Volunteers and applicant families needed for upcoming builds
Selkirk’s Habitat for Humanity chapter is gearing up for an exciting few years as they are planning to build two new homes by 2029.
They have opened their application process with occupancy expected for the selected families by 2027 and 2029.
“The intent is to start the build in 2027, but we have to select a family first. We can’t build until we have a family,” said Ralph Quade, Communication and Community Liaison for Habitat for Humanity’s Selkirk Chapter.
The goal of Habitat for Humanity is to help lower income families build a better life through affordable homeownership. They do this by constructing homes for families and making the mortgage more affordable through reasonable terms. The families do invest in their homes before moving in, however, through a process where they volunteer 500 hours to the build, in addition to other items. As soon as a family starts to pay off their mortgage, Habitat for Humanity uses those dollars to work on helping build the next home for another family.
The process of taking part as an applicant for a Habitat for Humanity home in Selkirk involves a process where you tell Habitat a little about your family.
“The website has more specific guidelines on who is eligible. Generally, the baseline income is $35,000 basically, up to $90,000 for a combined household income. That’s the base cornerstone, and then it’s based on need. So, if there was a family of a husband and wife that wanted to apply and they didn’t have any children, they would be a lower priority than a single mom or single dad,” explained Quade.
Once you’ve contacted Habitat Manitoba to learn more about the application process(https://www.habitat.mb.ca/homeownership-apply/), application submissions will be accepted at the Gaynor Family Regional Library on June 30 between 6 and 8 p.m. Because of the sensitive nature and privacy of the information being submitted, no electronic, online, or early submission is available. You can, however, come to the event with any additional questions you might have about the application, and the Selkirk Habitat volunteers will be happy to help where they can.
Selkirk’s Habitat for Humanity Chapter has been part of our community for many years. It was started by Doreen Oliver, and the first home went up in the community in 1998.
With their last build, they have constructed ten homes in Selkirk that wouldn’t otherwise be there, helping ten families achieve their dreams of homeownership, and they aren’t slowing down anytime soon.
Quade said it’s inspiring to see a plot of land go from nothing to having a home built on it.
“It’s inspiring knowing that there’s that support in your community,” he said.
Part of being able to do this work affordably means that they need volunteers from the community to step forward and help with their builds.
Habitat Selkirk is recruiting volunteers and, in particular, is seeking retired skilled tradespeople looking to share their skill sets for their upcoming builds.
“There’s been a huge increase in retiring skilled tradespeople, and so what we want to do is we want to impose on them as volunteers, to come in and share their talents with the build,” said Quade.
You don’t have to be a tradesperson to volunteer, however, as anyone who can lend a hand is welcome.
Quade explained that because work is done by volunteers, they basically put a call out to people when they need help. They are quite flexible, and volunteers don’t have to make time commitments, but the more people who are able to come and help when they put out the signal, the more work gets done more quickly for these families.
One group that he says might not realize how helpful they can be in volunteering is youth.
“Most schools have a community service portion for graduation, so we like to tap into that aspect as well,” he said.
It’s not very difficult to get into volunteering.
“There’s a couple of videos that you have to watch, they’re safety videos, just so we can have the tick in the box for our insurance purposes, but generally it’s just an email to us, or through the Habitat Manitoba website, saying that they’re interested in volunteering. We have a chapter coordinator that will forward us the emails, and then we just sign them up onto our volunteer sheet. There is no commitment. So, if they want to volunteer, or they can volunteer, we just tell them when we’re going to be on site,” said Quade.
Habitat encourages all interested families to visit www.habitat.mb.ca/homeownership-apply and www.habitat.mb.ca/homeownership to learn more. Should you have any questions, email them at selkirkh4h@outlook.com.
Should anyone be interested in supporting, volunteering, or making donations to these new builds, please contact Habitat by emailing selkirkh4h@outlook.com.
To keep up with the Selkirk Chapter online, you can visit their website at www.habitat.mb.ca/chapters/selkirk, on Facebook at www.facebook.com, and on Instagram at @habitatforhumanity_selkirk.
