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Courtesy Habitat for Humanity Southern Alberta
Courtesy Habitat for Humanity Southern Alberta

Jan. 23, 2019 | Leah Cameron

Silvercreek Legacy affordable housing project will offer fresh start to families in need

Habitat for Humanity Southern Alberta's Silvercreek Legacy build is now underway in the northwest Calgary community of Silver Springs. Work started on the affordable housing project at the end of November, and since then water and sewer have gone in, with the foundation set to be poured at the end of January.

The four eight-plexes being built are expected to be completed by the middle of 2021 and will accommodate 32 families. Funding for the townhomes came from many generous supporters, including the Calgary Foundation and the CREB® Charitable Foundation, whose legacy gifts totalled $2.5 million.

Habitat for Humanity has started accepting applications from families to buy in Silvercreek and two families are already on board. While some might think that Habitat simply gives homes away, this isn't the case.

Families purchase homes from Habitat at fair market value with a no-down-payment, no-interest mortgage, and monthly mortgage payments guaranteed not to exceed more than 25 per cent of a family's household income. On top of that, Habitat homeowners must complete 500 volunteer hours towards the construction of their home or other Habitat projects.

For the families involved, the time and energy spent volunteering is well worth it – especially, when it comes to providing stability for the children in these homes.

"Many of the children moving into a Habitat home have moved around multiple times in their life, which makes it hard to build friendships and feel a sense of safety and community," said Bill Brunton, vice-president of marketing and external relations at Habitat for Humanity. "When children feel secure and rooted in their community, they can truly flourish."

While each family's volunteer hours go a long way, there is always a need for additional help. Contractors are hired to complete trades work on the homes, but Habitat relies on volunteers for everything else. The best part is that there's no experience necessary to volunteer – anyone can try their hand at building a home, with the guidance of experienced construction staff.

For more information on Habitat for Humanity or the Silvercreek Legacy build, visit
www.habitatsouthernab.ca.

Tagged: Affordable Housing | Calgary | Calgary Real Estate | Calgary Real Estate News | Calgary Real Estate News | Charitable Foundation | Habitat for Humanity Southern Alberta | Silver Springs


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