The Blueprint Spring 2002
Content
BLUEPRINT
The Quarterly Newsletter of the Habitat For Humanity Society of Greater Vancouver
_________________________________________________________________________________________
The
SPRING 2002
The Habitat for Humanity building site at 8745 Government Street
Photo by Baila Lazarus
Phase One Complete!
By Tyler Sampson BURNABY ñ The Habitat for Humanity Society of Greater Vancouver has completed phase one of the Government Street townhouse development, the largest and most ambitious project to be attempted by Habitat Vancouver. Located at 8745 Government Street, the four new townhouses are but the first part of a larger project. In total, the Government Street project will be twenty-seven townhouses built in five phases. Finishing phase one means that four low-income working families will soon be movingñin and will begin to work towards the goal of home ownership. Through volunteer labour and generous sponsors, Habitat is able to provide the selected families with an interest-free mortgage and a down payment made in ìsweat equity.î The Habitat philosophy of ìa hand-up, not a hand-out,î is the key to successful housing developments. Instead of giving away housing, the families, the volunteers and the donors all invest in a stable, long-term solution to poverty housing.
The Blueprint
SPRING 2002
Dedication Honours Phase One Completion
PUBLISHED BY The Habitat for Humanity Society of Greater Vancouver TYLER SAMPSON Editor Head Writer Layout & Design CONTRIBUTORS Daryl Desmarais Ronda Field Karen Keeney Gloria Levi Catherine OíConnor-Morris Heather Ross John Walker ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Adrian Archambault Alastair Gordon Liza Makortoff Chris McGill The Habitat for Humanity Society of Greater Vancouver is proud to announce the Home Dedication Ceremony for phase one of the Government Street Housing Project. The Ceremony will be held on Saturday, April 27, 2002, at 8745 Government Street in Burnaby and will begin at 1:30pm. PR Committee Member, Chris McGill, will serve as Master of Ceremonies. There will be remarks from HFH SGV chair, Simon Gould, and Reverend Dan Williams from New Life Community Church will give the ecumenical blessing. Family partner Susan Tanco will introduce the recipient families and speak on their behalf. Former HFH SGV chair Gloria Levi will give the welcome address. Representatives of the City of Burnaby and the Provincial government will be in attendance. Habitat Volunteer Joy Johnson will make special presentations to House Sponsors. After the ceremony there will be an informal reception with refreshments provided thanks to a generous donation from the Teamsters. The reception will end at approximately 3:30pm. Invitations have been mailed or emailed to volunteers and Habitat Society members. All are welcome! If you would like to attend the Home Dedication Ceremony, and have not received an invitation, please call 604681-5618. For all who received invitations, it is vitally important that you RSVP, also to 604-681-5618, so that the proper arrangements can be made.
Student Engineers Pitch-in
CONTACT INFORMATION The Habitat for Humanity Society of Greater Vancouver Office address: 125 East 12th Avenue Vancouver, B.C. Mailing address: PO Box 60577 Granville Park Vancouver, B.C. V6H 4B9 Phone: 604.681.5618 Fax: 604.872.0223 Email: [email protected] Visit us online at: www.vancouverhabitat.bc.ca By Tyler Sampson On March 2nd, 2002, sixty Engineering undergraduates from the University of British Columbia volunteered their time to work on the Habitat housing development at 8745 Government Street. This event was organized by the UBC chapter of Engineers Without Borders, a soon to be international society of student Engineers. The students came from all Engineering departments in response to a challenge laid down by Engineers Without Borders. In the end, the Civil Engineering department brought out the most volunteers and took home the bragging rights. Habitat Volunteer Committee Chair, Karen Keeney, was impressed with the initiative that the Engineers showed. ìThey organized themselves and came out,î said Karen, ìitís awesome.î The Engineers learned of Habitat from an ad in UBC Reports, a campus publication. ìSome of us in Engineers without Borders saw it, and thought, hmmm, that would be kind of cool to get involved in,î said EWB VicePresident for external relations, Jonathan Toews. The Engineers had a good time at the site, too. ìIt was great,î said Jonathan, ìthey were loving the work and there was a lot of camaraderie.î He went on to add: ìEverybodyís pushing to do it again.
