The Habitat for Humanity – Revelstoke Community Housing Society pilot project to renovate Pauline and Simon Hunt’s home on Sixth Street East has been approved by the partners and now moves into the construction phase.
“We are absolutely thrilled to have met the requirements of both Habitat for Humanity Kelowna and the Community Housing Society and to get on with the excitement of building in July,” project team member Cindy Pearce said in a statement.
“A huge thank you to our project team, to everyone who made financial donations, to all the businesses who have committed trades and materials and to all the volunteers who have signed up to help out – you’ve made this happen.”
Through a memorandum of understanding with the Revelstoke Community Housing Society, the Kelowna affiliate of Habitat for Humanity will help with a renovation of the Hunt family’s home to create an accessible, supportive space for the family, which includes two young daughters, as they all learn to live with Pauline’s diagnosis of ALS/Lou Gehrig’s disease. Lou Gehrig’s disease is a debilitating illness that eventually requires wheelchair accessibility and costly patient care in the later stages. Patients with ALS become progressively paralyzed due to degeneration of the upper and lower motor neurons in the brain and spinal cord.
A team of co-workers and friends have come together to make this happen for the family and the community. They have raised all but about $12,000 of the $200,000 goal in just six months – and are hoping to receive an elevator through a supplier’s Giving Back program. The family is making a significant contribution of their own to the project through $60,000 that was raised by family and friends, through repayment of a substantial no-interest loan that will create a legacy fund for future projects in Revelstoke and by putting in sweat equity during the project.
“Habitat for Humanity Kelowna is proud to be part of this community effort,” Ed McLean, chairman of the board said in the statement. “Revelstoke can take real pride in the impressive progress that the Home for the Hunts’ team has achieved so far. They have clearly contracted what is known as Habitatitis and I expect they will soon be infecting many others in the community.”
Habitat Canada’s motto is “A hand up — not a hand out,” and Habitat Kelowna’s mission is to help establish a region where everyone has a decent place to live. Both of these aims will be supported through successful completion of this project. As well, Habitat volunteers from Kelowna and Vernon hope to contribute to the construction, along with volunteers from Revelstoke, and materials will be made available via the newly opened Habitat ReStore in West Kelowna.
The Revelstoke Community Housing Society is sponsoring this pilot to showcase Habitat’s programs to the community and measure the interest in and fit of these programs in Revelstoke.
“The Housing Society knows the community will embrace Habitat for Humanity and support this pilot project,” said society chairman Mark McKee. “We look forward to working with the project team, Habitat for Humanity Kelowna and many community supporters to make this a successful project.”
A community celebration of the start of construction is planned for the near future, so please watch for a community notice about the date and time.
Revelstoke citizens can still help create a community legacy for future Habitat projects and give this family a hand up by:
- Volunteering during construction – Fill out the volunteer form at http://www.homeforthehunts.com/volunteer.html, send a note to the Volunteer Coordinator at jolsen@lendingmax.ca or talk to Team members – Dean Prunkle, Geoff Battersby, Pam Doyle, Bill Shuttleworth, Joel Olsen, Bob Fournier, Dana Prunkle, Tuulikki Tennant or Cindy Pearce;
- Making a financial donation, either to the Home for the Hunts community fund at the Revelstoke Credit Union, or for a charitable tax receipt, by mailing a donation to Habitat For Humanity Kelowna, 1793 Ross Road, Kelowna, BC V1Z 3E7 or contributing online at http://www.canadahelps.org/GivingPages/GivingPage.aspx?gpID=18591
- Purchasing materials from the project registry at Home Hardware; or
- Donating your Coopers Save On More points – Coopers will match them dollar for dollar.
