On Sunday we witnessed a milestone here on the Sunshine Coast.
Habitat for Humanity broke ground for its first affordable housing project.
Under bright sunny skies, representatives from the local group stood side by side, shovels in hand, and pushed into the dirt. It might sound a bit corny, but we were honoured to be there to be part of history.
We were first introduced to Ed Hawkins, then board chair of Habitat Sunshine Coast, two years ago when he made a presentation at Gibsons council.
It was at that meeting we made a promise to Ed that we would do whatever we could to support Habitat and their endeavours on the Coast. We hope we have lived up to that promise. It's been our pleasure to work with Habitat and see their dreams become reality.
Despite some ups and downs, Habitat and its volunteers and community supporters have persevered. And all the hard work has paid off. A lot was acquired and construction will soon start on the first housing project. Lots of sweat and hard work is still ahead for Habitat, but this group will get it done. Joining in at Sunday's ceremony was Vanessa McLean and her sons Sam and Matthew. We met them for the first time on Sunday and were immediately impressed. We had a feature interview (which appears on page A3) with Vanessa this week. We could not have met a more deserving family for this first home. In talking with us, Vanessa was quite emotional. She is grateful for the opportunity and is looking forward to joining Habitat volunteers to build her new home.
It's no secret to many that affordable housing is greatly needed here. We hope that Sunday's ground-breaking ceremony is just the start of many more Habitat projects on the Coast.
With a lot of hard work and cooperation, dreams can come true.
Just ask Vanessa and her family.
