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If you build it, they will benefit (6 photos)

Habitat for Humanity is at it again with another community build in Barrie

With all the maintenance construction being done in the Anne and Innisfil Streets area, one might miss the great work being done on a small side-street to assist the affordable housing crisis in the city.

Habitat for Humanity (HFH) is at it again with another community build in Barrie. The newest project began with the purchase of the land back in April of 2016 and since the permits were received in September of this year, the building hasn’t stopped. The HFH Director of Construction Robert Cikoja is happy about the build that is happening on quiet Centre Street and was even more excited to see a busy and productive worksite last Friday.

“We’re trying to become the leaders of affordable home ownership,” said Cikoja. “The government is mandating a certain number of homes that have to fall within affordable home ownership and Barrie has, I believe, scheduled 600 homes. We have the capability of bringing families forward and bringing the infrastructure with us, we want to make sure the city of Barrie and the county of Simcoe knows that we’re there to lend that support towards that building.”

Cikoja says that HFH has been building single and single detached homes but with the price of land, they are aiming now towards semi-detached, (the Centre Street build) and even three unit townhouses. Cikoja says that with those projects being tackled, HFH can help the all those concerned with the lack of housing.

“These projects are not just to help the higher levels of government meet their needs for communities, but also and particularly for our municipal government who is trying hard to help the growing homelessness problem here in the area,” said Cikoja.

The worksite was alive with many people last Friday as it was one of the Adopt-A-Days that HFH has in conjunction with their sponsors. Nov. 17 was Bayfield Ford Lincoln’s turn to get their hands dirty as the long-time local business not only sponsored the build with $50,000 but also contributes with helping build the home. Greg Warkentin is the general manager of Bayfield Ford and says that it wasn’t so much about volunteering as it was about responsibility.

“Right now, we have about nine people here from our sales and parts departments getting in there and helping with today’s build,” said Warkentin. “The company has been in Barrie for about 40 years and we know that being that long in a city its important to be involved as best you can. Recently we partnered with the Humberview Group and one of their mandates was to give back to the community, so we signed a five-year agreement with Habitat with the idea for the team to get involved while giving back.”

Some of the work required to be done on the day was putting down floors, carrying lumber, using the nail gun and putting up walls. Warkentin knows that while the whole idea of building a home in the cold weather isn’t ideal, it didn’t take long for the Bayfield Ford team to get on board.

“We started getting the word out to staff back in May that we were doing this, and everyone was ready to go,” said Warkentin. “We’ve done many things as a company for team building and raising money and we’re happy our crew is very dedicated to helping out. We got here at 9 a.m. today and while its been a lot of hard work, everyone is having a good time and spirits have been high the whole time.”

Working side by side with the families who will be living in the homes helps with morale too and reminds one of why these builds are so important. Part of the HFH builds require the future homeowners to put in 500 hours of work either towards speaking about what HFH does, helping in the ReStore or towards the actual build of their home which not only cuts down on labour costs but gives them a sense of pride that they had a part in their home. Farrah Favelle and her husband Jon were working that day on projects that the wife and mother of a three-year-old son says she had not done before, but was happy to learn.

“I’ve been doing some cutting, hammering and carrying some of the lumber, its been a lot of work but so fun to learn about what goes into a home,” said Favelle. “My husband and I have no experience at all in this but everyone here who does know what they’re doing is so friendly and helpful. This whole experience makes you feel good about the community with people helping to build a place that me and my family are going to call home; Habitat really is doing great things here and we’re lucky to be a part of it.”

While two families will begin living in the semi-detached home by April 2018, there are many more in need of what HFH can provide to the community. Jennifer Berry is HFH’s manager of family and resource development and oversees the application process for those in need. Berry also makes sure the 500 hours are met as well as stays in touch for the first year the families are in their homes. While she says its great to see the smiles on the faces of the families here today, Berry knows there is much more to be done for those in need.

“For this build for example, we had 50 people apply and by the time we go through the criteria and whole process it gets dwindled down from that,” said Berry. “We currently have three families waiting for a Barrie home and three on the list who looking more for the New Tecumseth area. Despite the fact that some don’t meet the criteria for a HFH home, what it does say is if 50 people are looking then there is a great need for places to live.”

With programs like Adopt-A-Days and the mind-set of lowering costs on builds by partnering with local companies looking to help, there is only search for land that usually hinders a build.

“Our biggest thing is we’re trying to find land,” said Berry. “We need affordable land that we can get, and we will put in a good offer on it, and because we aim for semis and townhomes we are able to accommodate more than one family. We even look for gently loved homes that we can do a renewal build which is taking a home that is already built, gutting it and fixing it up to get a family in there. Finding land and corporate sponsors to get the land when we find it are two obstacles we face but we know that the more people in the community hear about what we do, the better the chances on success.”