The third year of The College Home partnership has resulted in a $90,747 donation to Lethbridge College from Daytona Homes, its trades contractors and suppliers. The College Home is a unique partnership between the Canadian Home Builders’ Association Lethbridge Region (CHBA) and the college.
“The generosity of local builders like Daytona is what makes this partnership so special,” says Lethbridge College President and CEO Dr. Paula Burns. “The collaboration between this company, its suppliers and its tradespeople, along with nearly three dozen other contractors, combined to make this home possible. And their support towards our new trades and technologies facility will benefit future generations of skilled workers in southern Alberta.”
The College Home launched as a partnership between Lethbridge College and CHBA in 2013. The first three years of the five-year program involved two CHBA builders each year working with their suppliers and tradespeople to build two homes per year. Each builder then makes a donation from the proceeds from the sales toward the new trades and technologies facility at Lethbridge College. Year three of the partnership featured homes built by Daytona Homes and Signature Homes. The Daytona-built home is the first of the two third-year houses to be sold. It was unveiled at the Parade of Homes last fall and has since been sold to a local family who receives a $2,500 student award to Lethbridge College along with the purchase of the home.
“Daytona Homes is delighted to have partnered in this wonderful initiative that will provide a solid foundation for learning for the future skilled trades force of our local community,” says Guy Bellis, Daytona Homes general manager. “Our team is proud to have contributed towards helping to strengthen the educational landscape for many generations that will ultimately add value to our city and region through their ability and knowledge to build quality homes. As a company that is committed to excellence, we will continue to align ourselves with organizations such as the college, who strive to grow and develop the people within our community so that we can all benefit from the positive results that we endeavor to achieve.”
“CHBA is proud to be part of this collaboration with The College Home for the past four years,” says CHBA Lethbridge Region President Angela Cornforth. “This is an amazing project, and the support we have received and the impact it has made since the beginning makes all of the hard work that our members have put in worth it. The facility at the college will ensure that there is an abundance of trained and skilled tradespeople who will continue to build quality homes in our community well into the future.”
The college broke ground on the new trades and technologies facility in April 2014 and the first phase of the project, which hosts programs within the Crooks School of Transportation such as automotive service technician, parts technician, agriculture and heavy equipment technician, opened in August 2015. The second phase of the new facility will open in September 2017. The partnership is part of the Possibilities are Endless campaign, an ambitious capital campaign to raise $25 million, that is nearing its conclusion thanks to generous donors like Daytona Homes.
The first two years of The College Home raised $426,000 from the sales of the houses built by Ashcroft Master Builder, Galko Master Builder, Avonlea Master Builder and Stranville Living Master Builder. The fourth year of The College Home partnership is underway, with a home from Empire Homes now available for sale.