The Blueprint
SPRING 2002
Spotlight on Habitat Sponsors
REAL ESTATE FOUNDATION PROVIDES MORE SUPPORT Thank you to the Real Estate Foundation for their generous grant this past March. The continued backing of sponsors like the Real Estate Foundation makes possible Habitat for Humanityís mission to eliminate poverty housing. We gratefully acknowledge and appreciate their support. * * * MICROSOFT DONATES SOFTWARE Thank you to Microsoft Canada for the recent donation of Microsoft Publisher 2002 Standard Edition. Publisher 2002 is a wonderful addition to our office software and will be a great asset to Habitat in the production of all future print materials. * * * UGLIEST ROOM GETS A MAKEOVER The Brentwood Town Centre, QMFM, the Burnaby Now, Home Depot and Use What Uíve Got Interiors are sponsoring a Habitat contest and fundraiser to take place at the Brentwood Town Centre from May 1st to5th. The first 400 people to bring donations of tools or cash will receive a $5 gift certificate for use in Brentwood Town Centre. There will also be a ìSimply Uglyî ugliest room redecoration contest. To enter the ìSimply Uglyî contest, be sure to bring a photo of the ugliest room in your home. The contest winner will receive a $2,000 gift certificate to be redeemed at any Brentwood Mall store. To help the winner transform their ìSimply Uglyî room, Use What Uíve Got Interiors has generously pledged the time and expertise of its own talented employees. Please come down to Brentwood Town Centre, located in Burnaby at Lougheed Highway and Willingdon Avenue, between May 1st and 5th, to support this Habitat fundraiser! * * * HABITAT BENEFITS FROM CMHC TOURNAMENT The Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation has announced that the Habitat for Humanity Society of Greater Vancouver will be the recipient charity for the CMHC 2nd Annual Golf Tournament. The Tournament will be held May 27th at the Northview Golf and Country Club in Surrey, the home of the Air Canada Championship Tournament.
The ReStore Comes to Greater Vancouver
By Gloria Levi and Tyler Sampson The Habitat for Humanity Society of Greater Vancouver will soon be bringing the Habitat ReStore concept to the Lower Mainland. A Habitat ReStore is a warehouse, open to the public, which sells good quality new and used building materials donated by individuals and companies. There are already twenty-five ReStores across Canada. Applied locally, the very successful ReStore formula will provide the Greater Vancouver chapter of Habitat with steady revenue. As a result, more homes will be built and more families will be helped. The ReStore will not only benefit Habitat families, but the environment as well. By applying the three ìRsî of environmentalism: Reduce, Reuse and Recycle, surplus and unused building materials are kept out of landfills. Habitat has already acquired an estimated $23,000 worth of building materials due to the phenomenal efforts of Lynn Robb. To keep these materials, the ReStore committee has secured a temporary 3,0002ft. warehouse space from Concert Properties. However, the ReStore still needs a permanent home. A permanent ReStore warehouse will help create valuable word-of-mouth about Habitat. Combined with media exposure when the ReStore opens for business in mid-2002, Habitatís local profile will increase considerably. If you can help the ReStore through volunteering, a donation, or a lead on a permanent warehouse, please call the Habitat office at 604-681-5618.
