The power of community spirit put into action was celebrated on Sept. 27 as Habitat for Humanity Wellington Dufferin Guelph (HHWDG) hosted a “Movin’ On In” event.
“This is a celebration that we’re half way through,” said Heather Townsend, assistant volunteer coordinator for HHWDG.
As the drywall goes up at the 124 Forfar Street location, a semi-detached housing unit which will soon be home to two area families, volunteers and neighbours gathered to celebrate finishing the exterior of the site.
The open house allowed people to see the interior work completed and projects remaining.
“Once the house is finished on the exterior, people don’t realize the inside still needs work,” said Annie Devitt, volunteer coordinator.
Devitt pointed to sign-up lists taped to the walls throughout the rooms of the house that listed duties still required to complete the house, such as drywall mudding and taping, trim, installing cabinetry, fixtures, appliances and landscaping.
“We do get subtrades in for electrical and plumbing issues,” said Townsend. “We leave that to the professionals.”
Townsend added the summer brought in many volunteers, but now that school and other activities are back on, the need for events like an open house helps encourage new recruits and welcome in previous volunteers.
“We’ve had between 100 and 200 volunteers on this site,” Devitt said. “Normally we have about 300 volunteers involved on the site in total by the time the project is done, so Centre Wellington is really showing up.”
One of the volunteers for the event was Ernie Martin, who helped drywall much of the home’s interior.
Like other volunteers, he was asked to write a personal message on a beam of the house to the family that will eventually move in.
Martin’s note read, “It has been a pleasure to work on your home.”
Martin was happy to give his wife, Carol, a tour of the homes so she could see his handywork.
The progress is steady but the need to build on the momentum is ongoing.
“We need to get more volunteer involvement. That’s ultimately what will get us to completion on schedule,” said Townsend.
There is another way to help the project along, through a new fundraising eco metal recycling initiative run through Fergus Auto Recycler’s Eco Metal Recovery program.
“We would ask people who have any old scrap metal, rather than take it to a dump, take it to Fergus Auto Recyclers and donate the monies earned to our project,” said Dave Tinker, recycling project coordinator. “The program runs for the entire month of November.”
The community is asked to take their recyclable metals to Fergus Auto Recyclers and, upon arrival, let the team there know if they wish to have the funds earned in recycling donated back to HHWDG.
“Anyone who brings in metals and donates the fee to Habitat for Humanity, we will add another ten dollars to that amount in November,” said Bob Vanleeuwen, owner of Fergus Auto Recyclers.
“I think it’s a great community effort … to be a part of a community, you need to work with it and I feel strongly about helping,” Vanleeuwen said. “Our staff here are community minded too and that helps.”
He adds the company will also sum up the total tonnage collected for their general eco metal recycling intake for the month of November and will donate $10 for every tonne collected. All prices depend on current market value and are subject to change.
“We hope to see a good uptake,” Vanleeuwen said. “And we’re not waiting until November. If people bring in things sooner, we will post it to November.
Tinker notes the metals can be anything from old farm equipment and automobiles to copper, household metals, brass and stainless steels, plus other metal items.
“Anything that is donated to Habitat for Humanity through this program, the funds will come directly to this project,” said Tinker. “Everything goes directly to this site.”
A tax receipt will be issued for donations over $20.
For Tinker, the recycling program will help bring the construction project further ahead.
“We’re making progress and it’s looking good, but we’ve still got a long way to go.”
Fergus Auto Recyclers, located at 6252 County Rd. 29 in Fergus, will accept metals for recycling during regular business hours, Monday to Friday from 8am to 5pm and Saturday from 9am to 12pm.
For more information on accepted metals visit www.fergusauto.com or call 519-400-5204.
For more information about the HHWDG Centre Wellington home, email volunteer@habitatwellington.on.ca or call 519-767-9752 extension 34.
