Lisa Fedorak is shaking with excitement, as she accepts the small wooden box. It holds a house key that she and her family have been looking forward to for nearly six years. It holds the promise of a better future, one that includes home ownership. And that's something she and her husband, Frank, never thought would happen.
Flanked by their young daughters, Scarlett, 7, and Greta, 4, Lisa and Frank open the door to their new home and Lisa immediately bursts into tears.
"I can't believe this day has come," says Fedorak. "I couldn't sleep last night and I've had butterflies in my stomach all day."
Thanks to Habitat for Humanity and hundreds of corporate and individual sponsorships and volunteer workers, six families, including 14 children, now have a home they can call their own. This is the last phase of H4H's 27-unit townhome project in Burnaby.
"We couldn't even get her wheelchair or walker through the narrow doorways," she says. "She couldn't even go up and down the stairs."
Their new home is fully wheelchair accessible, with wide doorways and halls, a ramp out front and a wheelchair-accessible bathroom for Scarlett.
And the family can sleep easy now with an interest-free mortgage and payments that will never be more than 30 per cent of their household income.
Their down payment was the 500 hours of sweat equity they put in with Habitat for Humanity. (In order for families to be eligible for a home, they must prove financial hardship.)
"Scarlett spent a year in hospital and I had to quit my job for a few years to be with her," says Lisa. "We were spending beyond our means, but Scarlett's life well she was the most important thing in our lives."
Stephanie Baker is also moved to tears as she watches the families check out their new homes. She and her husband, Mitch Baker, own Karnak Pro Builders.
"Three months ago, Mitch received a phone call from his sister, who happens to be in fund development at Habitat for Humanity, and she told him they needed help with the framing of the 10 homes and to take the project to the end," says Baker. "We sat down together, and honestly, it dawned on us that this was the perfect fit for our company.
Baker has only thanks for the long hours and weekends the staff spent volunteering at the site to ensure the families could move in by late June.
"Our site foreman, Chris Smallridge, did an incredible job the pride we felt was infectious and it was a nice feeling to know we were building homes for wonderful and deserving families."
Also on hand at the dedication ceremony was Jabin Saggu, Vancouver store manager at Home Depot of Canada. Across the country, under its Home Depot Canada Foundation, employees have logged in a whopping 60,000 volunteer hours. Since 1996, the national foundation has contributed more than $4 million in cash and product donations for Habitat for Humanity.
"It's about creating a sustainable future for families across the country," says Saggu.
For longtime volunteer, Allan Dedy, seeing the families receive their keys is his reward.
"In 1995, there was a small newspaper article announcing that H4H was going to locate in the area so I phoned them and, for a few weeks, was the only volunteer on the first sitea four-storey building on Commercial Drive in Vancouver," says Dedy. "I think that foremost among the many satisfactions of volunteering for Habitat is watching the pride of ownership the tenants take in their new premises. To see people busy tidying, painting, beautifying their homes, planting flowers and generally putting down roots is more than adequate reward for what small contribution I may have made."
Canada Mortgage and Housing (CMHC)also contributes to Habitat for Humanity, both at the local and national level. They provide expertise and access to sources of funding in the early stages of project development.
CMHC employees raise funds for Habitat through charitable activities, and a team of 12 CMHC BC Region staff helped get the Government Street Build ready for its grand opening.
"We all pitched in to help landscape, build a children's playground, plus we ensured that the six new townhomes were spic-and-span and move-in ready," says Tom Siems, regional manager, Community Development, Communications and Marketing for the CMHC BC Region.
Another huge supporter of Habitat for Humanity is BC Housing CEO Shayne Ramsay.
BC Housing sold the original Burnaby site to Habitat for Humanity Greater Vancouver in 2000 at less than market value and provided interim mortgage financing.
"The Province also provided a one-time grant of $125,000 for five townhomes on the Burnaby site," he adds.
In addition, this past January, the province provided Habitat for Humanity with a property on Ash Street in Richmond at book value for the next affordable home ownership development.
Nothing is possible without the tremendous support of community partners, donors and volunteers, says Tim Clark, CEO of Habitat for Humanity Greater Vancouver.
"Our families' voices, like the story Lisa shared with us, capture what is possible when we all come together," he says. "It gives us the power to change lives for the better and end the cycle of poverty."
This isn't just talk. A CMHC survey of 326 Habitat for Humanity households found that over two-thirds of the families saw their kids become more confident and do better in school. The families also reported that everyone's health improved once they moved into their new homes.
As Tim Clark says, "Government Street was one of the first builds. Tomorrow we begin the journey to offer 12 more families an affordable home ownership solution in Richmond. We are putting our mission into action each and every day to achieve our vision: a world where everyone has a safe and decent place to live."
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