THE HABITAT - Habitat for Humanity Canada
THE HABITAT - Habitat for Humanity Canada
THE HABITAT - Habitat for Humanity Canada
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Please help us<br />
trans<strong>for</strong>m the lives<br />
of more families like<br />
the Ryan’s. Please<br />
give to <strong>Habitat</strong> <strong>for</strong><br />
<strong>Humanity</strong> <strong>Canada</strong>.<br />
Trans<strong>for</strong>ming Communities Through<br />
Leadership and Collaboration<br />
Stewart Hardacre, President & CEO, <strong>Habitat</strong> <strong>for</strong> <strong>Humanity</strong> <strong>Canada</strong><br />
There’s No Place<br />
Like Home<br />
The Impact of a Safe, Secure<br />
Place to Live<br />
For a single mother of two working three jobs while putting<br />
herself through school, finding out that the apartment<br />
she rented was being sold was not welcome news. Finding<br />
a place where her daughter, Emily, who suffers from<br />
Down syndrome, could live wasn’t easy.<br />
“There just weren’t a lot of options <strong>for</strong> a single mom with<br />
two kids, one who is in a wheelchair,” says Christina Ryan.<br />
Financially stressed in one of <strong>Canada</strong>’s most unaf<strong>for</strong>dable<br />
housing markets, Christina turned to <strong>Habitat</strong> <strong>for</strong> <strong>Humanity</strong><br />
Calgary. She attended a family in<strong>for</strong>mation session, applying<br />
<strong>for</strong> a home with a zero interest mortgage that would be<br />
geared to her income.<br />
Several months later, Christina received the news that<br />
she’d been hoping <strong>for</strong> — <strong>Habitat</strong> <strong>for</strong> <strong>Humanity</strong> Calgary<br />
had matched her with a home they were planning to build.<br />
“After meeting Christina, we knew that the hand up of<br />
a <strong>Habitat</strong> home would empower her to do many of the<br />
things that she was not previously able, while substantially<br />
improving the standard of living of her and her daughters,”<br />
said John McMahon, <strong>Habitat</strong> <strong>for</strong> <strong>Humanity</strong> Calgary<br />
Faith Coordinator.<br />
In 2008, <strong>Habitat</strong> <strong>for</strong> <strong>Humanity</strong> Calgary had completed<br />
a fully accessible home <strong>for</strong> the Ryan family in the community<br />
of Evanston in Northwest Calgary.<br />
Now, Christina no longer has to carry her daughter<br />
and wheelchair up and down stairs as she had to at their<br />
apartment building, a task she says she wouldn’t be able<br />
to do now that Emily is almost 12 years old. And the<br />
af<strong>for</strong>dable mortgage payments allowed Christina to<br />
purchase a vehicle with a wheelchair lift.<br />
“We can now do more things and go more places as<br />
a family,” she says.<br />
Christina has also found professional success, opening<br />
her own photography business and regularly lends her<br />
skills to her local <strong>Habitat</strong> <strong>for</strong> <strong>Humanity</strong> affiliate that made<br />
it all possible.<br />
PHOTO BY CHRIS BOLIN<br />
2010 was a landmark year <strong>for</strong><br />
<strong>Habitat</strong> <strong>for</strong> <strong>Humanity</strong> <strong>Canada</strong>, it marked<br />
25 years of breaking the cycle of poverty<br />
by offering families in need of af<strong>for</strong>dable<br />
housing a dignified and permanent solution.<br />
By the end of the year, an additional 238<br />
families across the country had recieved the<br />
hand up of homeownership — the greatest<br />
number in our 25-year history.<br />
Sadly however, housing insecurity<br />
remains a persistent issue affecting<br />
1.3 million Canadian families.<br />
According to a recent Wellesley<br />
Institute report, the effect of the lack<br />
of af<strong>for</strong>dable housing on Canadians’<br />
health is reducing our nation’s<br />
productivity, limiting our national<br />
competitiveness, and indirectly driving<br />
up the cost of health care and welfare<br />
(“Precarious Housing in <strong>Canada</strong>,” 2010).<br />
The nationwide af<strong>for</strong>dable housing crisis<br />
is costly to individuals, communities,<br />
the economy, and the government.<br />
