Four Calgary families started moving into their new homes in Radisson Heights on Monday and will have a place to gather for the holidays this year thanks to the folks at Habitat for Humanity.
The agency broke ground on the project in November 2014 and over 500 volunteers have contributed 10,000 hours to the initiative.
“For so many in the world, security, hope, those are hard things to come by so in our case knowing that we have four families who are going into the holidays this year for the first time in a home of their own fills us with great pride,” said Gerrad Oishi, President and CEO for Habitat for Humanity Southern Alberta.
The families have been investing in their own futures by working on the homes and those of others and their mortgage payments will be reinvested into Habitat’s homeownership program.
“These are working families and basically we pick them based on need so often they’re struggling in terms of rent. They may be living under conditions that aren’t best for their family and so when they come and partnership with us, they’ll invest 500 hours of their time helping us build the home and we actually mobilize an enormous part of our community to help us build these homes as well,” said Oishi.
Debbie is a single mother of two young boys and says moving into her own home will make a big difference for her family.
“I still feel like it’s someone else house. But to be able to take care of my own property and to know that I’m going to have a home to go to, it’s just a life changer,” she said. “We spent a winter in minus twenty with no furnace for three days so I don’t want to do that again.”
Habitat for Humanity just broke ground on a 24-home project in Pineridge and also in a community in Airdrie.
For more information on Habitat for Humanity and how you can help, click HERE.
