Habitat keeps plugging away on affordable homes
COVID-19 has left the largest project in province's history behind schedule
Despite construction delays caused by COVID-19, the Regina branch of Habitat for Humanity is continuing its mission to build a better future for low-income families.
The local charity is working on the largest Habitat housing project in Saskatchewan history — a collection of 62 townhouse units in Regina's Eastview neighbourhood.
The $12-million development, named Haultain Crossing, broke ground in 2015 and is now close to 75-per-cent complete, with 45 units. Construction on 10 more units was scheduled to finish this year, but the deadline has been pushed back due to a lengthy COVID-19 shutdown in the spring.
“The families that have been working hard to earn their homes are now looking at a delay in possession,” said Misty Selinger, the major gifts manager at Habitat Regina.
“We've been working really hard to try and find a way to make up for that lost time and get us back on schedule with our build. But it looks like in 2021 we'll be completing (the final) 17 affordable homes.”
The extended timeline is among multiple sacrifices that were required to navigate the pandemic.
It began this spring when the decision was made to temporarily close Habitat Regina's Restore, which accepts various donations, including furniture, to generate revenue for the non-profit organization. It remained closed for about three months, although some business was conducted online.
“There were a lot of unknowns,” Selinger said. “When the pandemic first struck, of course our first thought was the health and safety of our staff, our volunteers and the families that we work with.
“We paused construction and we immediately reached out to all of our families and offered them mortgage relief.”
Habitat for Humanity essentially acts as its own bank, holding interest-free mortgages — with no down payment — for families that commit 25 per cent of their gross annual income.
The organization has forged ahead with its affordable-housing initiatives during the pandemic while making changes in the interest of health and safety. Those include wearing masks and reducing the number of volunteers who can participate on build sites. The other big issue is fundraising. “We normally receive a lot of support from the corporate world, ( but) there was a lot of hesitation at first,” Selinger said.
“They were laying off staff so we knew we couldn't really rely on the corporate community to help support us (to the same level as usual), in terms of funding. So we re-evaluated that and started working more on reaching out for grants and reaching out to different foundations and kind of changed the way we fundraise.”
Some of the groundwork had already been laid because of previous efforts to diversify the organization's fundraising program.
As a result, it didn't have to lean on one particular area, such as public events that had to be cancelled during the pandemic.
“We've been overwhelmed with support from the community, especially individuals that are sitting at home and feeling helpless to this whole pandemic and watching it all unfold,” Selinger noted.
“The only thing they can really do from the safety of their homes is to make donations to organizations that are out there on the front lines helping the vulnerable in our communities. We were lucky in that our supporters did step up in a big way in helping us make it through this challenging time.”
Habitat Regina is hoping that trend continues over the holiday season.
Since people are travelling less and can no longer hold large gatherings, some might have more disposable income.
“Maybe people want to consider putting that money toward charities in our community that really appreciate their support,” continued Selinger, who believes the need for affordable housing is greater than ever in these COVID-19 times.
“Unfortunately for a lot of families, home isn't the safest place. They're living in rentals that have not been kept up and they have mould that's exasperating children's asthma. They're overcrowded. It really highlighted for us how important it is to get these units finished and get these families into safe homes.
“We're happy that so far — knock on wood — we've made it through this pandemic and we'll continue to be there for families.”