Building Hope: A Home Depot/Habitat for Humanity Build

Being involved in a Habitat for Humanity build has always been on my bucket list of things to do.  So when the folks at the Home Depot/Home Depot Canada Foundation contacted Jennifer and I to walk through two of the homes that were being built, we both jumped at the chance.  (Next year, we’ll participate in the actual build, right Jen?)

I’m sure most of you have heard of Habitat for Humanity but on the off chance that you haven’t, they build affordable housing for families in need.  Their vision is simply:

A world where everyone has a safe and decent place to live.

For the past 10 days, (you read that right, 10 days!) Habitat for Humanity Toronto and The Home Depot Canada Foundation  constructed two fully-accessible, semi-detached houses from the ground up.  Over 300 Home Depot employees participated in the building blitz which provided two deserving Toronto families with simple, affordable homes just in time for the Thanksgiving weekend.

This is how the home looked when we arrived Tuesday morning.  Just eight days before that, it was a plot of land.  

A room with a view and a place where dreams can be made:

 

The interior of the other house which was farther along.  These are corporate Home Depot employees volunteering their time and expertise - what a great team building exercise!

A backyard backing onto trees.  

And this is the completed house yesterday just after when the keys were handed over to both families.  It was taken via a camera that provided real time images during the duration of the build:

(L to R) Erika Botond | The Home Depot Canada, Angela Solomos | Habitat For Humanity Toronto, me, Paulette Minard | The Home Depot Canada Foundation, Jennifer Hills | The Home Depot Canada, Jennifer

Angela was so inspiring to listen to and had so much passion for what Habitat for Humanity stands for – not just building homes but building hopes and dreams for the future of the families.

Thanks for this opportunity ladies!  It was truly inspiring!