The Blueprint
SPRING 2002
VOLUNTEER RECRUITING
Unless otherwise stated, all volunteer inquiries are to be directed to the Habitat office at 604-681-5618. communities. Committee Persistence and people-skills Please contact Ronda at 604members create ongoing are required to create on734-3797. Public Relations relationships with churches going relationships with and network with church donors and educate them GRAPHIC DESIGNER On-site Labour about Habitat. Sales organizations. NEEDED experience a plus but not a The Public Relations CONSTRUCTION CREW requirement. Committee is in need of a Habitat Office LEADERS graphic designer. Artistic help Organization and an ability to is needed for future Habitat Volunteer lead and teach others is the Volunteers are always needed print materials and website primary characteristic of a to help with reception, data content. Perfect for a student ON-SITE HOSTS NEEDED crew leader. If youíre entry, correspondence, building a portfolio. A sixThe Volunteer Committee is dedicated and good with copying, faxing, phoning, month minimum commitment looking for On-Site Hosts. people, you could be a crew filing and committee support. is required. The hosts are on-site leader! Office hours are subject to *** Saturdays to welcome and *** change due to availability of MEDIA RELATIONS sign-in new volunteers. They GENERAL volunteers and meeting COORDINATOR help keep the site safe by CONSTRUCTION schedules. All calls and email The Public Relations making sure the volunteers VOLUNTEERS messages are returned as soon Committee needs a dedicated Semi-skilled and unskilled are outfitted properly. They as possible. Please contact Media Relations Liaison to workers make up the majority run errands, set-up for coffee Adrian at 604-681-5618. develop ongoing relationships of site volunteers. All you breaks, and answer questions with local print and electronic need is a willingness to learn from new volunteers. Fundraising media. Superior people skills and a strong work ethic! and phone manner required. *** Family Selection The Fundraising Committee A minimum commitment of FIRST-AID ATTENDANTS is looking for enthusiastic, six months. Volunteer safety is the top The Family Selection committed persons interested priority on a Habitat Committee needs five new in working with the corporate construction site and In- Kind members to take part in the community. This committee volunteers with First-Aid selection process for phase is vital for present and future training are always inDONATION four of the Government Street Habitat projects. Dedicated, demand. SOLICITATION project. This hardworking and hardworking volunteers are The In-Kind Committee is high-functioning team is needed to establish and Faith Relations looking for two volunteers to looking for dedicated people maintain relationships with focus on donations. One on with strong interpersonal sponsors. Personality, construction materials and the The Faith Relations skills and a desire to help persistence and people-skills other on non-construction Committee is currently others. During the selection are essential. Sales experience materials such as office looking for volunteers period the time commitment is not required, but would be supplies and food for interested in promoting is about three hours per week. a great asset. hardworking site volunteers. Habitat in local faith
DONATIONS NEEDED
COMPUTER NEEDED The Habitat office needs a donation of at least one PC with monitor. Minimum system requirements: 32 MB of RAM and 133Mhz processor that can run Windows 98 and Windows applications as recent as 2002. If you can help with this donation, please call Adrian at the Habitat office, 604-6815618. * * * CONSTRUCTION MATERIALS Habitat is always in need of tools, boots and work-gloves for the building site. Donations of new and used building materials are also needed. These materials will be used on-site or added to Habitatís ReStore warehouse. If you want to donate, please call the Habitat office at 604-681-5618.
The Quarterly Newsletter of the Habitat For Humanity Society of Greater Vancouver
_________________________________________________________________________________________
The
SPRING 2002
The Habitat for Humanity building site at 8745 Government Street
Photo by Baila Lazarus
Phase One Complete!
By Tyler Sampson BURNABY ñ The Habitat for Humanity Society of Greater Vancouver has completed phase one of the Government Street townhouse development, the largest and most ambitious project to be attempted by Habitat Vancouver. Located at 8745 Government Street, the four new townhouses are but the first part of a larger project. In total, the Government Street project will be twenty-seven townhouses built in five phases. Finishing phase one means that four low-income working families will soon be movingñin and will begin to work towards the goal of home ownership. Through volunteer labour and generous sponsors, Habitat is able to provide the selected families with an interest-free mortgage and a down payment made in ìsweat equity.î The Habitat philosophy of ìa hand-up, not a hand-out,î is the key to successful housing developments. Instead of giving away housing, the families, the volunteers and the donors all invest in a stable, long-term solution to poverty housing.
The Blueprint
SPRING 2002
Dedication Honours Phase One Completion
PUBLISHED BY The Habitat for Humanity Society of Greater Vancouver TYLER SAMPSON Editor Head Writer Layout & Design CONTRIBUTORS Daryl Desmarais Ronda Field Karen Keeney Gloria Levi Catherine OíConnor-Morris Heather Ross John Walker ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Adrian Archambault Alastair Gordon Liza Makortoff Chris McGill The Habitat for Humanity Society of Greater Vancouver is proud to announce the Home Dedication Ceremony for phase one of the Government Street Housing Project. The Ceremony will be held on Saturday, April 27, 2002, at 8745 Government Street in Burnaby and will begin at 1:30pm. PR Committee Member, Chris McGill, will serve as Master of Ceremonies. There will be remarks from HFH SGV chair, Simon Gould, and Reverend Dan Williams from New Life Community Church will give the ecumenical blessing. Family partner Susan Tanco will introduce the recipient families and speak on their behalf. Former HFH SGV chair Gloria Levi will give the welcome address. Representatives of the City of Burnaby and the Provincial government will be in attendance. Habitat Volunteer Joy Johnson will make special presentations to House Sponsors. After the ceremony there will be an informal reception with refreshments provided thanks to a generous donation from the Teamsters. The reception will end at approximately 3:30pm. Invitations have been mailed or emailed to volunteers and Habitat Society members. All are welcome! If you would like to attend the Home Dedication Ceremony, and have not received an invitation, please call 604681-5618. For all who received invitations, it is vitally important that you RSVP, also to 604-681-5618, so that the proper arrangements can be made.
