We are rapidly approaching the start of the Centre Wellington Build but Habitat for Humanity and the Centre Wellington Build Committee are not standing around waiting for this to start. Things are BUSY...
On Friday, March 30th the committee is hosting, 'Sheltered from the Storm'. This event will feature delicious food and pleasing music as The Food School & Fancy That Cake will provide the goodies for the evening and Centre Wellington's own Cam Otto will supply great live music.
The special attraction of the evening will be Angry Planet's Storm Chaser, George Kourounis. George was recently on The Grand radio station to promote the event and he's certainly looking forward to supporting Habitat for Humanity.
Moving on to April 14th, we will be breaking ground on Forfar Street to officially kick off the project. The Groundbreaking ceremony is welcomed to the public as we appreciate the support of our communities when we start these projects that will provide sustainable affordable housing to families in the community.
Finally, Elora's own Ian Evans will be embarking on a journey of a lifetime. He will be riding his bicycle "Down Under", 5,000 KM from Perth to Sydney. He will be fundraising money for this community-lifting project. You can sponsor Ian and follow along on his journey through his trip journal.
Fergus get ready, Habitat for Humanity is returning and we need your support!
OTTAWA — The federal emphasis on integrating immigrants
through language training and recognition of foreign credentials is far too
narrow, says a new paper.
The Federation of Canadian Municipalities is proposing a new strategy for
integration that would broaden the focus to include affordable housing and
public transit.
"Federal and provincial settlement programs have not caught up with changing
immigrant settlement patterns, including a growing shift to suburban
communities," the report says.
Immigration Minister Jason Kenney is in the midst of public consultations on
how to best reshape the intake of immigrants, so that the country attracts the
kind of people it needs to sustain its workforce. more...
_____________________________________________________________ Recently, we paired with Immigrant Services - Guelph Wellington (IS-GW) to provide information on our affordable home building program to new Canadians and clients of IS-GW. We participated in two IS-GW workshops (Homeownership & Coffee Talk - Immigrant Women's Group) to help disseminate information about our programs. This initiative is funded by a grant received by Habitat Canada as part of the Habitat for Humanity 360 Built Smart Partnership. With this grant, we will look to expand our family outreach to be more accessible to those new to Canada.
The 360 Built Smart Partnership is focused on developing initiatives that eliminates the housing crisis in Canada. This funding will help increase applications from new Canadian families as well as have documents translated by the Translation and Interpretation Program Services (TIPS) into Chinese, Hindi, Vietnamese, Punjabi, and Spanish, the five most common immigrant languages in Guelph and Wellington County. Finally, other funding will be allocated to hiring interpreters to help support new Canadian applicant families. I caught up to Diane (our Executive Director) to get her thoughts on these workshops
“Affordable housing and language barriers are first concerns for many of these families that immigrate to Canada. To make information available to these families on the housing programs in their native language is the optimal way of opening the door to affordable home ownership”.
*Here are some facts:
According to the Canadian Council on Social Development in 1995, on average 30% of immigrant populations living in cities lived below the poverty line. ISGW has been providing assistance programs since 1978 to “serve new Canadians and build community by providing responsive and diverse settlement services and programs.” Hosting an information workshop on affordable housing is important because those spending more than 30% of their income on housing are considered "at risk". These workshops will help to reduce the challenges newcomers to Canada face as they seek to attain and retain decent affordable housing. Ultimately, the social impact will have these families transition from merely surviving to that of thriving; they will reduce their reliance on social services and healthcare.
Habitat for Humanity Wellington County encourages all of those interested in gaining insight and knowledge into our Habitat for Humanity home building program to pick up information located at our office at 104 Dawson Rd. (Corner of Speedvale & Dawson) or at Immigrant Services (926 Paisley Rd. Unit 4 & 5).
We'd like to thank the Title Sponsors of the Habitat for Humanity Canada 360 Built Smart Partnership for their continued support.
Here is a great letter I'd love to share. It's from one of our committee members of the Centre Wellington Build that will start in May. The Build is located in Fergus at 124 Forfar St. A Dedication event that will include handing over the keys to the deserving families. Enjoy!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
March 12, 2012
As I sit here typing this letter, my heart overflows at the
generosity of the people ofCentre
Wellington.
