By Ian Holmes

Two new Habitat for Humanity homes break ground

Nov 15, 2016 | 1:24 PM

NANAIMO — The executive director of Habitat for Humanity mid-Vancouver Island calls it a turning point for their local chapter.

Rob Hallam says construction getting underway on two new large homes as part of a six home subdivision of Habitat homes on Extension Road in south Nanaimo marks the kind of developments they want to pursue moving forward.

“It’s really the beginning for us to significantly increase the number of builds we’re able to do each year,” said Hallam. “We’ve got some strategies in place that can support that.”

Hallam says those strategies include adding a second Re-Store location and leveraging their existing mortgage revenues from their 16 existing homes built between Ladysmith and Parksville.

He said while investing in a large parcel of land such as their Meadow Hill development on Extension Road is expensive, it pays off in the long run.

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“How do we find a parcel of land and maximize the number of families that we can put on it…our mandate really is to serve as many families as we possibly can.”

Two families currently occupy a pair of new detached Habitat homes on Extension Road, which combined are housing 11 people. The two new homes now under construction both have four bedrooms. Hallam says the application deadline to live in their newest builds is Nov. 21. Submissions can be made to www.habitatmvi.org. Habitat for Humanity establishes interest free, affordable mortgage payments for families that otherwise wouldn’t be able to buy their own home.