North Bay couple Shalen Cole, and Stephane Rochefort will never forget getting the phone call that changed their lives, and that of their young son.
That was the day the family learned it had been selected to become the owners of a Habitat for Humanity home in the cities downtown area.
“I did a little dance, and I called her up right away and I heard her, and her sister and her best friend start screaming and celebrating in the car that they were in,” laughed Rochefort.
“It is great for our family. It is a huge leg up that we wouldn’t have gotten any other way.”
Cole couldn’t believe their good fortune.
“I think I was totally in disbelief, shock, and awe really. It didn’t seem possible that we would be the ones. I didn’t think that would happen, something so great,” said Cole.
“It is an upgrade for us. There is definitely a lot more space, it is a lot warmer, safer, and somewhere we can see our son growing up.”
The couple celebrated with an open house to thank the people who generously invested over 33-hundred volunteer hours renovating the home.
Businesses and individuals donated over $11,000 in building products and food donations during the renovation work which began last May and was completed in February.
“We are providing an affordable homeownership opportunity for a family that would otherwise struggle to get onto the property ladder. We provide a chance to do that with more forgiveness than the conventional banking system does,” explained Kimberley Woodcock CEO Habitat for Humanity Ontario Gateway North
“We look for families who have a need for housing, are able to pay an affordable geared- to-income mortgage and are also willing to partner with Habitat in community service as we move forward. We have an open process and we go through a rigorous interview process and scoring. We also have layers of approval that we have to go through, so that takes time as well.”
By assuming ownership, the homeowner agrees to deliver 500 hours of sweat equity.
The local build manager on the project said many volunteers were working five days a week.
“This home was a total gut. It was stripped right back down to the bare studs in most places. It is an old plaster home, so it was a trip to try and coordinate the plaster and the drywall. We kept the old floors, to try to keep some of the history of the building,” explained Tammy Walters Barnes.
“What I am most proud of is seeing the community come together, to show that there truly are great volunteers in our community.”
The Habitat CEO for the region says everyone working together will have a big impact on the affordable housing crisis in the region, making a difference in the lives of others, by building better, healthier lives.
“The entire community needs affordable housing in order to thrive. We have statistics from Habitat Canada that say for every dollar that is invested in a project like this, there is $4.00 of social gain outside the immediate project,” said Woodcock
“I think without affordable housing, the community suffers. If you think about the connections, not just in helping people become tax-paying citizens, we have to think about economic development too. It is very hard to entice people into an area when there isn’t affordable housing to live in.“
Habitat for Humanity is looking at implementing some changes moving forward.
“We’re trialing some new types of builds throughout our region because the market is changing. We have to evolve to go with that. So, we’re trialing a new build methodology, we’re trying some different funding models, and hopefully, we are setting ourselves up to have a larger impact in the future,” said Woodcock.
“We’re very interested in opening a ReStore here. The ReStores are a social enterprise that takes donated goods and materials related to building and home décor and we resell them to the community at affordable prices. The proceeds that are generated from that activity then come back into the community as creating homeownership opportunities.”
Habitat for Humanity would like to see the idea take hold.
“I would like to put it out into the market that we are interested. We’re trying to identify locations and we’re working with landlords to reach an agreement, so we can come in at that level in North Bay. “
In the meantime, fundraising will soon start up again, as Habitat looks for another property, as it continues to open doors to a brighter future.
