Newcomers to Canada get big help with housing

Opinion

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 26/09/2016 (3266 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Daniel Allard knows a thing or two about the importance of adequate housing.

The 53-year-old grew up with 14 brothers and sisters, and remembers the three-bedroom bungalow his family moved into when he was a child. The house had one bathroom.

“You had to wait in line a lot of times, and it was not always pleasant,” Allard recalls with a laugh.

A semi-retired handyman, Allard volunteers his time with New Journey Housing’s home review program. The downtown organization provides resources to assist and support newcomers to Canada through the process of attaining and retaining decent, affordable housing.

As a home review volunteer, Allard meets with newcomers and visits homes they are considering buying. He inspects the homes and advises whether the home is in good shape.

He also visits new homeowners and gives them practical advice about maintaining the value of their new home.

“Part of my philosophy of life is to help people wherever I can,” Allard says. “I think it’s important to make connections with people.”

Allard got involved with New Journey in 2009 when his friend, Sally Nelson, started organization.

His favourite moment from volunteering with New Journey happened when he looked through a home a family of eight was thinking about buying.

Allard quickly saw the 100-year-old bungalow would not meet the family’s needs.

He asked the family if he could look around to try to find them something better.

He soon found a 2½-storey home with lots of room for everyone. It was in the same neighbourhood as the first house and it was selling for a similar price. They bought it.

“That gave me a lot of satisfaction; knowing I was able to get them into a house that had everything they needed and more,” Allard says.

Being generous with his time and talents isn’t new for Allard.

In 2000, he and his wife and son hopped in their RV and started driving with no particular destination in mind.

They ended up in southwestern Mexico, where they worked for 3½ years with a Christian ministry that helps needy children.

“It was really a great adventure of ours,” says Allard, who credits his parents with inspiring him to give back. “They were open-hearted, generous people, even though they had 15 children.”

Codi Guenther, executive director at New Journey, says she is thankful for Allard’s good work.

“He loves meeting new people and he’s really great with meeting folks from other cultures,” Guenther says. “He makes things easy (for clients) to understand.”

Guenther is looking for others who have home maintenance and renovation knowledge to volunteer with New Journey’s home review program.

Anyone interested can call her at 204-942-2238 or email codig@newjourneyhousing.com.

For Allard, helping people is rewarding.

“I really like the response of people when you help them (and you expect) nothing in return,” he says. “I’m happy to be able to help out.”

If you know a special volunteer, please contact aaron.epp@gmail.com.