SIOUX CITY, Iowa (KCAU) — Students in the Sioux City Career Academy spent the last school year building a home from the ground up, and now it’s going to a South Dakota couple whose home was destroyed by the recent floods. 

The Career Academy house is now the future home of Dave and Judy Oberg, who recently lost their house that they had lived in for more than 50 years.  

“You always assume that you’re going to stay in the same place forever, and Mother Nature changed her attitude on that a little bit,” Dave Oberg said.

After their house was destroyed by the flooding of the Big Sioux River, the couple found their new home in the unlikeliest of places.  

“The day we were looking at our home when we finally got back in right after the flood, we got a call from someone that works for the school district and said ‘you know, we have a home that is available,’” Dave said. “We looked at the cost and it could be approaching just over a couple hundred thousand dollars to fix what we had, and this house was available and the offer was less than what we think it would have cost us to fix the old one.” 

“So we jumped on it, won the bid, and here we are,” Judy said,

Soon the Obergs will live in a three-bedroom home built by the juniors of the Sioux City Career Academy’s construction pathway. 

“It was always really important to us that this goes to a family that is worthy and deserving,” Career Academy principal Eric Kilburn said. “For it to go to a family that needed it rather than just wanted it is just so perfect. It’s a really, really great ending to this chapter in our story.” 

“They did an excellent job, it’s pretty exciting,” Judy said. “I hope they come when the house gets moved and see where it’s going so they can pat themselves on the back and see what a great job they did and how thankful we are that they built this house.”  

Now that they’re moving past the flood damage and out of their lifelong home, the Obergs are ready to begin their next chapter. 

“Knowing that the kids made it makes it easier because leaving all these memories behind in my old house, looking at it that all these young kids built this house makes it easier,” Judy said.

The house will be moved to the Obergs’ property on August 12 and will take roughly four hours to move from the Harry Hopkins Campus in Sioux City to rural Jefferson, South Dakota.