Student Engineers Pitch-in
CONTACT INFORMATION The Habitat for Humanity Society of Greater Vancouver Office address: 125 East 12th Avenue Vancouver, B.C. Mailing address: PO Box 60577 Granville Park Vancouver, B.C. V6H 4B9 Phone: 604.681.5618 Fax: 604.872.0223 Email: [email protected] Visit us online at: www.vancouverhabitat.bc.ca By Tyler Sampson On March 2nd, 2002, sixty Engineering undergraduates from the University of British Columbia volunteered their time to work on the Habitat housing development at 8745 Government Street. This event was organized by the UBC chapter of Engineers Without Borders, a soon to be international society of student Engineers. The students came from all Engineering departments in response to a challenge laid down by Engineers Without Borders. In the end, the Civil Engineering department brought out the most volunteers and took home the bragging rights. Habitat Volunteer Committee Chair, Karen Keeney, was impressed with the initiative that the Engineers showed. ìThey organized themselves and came out,î said Karen, ìitís awesome.î The Engineers learned of Habitat from an ad in UBC Reports, a campus publication. ìSome of us in Engineers without Borders saw it, and thought, hmmm, that would be kind of cool to get involved in,î said EWB VicePresident for external relations, Jonathan Toews. The Engineers had a good time at the site, too. ìIt was great,î said Jonathan, ìthey were loving the work and there was a lot of camaraderie.î He went on to add: ìEverybodyís pushing to do it again.
The Blueprint
SPRING 2002
Spotlight on Habitat Sponsors
REAL ESTATE FOUNDATION PROVIDES MORE SUPPORT Thank you to the Real Estate Foundation for their generous grant this past March. The continued backing of sponsors like the Real Estate Foundation makes possible Habitat for Humanityís mission to eliminate poverty housing. We gratefully acknowledge and appreciate their support. * * * MICROSOFT DONATES SOFTWARE Thank you to Microsoft Canada for the recent donation of Microsoft Publisher 2002 Standard Edition. Publisher 2002 is a wonderful addition to our office software and will be a great asset to Habitat in the production of all future print materials. * * * UGLIEST ROOM GETS A MAKEOVER The Brentwood Town Centre, QMFM, the Burnaby Now, Home Depot and Use What Uíve Got Interiors are sponsoring a Habitat contest and fundraiser to take place at the Brentwood Town Centre from May 1st to5th. The first 400 people to bring donations of tools or cash will receive a $5 gift certificate for use in Brentwood Town Centre. There will also be a ìSimply Uglyî ugliest room redecoration contest. To enter the ìSimply Uglyî contest, be sure to bring a photo of the ugliest room in your home. The contest winner will receive a $2,000 gift certificate to be redeemed at any Brentwood Mall store. To help the winner transform their ìSimply Uglyî room, Use What Uíve Got Interiors has generously pledged the time and expertise of its own talented employees. Please come down to Brentwood Town Centre, located in Burnaby at Lougheed Highway and Willingdon Avenue, between May 1st and 5th, to support this Habitat fundraiser! * * * HABITAT BENEFITS FROM CMHC TOURNAMENT The Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation has announced that the Habitat for Humanity Society of Greater Vancouver will be the recipient charity for the CMHC 2nd Annual Golf Tournament. The Tournament will be held May 27th at the Northview Golf and Country Club in Surrey, the home of the Air Canada Championship Tournament.
