Jayda Noyes, Daily Herald
“Moving the house is always a huge milestone. It’s kind of like that half way point that we’re closer to the finish than we are not.” – Jan Thomas
A family of 10 will soon move into their long-term home that Habitat for Humanity transported to its site on Tuesday.
According to Prince Albert Executive Director Jan Thomas, the couple and eight children are currently living in a four bedroom rental home.
She believes the kids are between the ages of two and 17-years-old.
“This house will have a huge impact for this family because they do still have young children,” she said.
The home they’re building has six bedrooms with an enlarged dining area; Thomas said they wanted space to fit a big dining table for family suppers.
The project has been in the works for just over a year with occupancy set for early spring.
“We need our service hookups for our heat and our power, so those will be done by SaskPower, SaskEnergy within the next month. In the meantime, we need to pour the concrete slab for the basement floor, build the stairs and put in the side door. There’s the entire basement to finish,” she said.
Following the move-in, Habitat for Humanity will work with the family to build a fence and landscape.
“There’s a fair bit of work left to do, but moving the house is always a huge milestone. It’s kind of like that half way point that we’re closer to the finish than we are not,” said Thomas.
The home is located on 24th Street East.
Habitat for Humanity provides housing to low-income families.
In place of a down payment, customers are required to put in 500 hours of volunteer time.
Once the house is complete, the organization works out mortgage payments based on the family’s income.
Lake Country Co-op helped build this home—community partnerships are important to sustain Habitat for Humanity.
Thomas said when families apply, the first aspect they look at is if they have a stable income required to own a home.
After they’ve established that, they look at need.
Although all their families are important, Thomas said this family was particularly special in need of a larger home.
