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Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION

Habitat home to 'occupy' Memorial Park

Crews to construct new house destined for Elmwood area

By: Kelly Graham

Posted: 04/3/2012 1:00 AM | Comments: 0

The Van De Keere family, including (from left) Cadence, Shannon, Rene and Brendon, visit Memorial Park on Monday. Habitat For Humanity will build a new home for the Van De Keeres at Memorial Park and then transport it to Elmwood where it will be finished. (JOHN WOODS / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS) Photo Store

New "occupiers" will move into Memorial Park, across from the Manitoba Legislative Building.

Instead of Occupy Winnipeg protesters, who made the park home last fall, a different type of demonstration will take place. Habitat for Humanity will begin construction of a new home at the park on June 4.

The unusual location is a perfect match for Habitat for Humanity's mission, says Ken McIntyre, Habitat's Winnipeg spokesman.

"It's a place that pays tribute to the many Winnipeggers and Manitobans who have contributed to the province," said McIntyre.

The house's structure is scheduled to be completed June 15. It will then be moved to McCalman Avenue in Elmwood, joining 32 other homes Habitat has built, where it will be finished. Habitat plans to add another 17 homes to the development, for a total of 50, in the next two years.

An online campaign is being used to raise funds for the project, a first for the Winnipeg Habitat chapter, which is a sign of the times, said McIntyre. The 12-week project will accept donations until May 31, through the www.habitatbuilds.ca website.

The campaign is off to a slow start; only $6,000 of the $125,000 target has been raised at the start of the campaign's fourth week.

Construction will proceed till June 4. If the goal isn't met, other houses may not be built, said McIntyre.

"We tend to only build houses we can afford," he said.

Many people are unaware Habitat's houses are sold -- not given away. A no-interest mortgage is provided to vetted families, who are expected to provide 500 hours of sweat equity during the home's construction.

Rene, Shannon, Brendon and Cadence Van De Keere, the family destined for this home, were told they achieved 350 hours, the required number to get on Habitat's home list, faster than anyone else in history. The family completed its hours in one month.

"We just wanted to get our hours done as quickly as possible," said Shannon Van De Keere.

McIntyre said Habitat's houses are welcomed both by neighbours and the city.

"Most of these homes raise the value of the neighbourhoods that they go in," he said.

All of the homes in the development are built to Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) standards, making it the greenest development in Manitoba.

Owners of houses Habitat has built paid the city $300,000 in property taxes in 2010, according to McIntyre.

Information about the project can be found on its website or by following Habitat for Humanity Winnipeg on twitter @Habitat_MB.

kgraham@freepress.mb.ca

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition April 3, 2012 B2

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