The open house Saturday was deemed a big success with many locals showing up to see the finished products of the new partnership between the Hutchinson Career and Technical Education Academy’s Building Trades Program and Interfaith Housing.

The ribbon cutting and open house Saturday was at 1 Snapdragon Court in northeast Hutchinson. It’s a duplex that will house Eric and Scott Saunders. Both are disabled, with Eric able to walk only with a walker, and Scott confined to a wheel chair. The two brothers have been living with each other, but will now gain their independence, but still be close enough to be able to see each other whenever they want.

Historically, the Building Trades Program has built one new home per year that later was sold, but this year, they partnered with Interfaith Housing to do new and different kinds of project to give students additional experiences.

David Patterson, the Director told us during the open house about how happy those involved in his program were to be a part of this project. He says, “it’s just a blessing to have that opportunity to do that for people. We wanted our students to have that experience every year as well.” He added that its great to build a home and sell it, but, “its one thing to build a home and share it with individuals like that.”

So how did his program come to be a partner with the Interfaith Housing? He told us that they know their students are very civic minded. He says they thought, “what a great opportunity to build a home in collaboration with Hutchinson Community College, the school district and Interfaith Housing.”

He says last spring, they began asking questions and he along with other from the district began meeting with Ron Fisher, Director of Operations for Interfaith Housing and says when anyone involved had questions, the other side would have the answer.

Kelly Patterson, the building instructor with the Career and Technical Education Academy also talked with us about the project and about how building for those who are disabled meant they had to learn all of the ADA codes and about green building.

He was also proud of the the partnership with Interfaith Housing. But also proud of his students teaching them life and work skills, but also giving back to the community.

The duplex will allow two brothers to live more independently and they plan to begin moving in within the next few weeks.

About 25-30 people showed up to Saturday for the ribbon cutting, which included Democratic State Representative Jan Paul’s, of Hutchinson. But, others showed up during the 3-hour open-house.

Prior to the ribbon cutting, President and CEO John Scott talked to the crowd in attendance about the project which you can watch below.