March 5, 2010

BACKGROUND:

In November 2008 parishes received a letter from Bishop Gregory Kerr-Wilson, Bishop of Qu’Appelle saying that the Diocesan Council had approved taking on a Habitat for Humanity Build project.  The Build was part of the 125^th anniversary of the Diocese of Qu’Appelle.

In order to be a sponsor, the Diocese needed to raise $100,000 and provide 1,700 hours of volunteer time.  This seemed like an overwhelming task, but over $100,000 has been raised and the “Build” is underway.  Here’s the update. 

WHAT’S HAPPENING WITH OUR BUILD?

People have been asking that question and wondering why they haven’t heard anything since  November 2009.  Well, the reason there have been no updates is because there has been no news.  But now there is!!

First:  In the November update you heard that building began with a group from Women in Trades from Careers in Construction and the plan was  to have the house ‘key ready’ (fully enclosed and therefore safe and secure) before winter so that  our volunteers could begin work in late February or early March.  This has been done however we cannot begin work on the house until Habitat for Humanity hires a supervisor for the site.  Dennis Coutts, CEO for Habitat Regina, hopes that will happen soon which means that building should resume some time in March.

Second: We will be building the home for a new family. You will recall that there are several qualifications which a family must meet before they can be selected for a Habitat Home.  It became clear that the Nabi family was not able to fulfill all these commitments and the Habitat Board of Directors had to make the difficult decision to deselect them.  We know however, that there are many families who need a home and who are both willing and able to fulfill their responsibilities in the project.  Watch for news of such a family selected for the Diocese of Qu’Appelle Build soon.

SO WHERE ARE WE NOW?

We have the forms and the list of names of all the people who have generously volunteered to either work on the site or deliver meals.  We hope many more people will consider volunteering in these ways! As soon as we hear that a site supervisor has been hired we can begin to set up ‘build days’.  The number of days we are able to work on the site each week will depend upon the number of volunteers we have. Some of you may be able to commit to two, three or four days in succession. That would be great!

It is suggested that only 5 volunteers be on site per day as the house is very small and it is difficult to keep more than 5 people safely occupied in such a small space. If some of you are travelling from out of town for build days you may want to keep those numbers in mind – 5 volunteers on site per day. Why………..that’s a car load!!!!

Marilyn Dean      306-586-3740           This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it         fax 306-586-4447