The walls are up, the roof is on, and now a local family will get to call Habitat for Humanity's latest build home.
The Lumsden family gets the keys today to the house in Charing Cross, which was built by 120 volunteers, contributing nearly 1,500 hours.
"The family has been participating in the build of the home all along, so they've been getting really excited," says Executive Director Nancy McDowell. "The last week or two we've kept them out of the house so that the final product is a surprise. They are just beyond excited to get into their new house."
This is the third home built by Habitat for Humanity in Chatham-Kent, and McDowell says it's important they're serving the entire region. Their first home was in Chatham, and the second in Wallaceburg.
A fourth will be built in Blenheim next year, McDowell says, adding they already have the family qualified.
She says in Chatham-Kent, the need for an operation like Habitat is tremendous.
"Our operation is unique in that we're dealing with low-income families that are purchasing the home with an interest-free, geared-to-income mortgage," says McDowell. "But you don't have to go outside the limits of Chatham-Kent in order to find families in need."
She says because of that, they're currently laying the groundwork for expansion.
"We would like to be building two or three homes a year," McDowell says, adding they're currently undergoing strategic planning for the next five.
"Right now we're growing the number of volunteers. We have a lot of committees that do everything from family selection and fundraising to overseeing the ReStore, and so we need to build that framework."
The Lumsden family moves in to their Charing Cross home for good by the end of the month.
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