Into the home stretch
Habitat build expected to be completed in six to eight months, volunteers needed
Progress is ongoing on a home on Breton Street being built by Habitat For Humanity Nova Scotia but more volunteers could help the project move more quickly.
That’s the word from Habitat spokesperson Emily MacNeil who says it will probably take another six to eight months to complete the 39 Breton St. home being built for Jason and Ann McLean and their four children. The build began in July 2016, but MacNeil says it not uncommon for Habitat projects in smaller communities outside of Halifax to take more time to be completed.
“They tend to take a bit longer outside Halifax because they don’t have as many bodies as we do in Halifax — we don’t have as many corporate teams which accelerates our time when we bring in the corporate teams so these ones tend to take a bit longer to finish,” said MacNeil. “There’s no set deadline — it will be ongoing for the next six to eight months I’d say. This one I think is somewhat standard for the outside of Halifax area.”
There are plans to start a new build in Halifax in the summer and that one is expected to be completed by December, thanks to the use of those corporate teams, an idea which could also be used in the Whitney Pier build, if local businesses are interested.
“That’s definitely an option in the Whitney Pier build that we could have corporate build days, called Habitat build days, where corporations can send out a group of 12 employees as a team building event,” said MacNeil, adding that this is a popular way of volunteering in the Halifax area.
“They come out, they build for a day and they make a donation through their organization of $2,500 and we provide them lunch, coffee and snacks — it’s a team building, volunteer activity for them. And that’s always an option for the Whitney Pier build as well.”
For now, a few more volunteers would be ideal, says MacNeil, adding that while qualified trades people are always welcomed, so are people with no experience.
“We have people onsite who are trained and we have safety gear provided so we’re doing a reach out to the community across the province for volunteers who want to sign up or who are looking for more information about volunteering — the signup is easy — you can go online at http://habitatns.ca and sign up under the volunteer tab or call or contact us directly to sign up,” said MacNeil.
“Most people just generally volunteer with little to no experience and that’s totally fine. We have someone onsite who is trained in building and they instruct them, direct them and oversee the build.” If you are qualified and have previous experience in home building, you can contact Adrian.wilson@nscc.ca or at 902565-4221.
“Most people just generally volunteer with little to no experience and that’s totally fine. We have someone onsite who is trained in building and they instruct them, direct them and oversee the build.”
Emily MacNeil