Skip to content
Dodge City Community College Apply Now

DC3 and CHAD Host Open House

Published May 22, 2023

DC3 and CHAD hosted an open house and hamburger feed on Tuesday, May 16, at the site of the newest CHAD house, which is 600 Avenue N. Pictured (front row, left to right) are Alex Mendez, sophomore, Dodge City; Cuber Marino, sophomore, Dodge City; Jesus Gamon, sophomore, Dodge City; Angel Marquez, sophomore, Dodge City; Tucker Smith, sophomore, Dodge City; Juan Castro, dual credit high school student, Dodge City; Dr. Clayton Tatro, DC3 Vice President for Workforce Development; (middle row) Eric Ashley, sophomore, Jetmore, Kan.; Jeremin Murillo, sophomore, Dodge City; Christian Canales, sophomore, Dodge City; Benjamin Schultz, sophomore, Dodge City; Mario Chacon, sophomore, Dodge City; David Leonardo Garcia, sophomore, Cimarron, Kan.; David Hamilton, freshman, Dodge City; Patrick Shiew, DC3 Professor of Building/Construction Technology; Dr. Harold Nolte, DC3 President; (back row) Chayston Keck, sophomore, Fowler, Kan.; Alexis Banuelos, sophomore, Dodge City; Andrew Ashley, dual credit high school student, Jetmore, Kan.; Branden Stanfield, freshman, Plains, Kan.; Shawn Goodwin, freshman, Dodge City; Kathryn Nolte, freshman, Dodge City; and Loren Coval, DC3 Building/Construction Technology Assistant.

Dodge City Community College (DC3) and the Community Housing Association of Dodge City (CHAD) hosted an open house on Tuesday, May 16, to show off this year’s CHAD house, which is located at 600 Avenue N.

Through this hands-on partnership, which is in its ninth year, DC3 students build houses from the ground up, learning all facets of building construction.

This year’s project, which began in August 2022, is a 1,300-square-foot, single-family home. It contains three bedrooms, two bathrooms and a two-car garage.

“We have a few items yet to complete,” Mollea Wainscott, Dodge City/Ford County Development Corporation Assistant Director, said. “However, it should be listed for sale by July.”

DC3 Professor of Building/Construction Technology, Patrick Shiew, said that every CHAD house is unique, and this one is no exception.

“One of the new things that we were able to do this year is add a deck to the back of the house,” he said.

The ongoing partnership between CHAD and DC3, which is funded with a Moderate Income Housing grant from the Kansas Housing Resource Corporation, allows CHAD to accomplish three things in the community: to build additional moderate-income housing units, to train future workforce, and to clean up and improve blighted neighborhoods.

“We could not do these projects without the City of Dodge City Code Enforcement staff and CHAD leaders, Mollea Wainscott, Angel Romero, and the CHAD board,” Shiew said. “And, of course, on the DC3 side, Dr. Clayton Tatro, Vice President for Workforce Development; Loren Coval, Building/Construction Technology Assistant; and our college administration and staff.”

As CHAD and DC3 wrap up their 2023 project, they are already making plans for next year’s house, which will be designed by Juan Castro, a DC3 dual credit high school student from Dodge City, Wainscott said.

In addition to the come-and-go open house, Black Hills Energy also sponsored a free hamburger feed onsite from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.

By Lance Ziesch
DC3 Assistant Director of Marketing and Community Relations