The ReStore Comes to Greater Vancouver
By Gloria Levi and Tyler Sampson The Habitat for Humanity Society of Greater Vancouver will soon be bringing the Habitat ReStore concept to the Lower Mainland. A Habitat ReStore is a warehouse, open to the public, which sells good quality new and used building materials donated by individuals and companies. There are already twenty-five ReStores across Canada. Applied locally, the very successful ReStore formula will provide the Greater Vancouver chapter of Habitat with steady revenue. As a result, more homes will be built and more families will be helped. The ReStore will not only benefit Habitat families, but the environment as well. By applying the three ìRsî of environmentalism: Reduce, Reuse and Recycle, surplus and unused building materials are kept out of landfills. Habitat has already acquired an estimated $23,000 worth of building materials due to the phenomenal efforts of Lynn Robb. To keep these materials, the ReStore committee has secured a temporary 3,0002ft. warehouse space from Concert Properties. However, the ReStore still needs a permanent home. A permanent ReStore warehouse will help create valuable word-of-mouth about Habitat. Combined with media exposure when the ReStore opens for business in mid-2002, Habitatís local profile will increase considerably. If you can help the ReStore through volunteering, a donation, or a lead on a permanent warehouse, please call the Habitat office at 604-681-5618.
The Blueprint
SPRING 2002
VOLUNTEER RECRUITING
Unless otherwise stated, all volunteer inquiries are to be directed to the Habitat office at 604-681-5618. communities. Committee Persistence and people-skills Please contact Ronda at 604members create ongoing are required to create on734-3797. Public Relations relationships with churches going relationships with and network with church donors and educate them GRAPHIC DESIGNER On-site Labour about Habitat. Sales organizations. NEEDED experience a plus but not a The Public Relations CONSTRUCTION CREW requirement. Committee is in need of a Habitat Office LEADERS graphic designer. Artistic help Organization and an ability to is needed for future Habitat Volunteer lead and teach others is the Volunteers are always needed print materials and website primary characteristic of a to help with reception, data content. Perfect for a student ON-SITE HOSTS NEEDED crew leader. If youíre entry, correspondence, building a portfolio. A sixThe Volunteer Committee is dedicated and good with copying, faxing, phoning, month minimum commitment looking for On-Site Hosts. people, you could be a crew filing and committee support. is required. The hosts are on-site leader! Office hours are subject to *** Saturdays to welcome and *** change due to availability of MEDIA RELATIONS sign-in new volunteers. They GENERAL volunteers and meeting COORDINATOR help keep the site safe by CONSTRUCTION schedules. All calls and email The Public Relations making sure the volunteers VOLUNTEERS messages are returned as soon Committee needs a dedicated Semi-skilled and unskilled are outfitted properly. They as possible. Please contact Media Relations Liaison to workers make up the majority run errands, set-up for coffee Adrian at 604-681-5618. develop ongoing relationships of site volunteers. All you breaks, and answer questions with local print and electronic need is a willingness to learn from new volunteers. Fundraising media. Superior people skills and a strong work ethic! and phone manner required. *** Family Selection The Fundraising Committee A minimum commitment of FIRST-AID ATTENDANTS is looking for enthusiastic, six months. Volunteer safety is the top The Family Selection committed persons interested priority on a Habitat Committee needs five new in working with the corporate construction site and In- Kind members to take part in the community. This committee volunteers with First-Aid selection process for phase is vital for present and future training are always inDONATION four of the Government Street Habitat projects. Dedicated, demand. SOLICITATION project. This hardworking and hardworking volunteers are The In-Kind Committee is high-functioning team is needed to establish and Faith Relations looking for two volunteers to looking for dedicated people maintain relationships with focus on donations. One on with strong interpersonal sponsors. Personality, construction materials and the The Faith Relations skills and a desire to help persistence and people-skills other on non-construction Committee is currently others. During the selection are essential. Sales experience materials such as office looking for volunteers period the time commitment is not required, but would be supplies and food for interested in promoting is about three hours per week. a great asset. hardworking site volunteers. Habitat in local faith
DONATIONS NEEDED
COMPUTER NEEDED The Habitat office needs a donation of at least one PC with monitor. Minimum system requirements: 32 MB of RAM and 133Mhz processor that can run Windows 98 and Windows applications as recent as 2002. If you can help with this donation, please call Adrian at the Habitat office, 604-6815618. * * * CONSTRUCTION MATERIALS Habitat is always in need of tools, boots and work-gloves for the building site. Donations of new and used building materials are also needed. These materials will be used on-site or added to Habitatís ReStore warehouse. If you want to donate, please call the Habitat office at 604-681-5618.
