Coming Home to Make a Difference

It was something of a homecoming when Con McClennan began working at Alaska Housing Finance Corporation’s public housing facilities in Ketchikan.

In the late 1970s Con and his family were residents of Schoenbar Park, AHFC’s family housing facility in Ketchikan. Today he is the Lead Maintenance Mechanic for Schoenbar Park and Seaview Terrace, which serves seniors and individuals with disabilities.

‘I used to live here’

“We moved up to Alaska and we didn’t have anywhere to live,” Con said. “We lived in Schoenbar, apartment B1, for about two years. I always tell every tenant that lives in that apartment, ‘I used to live here when I was a kid.’”

He is also following in the footsteps of his grandfather, who was working in maintenance at Schoenbar Park when Con and his family moved to Alaska.

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“I always thought it was kind of weird going through the building and even now I can find stuff that he’s done. Maybe some old paperwork tucked away somewhere or some writing on a wall up in the attic, that kind of thing. And I know right away that, ‘Hey, that’s my grandfather’s.’ I never ever thought that I would be working in the same building that he worked in. It’s pretty unique.”

– Con McClennan, Lead Maintenance Mechanic in Ketchikan

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Coming Home

Con’s mother bought a house north of town in the early 1980s and the family moved out of Schoenbar Park. He joined the U.S. Army after school but eventually made his way back home, working in a handful of jobs before joining Alaska Housing in 2012.

It proved to be a great match. Con’s responsibilities include everything from general maintenance to repair work, groundskeeping to painting. He has improved energy efficiency in the facilities by replacing old light fixtures with LEDs and he is always looking for ways to improve the buildings and their grounds. His work is meticulous and he has great pride in how the facilities look as well as function.

Improving the Experience

Some of that may come from his experiences living in public housing decades ago. At the time, Con said Schoenbar Park “looked like the projects.” It made him so embarrassed to live there he would run home through the woods so his classmates wouldn’t know.

Through the years, renovations have taken place that have changed the look and feel of the facility. Now, Con is committed to making sure it is a place people want to live.

“This is a good place to work because you feel like you’re part of a team and also a family,” he said. “This is definitely my retirement job.”

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Interested in exploring a career at Alaska Housing? Visit our website and view open positions.