Two Melfort Families Achieve Homeownership

Released on February 24, 2017

Two Habitat for Humanity (Habitat) partner families are now official homeowners after a special ceremony held in Melfort today.

The province, through Saskatchewan Housing Corporation (SHC), supported the families’ achievement of homeownership by providing $130,000 ($65,000 per home) toward the construction of two homes located at 233 Lendrum Street and 310 Crawford Avenue West.  The City of Melfort donated both parcels of land and the cost of building permits.  Affinity Credit Union contributed $20,000 toward the construction of the home at 233 Lendrum Street.

“Our government is committed to providing safe, stable and affordable housing options for Saskatchewan citizens as we recognize how important homeownership is to working low income families,” Melfort MLA Kevin Phillips said on behalf of Social Services Minister and Minister Responsible for Saskatchewan Housing Corporation Tina Beaudry-Mellor.  “This can be achieved through strong partnerships such as the one we share with Habitat for Humanity.  We are pleased to support Habitat’s work and, most importantly, to help a hard-working family attain homeownership, establish stable roots in their community and continue to keep Saskatchewan strong.”

“This is the most important day for all of us at Habitat,” Prince Albert Habitat for Humanity Executive Director John van Leeuwen said.  “The combination of corporate and community support mixed with the tenacity of our partner families and volunteers makes for a very special time when we finally all stand together to dedicate these two new homes.  Without the overwhelming support from the community of Melfort and from Saskatchewan Housing Corporation, we would not be celebrating as we are today.  It is truly inspirational to witness people pulling together toward the common goal of providing these families with hope for the future.”

The Habitat for Humanity home at 233 Lendrum Street is a five-bedroom, bi-level house approximately 1,000 square feet (93 square metres) with a partially finished basement.  The second home, located at 310 Crawford Avenue West, is approximately 1,000 square feet (93 square metres) and contains four bedrooms. Since March 2009, the province’s overall commitment to Habitat totals $8.85 million.

This funding supports Habitat’s development of housing for low- to moderate-income families across the province in 13 communities: the Battleford region, Duck Lake, Fort Qu’Appelle, Humboldt, Lloydminster, Melfort, Moose Jaw, Nipawin, Prince Albert, Regina, Saskatoon, Weyburn and Yorkton.

A key component to Habitat’s model is the “Revolving Build Fund” (Build Fund).  Provincial funding, community donations, and private funds are deposited in the Build Fund and used to construct homes.  Upon completion, an affordable no-interest mortgage is provided by Habitat to partner families with mortgage payments going back into the Build Fund for future builds.

Each partner family selected by Habitat contributes 500 partnering hours in building their home, or other Habitat homes.

Habitat is a non-profit organization working toward a world where everyone has a safe place to live.  The organization mobilizes volunteers and partners to build homes that provide families of low-income with access to affordable homeownership.

To learn more about Habitat and their work across Saskatchewan, visit www.habitat.ca.

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For more information, contact:

Leya Moore
Social Services
Regina
Phone: 306-787-3610
Email: leya.moore@gov.sk.ca