Habitat for Humanity Sunshine Coast (HFHSC) has nearly completed two houses in the Suncoast Village Project in Wilson Creek with another two on the way. Four houses are the most that HFHSC has had under construction at once.
“This unprecedented large number of builds by HFHSC this year is due to the large number of working families on the Coast who need homes,” HFHSC board chair Victor Mema said. “We are very thankful that our Sunshine Coast community is so supportive of our work. Lots of businesses and community volunteers donate time and supplies to make these builds possible.”
HFHSC builds houses for families who can’t afford a regular mortgage, but who don’t qualify for social assistance.
“They’re the working poor. People who pay their bills every month but there’s nothing left to save for a down payment,” HFHSC executive director Sheila Gamble said.
Two of the houses in Wilson creek are 75 per cent done, and Gamble said she hopes to see these homes completed by the end of the year. The other two units are still waiting for eligible families to be selected.
“Depending on if we have families ready to move in, we hold our money and finish as the need comes,” Gamble said. “But they could be done as early as March or April.”
HFHSC has two families selected to move into the houses that are nearing completion. They also have applicants for the other two houses, but the applicant families will need to complete a total of 500 volunteer hours with HFHSC.
Volunteer hours can be completed in their ReStore facility or on their building sites. Families can work together to accumulate the 500 hours.
“Once you’ve completed those 500 hours, you get the keys to your house and a mortgage,” Gamble said.
According to Gamble, all of the families that HFHSC has built homes for started out renting. Rent on the Coast is expensive for low-income families, Gamble said. The mortgage for an HFHSC house is less than the average rent a family has to pay on the Sunshine Coast.
HFHSC has completed seven houses on the Coast already. There are two in Sechelt, one in Gibsons and four already completed in the Suncoast Village Project in Wilson Creek where they are currently building four more houses. HFHSC has plans to put in a total of 14 houses in Wilson Creek.