Together, we can and must do more.<br />
That’s why <strong>Habitat</strong> <strong>for</strong> <strong>Humanity</strong> <strong>Canada</strong><br />
has created a National Leadership Council,<br />
a group of prominent Canadian leaders<br />
who are passionate about creating<br />
solutions to <strong>Canada</strong>’s housing crisis.<br />
They have pledged to devote their<br />
personal time, expertise and influence<br />
to raise awareness and understanding<br />
of the problem of inadequate housing<br />
and the effectiveness of solutions<br />
centered around homeownership.<br />
We are delighted that Cossette<br />
President and CEO Brett Marchand,<br />
who has led his agency to international<br />
acclaim, has agreed to chair the Council.<br />
To date, invitations to join the Council<br />
have also been accepted by:<br />
<br />
CEO, Delta Hotels and Resorts<br />
<br />
Holcim (<strong>Canada</strong>) Inc.<br />
<br />
Tachane Foundation<br />
We will also be announcing council<br />
members from The Home Depot <strong>Canada</strong>,<br />
MCAP, and RBC shortly.<br />
<strong>Habitat</strong> <strong>for</strong> <strong>Humanity</strong>’s work is well<br />
known, but not always fully understood.<br />
Many people are familiar with our builds,<br />
but are unaware that our model empowers<br />
families to own their own home. Partner<br />
families take out af<strong>for</strong>dable, interest-free<br />
mortgages that are paid into a revolving<br />
fund, which is used to help other families<br />
in housing need by financing future<br />
builds. Many people are also often<br />
unaware of the links between housing<br />
insecurity and the determinants of health,<br />
educational outcomes and employment.<br />
Because many of our National<br />
Leadership Council members have been<br />
involved with our cause <strong>for</strong> a number<br />
of years, witnessing the impact of our<br />
work, they are best-placed to tell our<br />
story and inspire others to get involved<br />
as donors, volunteers and advocates.<br />
They know first-hand that housing is so<br />
much more than four walls and a roof: it<br />
is a point of trans<strong>for</strong>mation that opens<br />
the door to education, health, security<br />
and dignity. They have seen families lifted<br />
up as children’s grades improve and<br />
parents are able to start saving <strong>for</strong> their<br />
futures. They’ve seen families once<br />
dependent on social services become<br />
taxpayers and contributors to the<br />
economic base of the community.<br />
They understand that an investment<br />
in housing isn’t a band-aid solution; it<br />
is a gateway to change, and change<br />
that lasts <strong>for</strong> generations.<br />
The National Leadership Council<br />
will be a powerful voice <strong>for</strong> change.<br />
With respected leaders sharing our<br />
message with communities nationwide,<br />
we will inspire more Canadians than<br />
ever be<strong>for</strong>e to invest in <strong>Habitat</strong> <strong>for</strong><br />
<strong>Humanity</strong>: a permanent and perpetual<br />
investment that pays itself back time<br />
and time and time again. Look <strong>for</strong><br />
more in<strong>for</strong>mation on the Council in<br />
the coming months.<br />
“Since becoming involved with <strong>Habitat</strong> <strong>for</strong> <strong>Humanity</strong> <strong>Canada</strong>, I’ve become more aware of the<br />
struggles that many families face when it comes to housing insecurity. As business leaders,<br />
I believe that we must take a leadership position on the issue and we must do so by investing in<br />
the development of Canadian communities. I am eager to play a meaningful role on <strong>Habitat</strong>’s<br />
National Leadership Council — driving awareness and support to <strong>Habitat</strong>’s work across the country.<br />
I’ve seen the trans<strong>for</strong>mation that results when a family moves into a home that they own and<br />
it is this trans<strong>for</strong>mative impact that gives me hope that our contribution to this issue is truly<br />
making a difference,” Hank Stackhouse, CEO, Delta Hotels and Resorts<br />
8 <strong>THE</strong> <strong>HABITAT</strong> SPIRIT Spring/Summer 2011 To donate, to advocate or participate visit www.habitat.ca 9