On Saturday, March 10th Bethel Baptist Church and
Grand River Community Church hosted a screening of the movie Courageous.The setting was the lovely venue of the
Fergus Grand Theatre; a venue that is warm and inviting.The event was held at no charge but donations
to Habitat for Humanity’s build on Forfar Street were encouraged.
On behalf of the Centre Wellington Build Committee, we are
ENCOURAGED.Your generosity has taken
Habitat another step forward in providing a “hand up” not a “hand out” for two
partner families in our Community.
Thank you, for your generosity.This is a big project.Your generosity has brought us courage and
increased enthusiasm as we get closer to the Ground Breaking Ceremony on April
14th.
Sincerely,
Colleen Roberts
Habitat For Humanity Centre Wellington Build Committee
I challenge you to join the Ranks of those people who live what they teach, who walk their talk ~ Tony Robbins
The above quote was the mission I shared with ten of my colleagues from Habitat for Humanity Wellington County and the Habitat Guelph ReStore on Tuesday, March 6th. All Habitat and ReStore staff came to the conclusion that it's good and all to ask people to donate their time and money to help build more homes for deserving families in our communities, it's another thing to do the job yourself.
For one day, we stepped away from fundraising and volunteer programs, stepped away from advocacy and social media initiatives, stepped away from policies and stepped away from accounting and administration to focus on, "walking our talk" at the My Neighbour's House project.
It was a GREAT day! There are many enjoyable experiences about being on a home-building construction site. You can meet new people with similar interests or reconnect with colleagues. You will learn new trades skills and gain self-confidence that may have been buried below. However, nothing is more enjoyable than knowing your work will equate to a family breaking a from a vicious poverty cycle, potentially moving away from unsafe and dangerous living conditions to go move into a sustainable housing solution, a Habitat for Humanity Home.
It's truly uplifting to think that the doors you are installing in a room could be the very same door that represents a child's first bedroom door. It is satisfying to think that a child's health and grades can improve because of that door you installed.
Selfishly, there were extra incentives to my building experiences. I'm currently renovating my basement and opted to take the project on myself and my Father to finish. Conveniently, as we are at the stage of door installations in the basement project, what do you think I got to learn on the build site at My Neighbour's House? You guessed it.... I learned to install doors! The timing literally couldn't have been better. Now I'll be able to stray from the norm of my Father teaching me everything about renovations and teach him how to propertly install doors; all in thanks to our wonderful Site Supervisor, John. Thanks John!
Another great element of the day was the ability to work alongside staff and the ReStore. I don't cross paths all the time with some staff of the ReStore and it was a pleasure to work alongside them for an entire day. I think I learned a lot about them as they did about me.
Finally, I'd be remisced if I didn't get a chance to detail our lunch! Those of you familiar with The Works Gourmet Burger Bistro might know that last Tuesday, for lunch and dinner periods, offered free meals to partrons in lieu of a donation to HFHWC. Obviously, we weren't going to miss out on this! Collectively, we piled a bunch of money together as our donation and put in a giant order of delicious and juicy gourmet burgers. I 100% recommend the San Francisco Treat that features cheddar and Kraft Dinner. Yes, THE KRAFT DINNER!
The One and Only San Francisco Treat Burger!
It ended up being a memorable day for all of staff and something we'll plan more frequently. If you want in on this experience, please register to volunteer or contact Annie.
*Guest Author: Habitat for Humanity Wellington County Volunteer, Rebecca Smith:
I’m a Do-It-Yourself junkie, I’ll fully
admit it, and I’ve been coming to the Habitat for Humanity Wellington
County’s ReStore for a long time, so when a friend suggested I sign up on
their Volunteer
Hub and volunteer at the ReStore I thought why not? I have now been
volunteering at Habitat for Humanity Wellington County for the past five months
and it has been a very rewarding experience, one I would highly recommend to
anyone looking to make a difference or just have fun!
My first volunteer experience with Habitat
for Humanity Wellington County was in the ReStore, where I got
to help unload trucks, organize inventory, set up a new Christmas display and
help a shopper find exactly what she was
looking for (gorgeous oversized tiles that were being used to restore a
bathroom). The best part about the
morning was the great new people I got to meet. Everyone was so friendly and
willing to include me in their tasks, it was fun start to finish! And I didn’t
leave empty handed I purchased a side table, which I have since painted and
made into a fantastic nightstand.
