not been set. However, NECAC expects to start taking applications soon.

Iowa also is interested in the program and hopes to secure funding in the next year.

More information is available by calling NECAC at 573-324-6622.