A significant milestone was reached in Weyburn on Friday, as invited dignitaries and officials gathered and the keys for this city’s first-ever Habitat For Humanity home were turned over to the new owner, Angela Dunn and her two children.
Not only was this home done in roughly half the time as a Habitat home in Regina would be, but the local organizers and volunteers and donors helped fulfill a pledge made by chairman Winston Bailey to the family, namely that the family would be moved in and settled so they could celebrate their first Christmas in their new home.
A better ending for this story couldn’t be written as the Dunns get to settle in to their place, their home, just in time for the Christmas holidays.
Bailey and his committee of volunteers deserve much of the credit for making this happen, taking the project on as a way to help meet a real need in Weyburn, not to mention the volunteers who came out to help with the construction chores, whatever they might be on a given day, and the volunteers who provided coffee and snacks for the volunteer workers.
This shows that the confidence Bailey had in the residents and businesses of Weyburn was not misplaced; he felt they would come through with donations and with volunteer labour on the house, and they did, getting it done so the turn-over ceremony was able to held in mid-November.
The ability of the committee to get this first home built shows that subsequent homes will be possible, to help yet more families be able to get established with their own home, which otherwise they would never have been able to do.
An important factor to remember is that the family, while getting a home built for their needs and purposes, is not getting a “freebie”; they are a part of the whole process, as the primary wage-earner has to be able to make mortgage payments on the home, and they also had to provide “sweat equity” in the form of volunteer hours on their home, or equivalent hours in the community, with family and friends able to help them with this requirement.
Part of the result of the success with the first home is that as the funds are paid on the mortgage, they can be rolled back into the project and a second home can then be on its way, and so on, one rolling into the other and lending a helping hand to families who need it in the community.
