Habitat for Humanity NWT has brought two more livable spaces to Yellowknife and Dettah.
“There’s a need for housing in the Northwest Territories and throughout every community,” said Dave Brothers, building manager. “We’ve been doing this since 2013, and we’re involved with the board and with Habitat because we want to try to support individuals that need a hand, not a handout, but a hand up to help them get on their feet.”
It’s expected that sponsored families will move into the new residences in December.
“We’re just trying to get them, you know, some support to get a home and start building some equity and some place they can actually call home, that they can call their own,” said Brothers.
The new houses are located at 28 Spence Road in Yellowknife and 511 Kw’atia Tili in Dettah.
Usually, Habitat NWT gathers volunteers to build homes on site, but this time the registered charity had modular homes delivered instead.
“There’s a couple reasons,” said Brothers. “You need a lot of volunteers, you need a lot of support from trade contractors, trade partners, etc. Over the years, we’ve taxed these companies, some of them too much … Say for an example, one company will do all the mechanical for a home, that’s a pretty good contribution for this company, for a town this size. So we can’t keep doing that every year, right? We can’t keep going back to the same companies every year and say, ‘Can you donate this, donate this.’ So we decided to go to a modular, where everything is almost done. There’s still a bit of work to do here but it’s almost complete.”
Additionally, finding and organizing volunteers during the pandemic was particularly challenging.
“Trying to build a home here on site and (having) a bunch of people that don’t know each other trying to work together, Covid was a big part,” Brothers said of the different approach this year.
The new home in Yellowknife still requires piles, skirting electrical hook up and tie ins to water and sewer.
For the home in Dettah, a tank system will be used.
“We got a fiberglass sewer tank locally here, and it’s placed under the home now and then inside there’s a water tank,” said Brothers. “Everybody’s so busy. All trade contractors are busy. So, we’re looking at close to the end of the month.”
More will be known about the families chosen to occupy the homes within the next month as Habitat for Humanity promised a ceremony when the keys to the new residences are turned over.