Habitat for Humanity Guelph Wellington's plans to break ground this year on its latest build got a boost with an $11,000-donation from the Rotary Club of Fergus-Elora.
The project will bring 32 new units with a mix of affordable and attainable housing to Garafraxa St W, Fergus.
“This donation represents the efforts and commitments of so many Rotary members, past and present,” said Rotary Club of Fergus-Elora President Leanne Iravani in a news release. “At Rotary, we understand and believe in the value of affordable housing for our community – for our neighbours, families and businesses. We’re all stronger when we create opportunities like this for people in our community”.
Habitat for Humanity GW uses a lot of different tools to create security, stability and affordability in housing for its partner families – all of which rely on each other to be successful. Some of these include community level fundraising from groups like Rotary Club of Fergus-Elora, home building, family financing, ReStore operations, and community and corporate partnerships, the release added.
“We build safe and decent housing that local families can afford, but it's more than that," said Director of Community Engagement and Development with Habitat for Humanity Ryan Deska. "In creating an opportunity for families to own their homes, we provide a platform for people to invest in their community, and to contribute in meaningful ways. Home ownership also brings the opportunity for families to build wealth through equity and appreciation, which creates security in housing today, and for future generations as well.”
With over 70 new homes being built over the next three years, Habitat for Humanity GW is looking for community support more than ever.
“It takes a village to raise a child, and it takes a whole community to build a home,” said Deska. “It doesn’t take much if we all work together throughout Guelph and Wellington County. If 100 businesses, clubs, neighbourhood groups, schools, friends and families all bought a Habitat Build Day (at $5,000), we could fully fund the cost of one unit. If we all kept this up, building together year after year, we would reach our fundraising targets and could expand our impact to serve more families in need down the road.”