After my time in the ReStore I started
volunteering in the front office where I have not only got to accomplish a lot,
but I have learned so much. I have helped out with writing blogs, researching
social media stats, following facebook and twitter accounts (@HFHWC), and so much more. The great thing about volunteering in the front
office is the wealth of knowledge I have gained. Luke, the Fundraising and
Communications Coordinator has taught me so much about social media, which I
can now take and apply to my career. It’s
interesting how I started volunteering with Habitat for Humanity Wellington County
to help others and yet I’m personally gaining a lot from my experiences.
Last Tuesday a friend and I went to help
build at 28 Huron Street as part of their reading week blitz. I got the chance
to put my painting stills to use and helped paint one side of the house.
Volunteering at this build was a lot of fun, I met some great new friends and
we had a blast rockin’ out to some old school Will Smith while we cut in,
rolled and generally had a great time!
My experience volunteering at Habitat for
Humanity Wellington County has been amazingly positive from day one. If you’re
looking to volunteer I strongly recommend coming to Habitat for Humanity
Wellington County, it’s really easy to sign-up on their Volunteer
Hub, you get to pick the types of volunteering you want to do (ReStore,
front office or build site), there’s pancake breakfasts, and you meet so many other helpful and
friendly people. Whether it’s at the Restore, in the office or out at the build
site, I plan on continuing to volunteer and hopefully I’ll see you there!
Happy International Woman's Day to
all the wonderful, strong and brave Women Builders of HFHWC. Today is a perfect
day to let everyone know more about the Women Build 2012 project.
Gain self-confidence in the Women Build Program
To all our current Women Builders. Your commitment, support and fortitude is incomparable and extraordinary. From HFHWC Staff, Board of Directors and even Maddie (who could forget Maddie?), the 2011 Women Build project was simply spectacular because of you. Moving those two girls into their beautiful new rooms is a memory that will last a lifetime. GREAT WORK!
2012 will
mark the third annual Women Build here in Guelph, and we want you to be part of
it! Women Build is not about excluding men, but including women, in an environment
that is comfortable and instructive. No experience is necessary! It’s about
spirit, empowerment, solidarity, fun, learning and pride in working with a
family to build a place they can call home.
The
empowering initiative of Habitat for Humanity Wellington County, Women Build is
an experience no woman should miss out on. It works to build the skills and
confidence of women on the build site and has them leaving with a sense of
accomplishment.
HOW YOU CAN HELP
We are
seeking strong dynamic women to assist in the planning committees:
Volunteer
Engagement
Sponsorship
Special
Events
Construction
Public
Relations
If
you are interested in joining one of the committees contact Elizabeth
for more information. We are also seeking individuals who are looking to
volunteer on site and just want to build! Start an experience to a lifetime of friendship and helping those in need right now!
Empower Yourself to Learn and Help
To find out
more information on how you can help, and to also read up on the committee
descriptions, visit the Women Buildwebpage.
Help
fight the issue of affordable housing Guelph, Wellington County in a womanly way!
On Tuesday, March 6th, HFHWC will be teaming up with The Works Gourmet Burger Bistro to put the power of affordable housing in your hands. How so? All you need to do is order one of The Works SEVENTY selections of succulent burgers and non-upgradeable side. You'll receive that burger and side for free and instead you'll be asked to make a donation to HFHWC. Here is more info... Straight from the horses mouth
The WORKS Gourmet Burger Bistro- the award-winning gourmet burger bistro, originating in Ottawa in 2001 – is celebrating its 10 year anniversary on March 6th by offering free gourmet burgers to guests of all locations, between 11am-2pm for lunch or 5pm-8pm for dinner. In true WORKS fashion, each neighborhood bistro has selected a local charity in their community and will be collecting monetary donations while serving up complimentary gourmet burgers. Every restaurant will offer a full menu selection, allowing guests to indulge in one of its 70 renowned gourmet burger options. Customers may visit any one of the 10 WORKS locations on March 6th (March 20th for the London location) to indulge in a complimentary gourmet burger while supporting the local community. The popular gourmet burger bistro currently has new locations under construction in Toronto, Waterloo and Peterborough with an additional eight planned for 2012 and recently announced plans to open 50 new stores across Canada.
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