11 Habitat Partner Families Welcomed Home
WELCOME HOME
There are very few things more exciting than moving into a new home, especially when you haven’t had a safe or healthy place to call home in a long time.
June started out with our super bowl event for everyone at Habitat for Humanity Greater Vancouver, as we presented 11 partner families with the keys to their new safe and stable havens.
Against a backdrop of anticipation, sunny skies, and a whole lot of smiles, we welcomed four families into their homes in Richmond and seven into their homes in Mission. This is the pinnacle of our work and why we do what we do.
Sadly due to pandemic protocols, our Key Dedication ceremonies looked vastly different in 2021 than in the past. The nature of a live, yet virtual broadcast had it’s challenges as staff were secretly praying that internet connections wouldn’t be interrupted, and batteries would remain charged. Green x’s marked the spot our families could stand on and be safely socially distanced in their family bubble. Masks only partially hid the joy and excitement, for it could be seen in everyone’s eyes, and in the children’s dancing antics, especially in Richmond, where several children were under the age of five.
Richmond
After five years, our 12-home project in Richmond is now complete and houses families in their own little community. These two-unit homes back against one another with a play area and community garden in between. This will be the start of something special for all as they meet their neighbours, and the children connect with others their own age in a safe and caring environment.
After our CEO, Dennis Coutts presented the families with their keys and the ribbon was cut, each family waited anxiously outside their door while messages from donors, government officials, volunteers and staff played to our online audience. Photos were snapped and video was shot, ensuring the moment was captured for the families to relive together later.
Reactions upon opening the doors were varied – there were squeals of delight, there were tears, and for some, there was silence. Awe…relief…and an overwhelming sense that their lives had changed in that very instant. Many just described it as a dream.
MLA Henry Yao, Richmond South Centre is pleased to see this project completed with provincial support. He firmly believes every British Columbian deserves a safe and affordable home. “The reality we are facing here is housing affordability has become so challenging that even the median income families are struggling with this.”
Citing the richness of its cultural diversity, MLA Yao said in a recent interview, “Richmond is a lovely place to call home, but its housing affordability has become difficult for many families. We want to welcome all the families coming in and making their home in Richmond.”
Tedros and his family are so grateful for the hand up that Habitat for Humanity provides and are relieved to finally be building some equity that will be able to one day help fund a larger home in the open market. Noorullah and Maryam are excited to plant a garden and lay down some roots.
While they come from different backgrounds and experiences, all our families agreed this is an opportunity to build a community, to start a new chapter, and a chance to build a better foundation for themselves and their children.
Mission
As our families began arriving onsite in Mission to prepare for the day, you could hear the hum of exuberant chatter as neighbours began getting to know one another. The tweens and teens quickly figured out who they would be attending school with in the Fall, hopefully secure in the knowledge they wouldn’t be the only “new kids”. While the cameras rolled, keys were handed out, the ribbon was cut, and all the families huddled outside their doors, anxious to take the first peek.
We broke ground on the first of eight three-bedroom townhomes in Mission in February 2020. Despite the pandemic and a seven-week shut down of our build site, our Site Supervisor Jason de Vries, kept us on track, enabling these families to move in to enjoy the summer of 2021.
Once selected for a Habitat home, our families become partners. As part of their partnership, they are required to do 500 hours of sweat equity. These hours can be earned on the build site, in our ReStores, or helping with special events (when we are able again). Five hundred hours may seem like a lot, but it can add up quickly. Family Partners can have their extended family and friends earn volunteer hours on their behalf. While parents are volunteering, whoever is child-minding is also earning hours to reach the total. We have even had other volunteers come onsite and donate their hours to a partner family.
On average, families earn their sweat equity hours in 12 months.
While some families in Mission have long completed their 500 hours (and continue to volunteer!), others will have the opportunity to literally roll out their door and onto the site to fulfill their hours, as Jason and his trades and army of volunteers will be working on the next 11 homes.
Paying it forward is a big part of the Habitat model, and Naomi, one of our partner families, is right on track. “I am so happy to be a part of Habitat and look forward to helping more families like mine in the future,” she said after spending a day working on the build site.
Naomi and her daughter were thrilled to finally be receiving the keys to their home. But the emotion of the day can be really overwhelming. Her young son loves going to school and chose school over the ceremony. We get it. Life has not been easy for these families, but a Habitat home represents freedom and security of living without crushing housing costs or the unthinkable choices of putting food on the table versus a roof over their heads. It represents hope and provides the ability to dare to chase their dreams.
Moving from Surrey, Tabatha has already secured a job in her new community, and her three daughters were overjoyed as they checked out their new home for the first time. Tabatha originally thought she would let two of her daughters share the master bedroom. But when she walked into it for the first time and saw the walk-in closet, everything changed. “It’s mine now,” she said with a laugh. As long as the girls get to use the closet for hide-and-seek, they say they are good with that plan.
Roman who is nearly 3, hid in the security of his father’s arms for most of the ceremony. But once he was let loose, it was a whole different Roman who spun in circles over and over in his new room. “It’s what he does when he is excited,” explained his father, Samuel.
Imagine what he will do when the playground gets installed on the property! The families didn’t realize it was in the plans. Even Rachel with her teenage children was excited, noting that she loves the sound of kids on a playground. Similar to Richmond, there will also be a community vegetable garden and benches. Michael, Yergalem, and their four children are optimistic about their future in Mission.
A community in the making, a support system of neighbours, and a safe and healthy place to call home. It’s what they have been waiting for since being told in March they had been selected by our hard-working Family Services Committee.
Fighting back tears, Nicole acknowledged the countless groups and people involved in making her dream a reality. While the families explored their homes, the warm welcome messages played online, waiting to be heard and appreciated by the families in a future private moment. We could have provided a full day of footage. Meaningful and heartfelt, these messages will become a treasured part of our families’ journey. Everyone plays a role in bringing us to this point, and it is a collective win to bring these families home.
Moving day brings so many emotions, and any uncertainty will quickly be transformed into optimism, hope, and a swelling confidence that much can be achieved and their family will flourish.
WELCOME HOME FAMILIES!!
To watch the key dedication ceremonies, go to:
Richmond, June 8th, Key Dedication Ceremony
Mission, June 11th, Key Dedication Ceremony