Family selected and sod turned for Habitat

The seventh build for Yorkton’s Habitat for Humanity branch has officially begun. 

Tom Seeley, co-chair of Habitat for Humanity Yorkton branch, describes it as a major accomplishment for the organization, which has built seven homes in seven years.

“I would have never believed that we would have ever done it with all the twists and turns that we faced, but it’s very good.”

The house will be located at 222 Betts Ave, near the first Habitat for Humanity build in Yorkton. The ceremonial sod turning came after work began on the home, as the basement has been formed and concrete poured.

The Government of Canada, through Canada and Mortgage Housing Corporation (CMHC), along with the Government of Saskatchewan, through Saskatchewan Housing Corporation (SHC), jointly contributed $50,000 to build the home through the 2014-2019 Investment in Affordable Housing (IAH) Agreement. In total, the government of Saskatchewan has contributed $9.8 million to Habitat builds in the province.

Seeley says that Habitat wouldn’t happen without the wide range of people from across the community who work together to make a build possible. That includes government sponsors, as mentioned, but also a wide range of other businesses, groups and individuals who contribute.

“It’s kind of like the old-fashioned barn raising that Saskatchewan used to do back in the day. The community comes together, churches, contractors, businesses, they come together because they believe in what this program does.”

The family selected for this build is Breana Kozie and her children Jace, 2, and Emily, 4. For Kozie, a Habitat home is for her kids above all else, and she says that she applied because she wanted a safe place for her children to live and grow up.

“It makes me feel awesome, knowing that my kids are safe under the roof, and can play in a back yard that’s fenced.”

Kozie describes her current home a “very small” apartment, and says that moving into a new home will be a big change.

The criteria for a Habitat family is that they have to be a working family that can put in 500 hours of sweat equity as a down payment for their home.

The goal is to see the build complete by the end of the year.