Habitat for Humanity South Georgian Bay is inviting the community to a ground-breaking Ceremony on Saturday, March 12.
The site at 219 John St. will provide a new home for a local family in need of affordable housing. The excavation is underway, the foundation will soon be set and now all that’s left to do is finish building a house.
“The family has been selected and will be introduced at the Groundbreaking Ceremony at the site of their future home,” said Joy Fleury, Executive Director for Habitat for Humanity South Georgian Bay. “When the work on the home is done, the family will have put in a minimum of 500 hours of volunteer time, which will be split between the working in the Habitat ReStore and helping build their new home.”
The family qualified through a selection process and will partner with Habitat, complete their volunteer hours and once they move in, they’ll be paying a fixed percentage of their income on an interest-free, no down payment mortgage. Habitat South Georgian Bay’s mission is to provide simple, decent and affordable homes for local low-income families.
“This build has been in the works for some time now between the pandemic restrictions and other delays, so it’s exciting to finally be breaking ground and getting a foundation in,” said Glenn MacAdam, Build Manager for Habitat SGB. “Once the foundation is completed, Royal Homes will deliver and assemble the shell of the home. Then we’ll need volunteers to come help with finishing the home.”
In addition to build volunteers, they’ll also need people to help organize volunteers and arrange for food and refreshments for volunteers on site. “The food and volunteer committees are such an important part of a build,” Fleury explained. “We’re looking for people in the community who are able to help organize volunteers and most importantly, coordinate snacks and lunches for volunteers to keep them nourished so they can keep building. Habitat provides lunches for volunteers on site through donations from the community, local restaurants, church groups, or individuals. Let us know how you can be involved.” Joy continued.
The build project also received support from the Rotary Club of Wasaga Beach late last year and through a generous donation of an assortment of safety boots from Blundstone, volunteers who don’t have their own safety boots have an expanded selection of new steel toed boots to borrow for the day.
The ground-breaking ceremony is at 11 a.m. Saturday. For more information, please reach out to Habitat at info@habitatgeorgianbay.ca or 705-446-9542.
Bryan Davies photo: Habitat for Humanity South Georgian Bay board members Kerry Morrison and Jack Vanderkooy, construction manager Glenn MacAdam, and Joy Fleury, executive director.