But the simplicity belies the marvel of the process. The home was built from the ground-up by an unlikely crew of Utah State Prison inmates.
Select groups of the most proven offenders working for Utah Correctional Industries were transported to the Orem work site each day from Gunnison and Draper in order to build the house. The crews consisted of former drug users, thieves and burglars – but all of the men now readily acknowledge their mistakes and tout a desire to start anew.
Inmate Ron Eckhardt has been locked up since 2002. He had no experience in construction when he began working on the Habitat For Humanity home in the second week of January. But Eckhardt was willing to learn, and by the time the home was built, he could roof and side a house.
“These are going to be some good skills that I plan on using when I get out,” said Eckhardt, noting he’s slated for a November parole date and would like to start a home buying and selling business when he gets out. “This whole experience has prepared me for life back in society.”
Eckhardt said he was shocked the first time he was released from the confines of the heavy prison doors, handcuffs and barbed-wire fences for the work program.
“It was weird,” Eckhardt said, adding that it was nice to get away from the everyday grind of prison lifestyle. “But we earn these privileges. We’ve earned our way to that position.”
Inmate Kevin Strong agreed: “It’s pretty cool that they trust me – and that I can be trusted.”
Strong said he has learned several odds and ends on the construction site. He expects to take up plumbing or become an electrician when he is released at the end of November.
“I’m sick of this old life, I want to change and stay straight,” he said referring to his two prison sentences and his probationary terms. “Being motivated and getting a job is the biggest challenge when you get out. But I want to use these trade skills I’ve learned in order to do that.”
Inmate Jason Nyborg said he learned essentially every construction skill there is to know as he built the home. And, he joked, “I forgot I was in [prison] for the day – at least until that sack lunch came.”
The 31-year-old eventually wants to get an apprenticeship and become a master electrician. He said getting out in the community bit-by-bit helped him feel less prone to be anxious and jumpy. The steady work evaluations prepared him for a real-world job, and the meager $1 an hour pay allowed him to save a little cash. He hopes that will allow him to make ends meet until he lands a steady job after he paroles in May.
Like the other offenders on the job, Nyborg praised his UCI supervisors, calling them “mentors.”
“It’s been good working with them,” he said. “I’ve been blessed.”
And UCI REACH boss Kelly Willey returned the praise.
“Most of these guys just made one mistake in life,” Willey said. “And they’re all getting back out at some point.”
In fact, one of the concrete pourers in particular who showed up on the day of the open house to finish the driveway went out of his way to thank the prison crew. That’s because just two years ago, the now stable and productive worker was just making his way in to the construction business as an inmate at UCI, according to site supervisor Wessley Andreason
“He was really working hard and staying clean. He had a sense of accomplishment having come and gone [through the prison system],” said Andreason. “You know, for a lot of these guys, no one has given them the time to teach them how to use tools and give them some responsibility. Sometimes we learn from our mistakes.”
Now, two of the many American families struggling to make ends meet in the midst of the rough recession will call the rambler “home.” Two mothers and two children were suffering health and credit issues and had been stuck in a substandard, unsafe apartment. They kicked in more than 500 hours of their own sweat equity during construction, and Habitat For Humanity funded the home through mortgages on other Habitat homes.
Habitat For Humanity Executive Director Kena Mathews praised the prison workers and everyone involved in building and funding the home. She said she never worries working with inmates, and the public doesn’t tend to mind either. She glowingly recounted a time when she noticed an elderly woman talking and laughing with an inmate worker.
Said Mathews: “This is just an example of good people coming together to provide for these families.”
What are UCI and REACH?
Utah Correctional Industries gives state inmates on-the-job training experience while providing products and services to the public. These jobs provide offenders the experience they need to lead healthy and productive lifestyles when they leave the prison and re-enter society. The jobs also maintain a safer prison environment by reducing idle time and hopelessness among the working inmates. Offenders must be hired by UCI, have a parole date within three years, and be among the most trustworthy inmates in the institution to earn the privilege of leaving the prison to work at off-site projects. UCI is completely self-supported, meaning any income generated by the goods and services goes back toward funding the program itself. UCI provides everything from furniture and clothing to signs and homes. All of the work either matches or exceeds industry standards.
The Rehabilitation through Affordably Constructed Housing (REACH) project builds homes for organizations such as Habitat For Humanity and the Utah Housing Corporation. The group often builds homes on-site at the prison and ships them out. REACH has built three homes for Habitat For Humanity and more than 30 for the Utah Housing Corporation.
