Home is Key - COVID 19 Update

Dear Friends:
By the time this reaches you, the world may have tilted again and we may be in yet another version of daily adjustments as a result of the COVID-19 global health pandemic.

No individual, family or organization has been untouched by the impacts of COVID-19.   As a valued supporter, we are thinking about you and your friends, family and organization and hoping you are safe, healthy and successfully navigating all the challenges of this unprecedented situation.

COVID- 19 IMPACT

To protect our staff, volunteers and the public, we have made the difficult decision to temporarily close our ReStores, office and build sites to volunteers and the public. With ReStore revenue covering the organizational operating expenses and volunteer build days helping to pay for the building of homes, our revenue streams have been massively impacted.

While we have regrettably had to temporarily lay off many of our staff, we have a core group of staff still working behind the scenes to ensure that our stores are fully stocked and trades are lined up for our build sites so that when the time is right, Habitat Greater Vancouver will stand ready to once again accelerate our efforts with renewed energy and commitment. For shoppers, our EStore  features fabulous items across all departments that are available for purchase and curb side pickup!

WE NEED YOU NOW

Your support and help raising the funds needed to give families a chance has never mattered more than it does now.

We are all reflecting no doubt these days on the discomfort and anxiety that we feel being pent up in our homes, possibly laid-off work, and with no control over when this will end.

Maybe you are trying to balance family, work and in some cases, child-care and child education, or caring for loved ones from afar.  We find ourselves uncomfortable and maybe agitated by the significant disruption to even the simplest of daily activities and the complications of just shopping for food.  We understand!

We hope that  you have room to roam in your home or separate from others if only for a brief respite; that it is healthy and safe and that  you can go out for a walk or into your own yard for fresh air and let your kids play; and that you have friends with whom you can connect virtually to keep your world a little more interactive. 

The uncertainty so many of us feel today, far too many families have felt for a lifetime, if not generations. 

Imagine that you are in an unhealthy and overcrowded home and this has no end. Your kids cannot go outside as it is unsafe and no one ever gets a break. Your rent cannot be deferred or waived due to a crisis, you are working non-stop to pay it and buy food and have no extra to take the family out of your never-ending economic quarantine. 

Many of us are lucky as this will eventually end and we will have a new appreciation for many things.

The families we seek to help, many of whom are on the front lines now and every day, will not be as lucky.  For them, there is no brighter day without a hand up. As many of us shelter in our homes during this pandemic, our hearts are with those who don't have a decent or safe place to live. HOME IS KEY

We cannot build without your help!  Please JOIN US make a home a reality for hundreds of families in Greater Vancouver and DONATE today. 

What you give helps us build Habitat homes!
$25 helps buy a can of paint
$50 helps buy a box of nails
$250 helps buy a bathtub
$500 helps buy lighting supplies
$1000 helps buy energy efficient windows
$5000 helps buy a roof

While COVID-19 has changed our lives right now, what hasn’t changed is the reality lived by thousands of families who struggle to have a safe, decent place to live every day.   This was true before COVID-19 and it will be even more true after we get through this immediate crisis.

Thank You for your caring and generosity! Wishing you all safe and healthy days ahead. We look forward to welcoming you back to our Build Sites and ReStores as soon as we are able!

Joe Norman