We are closing out 2021 with a bang as Habitat Heartland Ontario celebrates three Groundbreaking Ceremonies on the first three Thursdays of December!
These exciting new builds are getting started in Drumbo, the County of Brant, and Brantford this month, and we want you to get involved. You can watch our Groundbreaking Ceremonies live, or anytime, on the Habitat Heartland and Habitat Heartland Brant-Norfolk Chapter Facebook pages!
You will meet three of our future Habitat homeowners in this newsletter, all of which are young families building a better future for themselves through safe, decent and affordable Habitat homeownership.
This month we are also celebrating Gerry Pieroni, who has officially retired from his position as GM ReStore Operations after over 20 years with Habitat Heartland. Thank you for your dedication and expertise over the years Gerry, we will miss you! Gerry wrote a letter to be shared with all our supporters, which you will find below.
Make sure to visit our 9 Habitat ReStore locations this month in Brantford, Listowel, London, St. Thomas, Simcoe, Stratford, and Woodstock to shop their holiday deals and prepare your home for winter weather!
Thank you for your continued support, and stay well!
Brian Elliot, CEO Habitat for Humanity Heartland Ontario
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Meet our Future Homeowners! |
Meet Kayla, future Habitat homeowner of The Upstart Project in the County of Brant!
Kayla is a single mother to three children ages 9, 4 and 11 months. Like many hard-working, lower-income families, Kayla’s current housing does not meet the needs of her young family. “I put myself through University and work full-time to provide a brighter future for my family. I have been trying to save for a better home, but with the cost of living continuing to rise, it has been impossible," says Kayla.
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Meet Laura, future Habitat homeowner in Drumbo!
Laura is happy to provide her 8-year-old son and 6-year-old daughter with a home to call their own. Laura says, “I have shown my kids that you can accomplish anything through hard work and dedication; however, I knew the reality of owning our own home was still something I couldn’t give to them with the current housing market, no matter how hard I worked. This is so much more than a house, and we will forever be grateful to Habitat for Humanity for allowing us this opportunity.”
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Meet Kristen & Ian, future Habitat homeowners in Drumbo!
Kristen and Ian look forward to raising their 1-year-old son Nikolas in a home that is safe and affordable in a welcoming community. Kristen and Ian say, "Even with a stable income, it has not been possible for us to buy a home. The day we were asked if we would like to partner with Habitat to become homeowners was one of the greatest days of our lives. We are thrilled to have a home of our own with a safe backyard for our son to play in."
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Could you be a Habitat homeowner?
Habitat Heartland Ontario is now accepting applications from families and individuals for our upcoming multi-family builds in London and Brantford.
Both builds will include units built to universal accessibility standards.
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Learn more about Habitat homeownership here.
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Willowdale Groundbreaking Ceremony!
To celebrate the start of our home build in the County of Brant for Kayla's family, we held a live streamed Virtual Groundbreaking Ceremony on Habitat Brant-Norfolk Chapter's Facebook page! If you missed it live on December 2nd, you can watch it any time here.
Congratulations to future Habitat homeowner Kayla and her children, as we embark on our new, collaborative build project with Makers called the Upstart Project, Dedicated the Kent Dixon Memorial Build. We were joined by leaders in the community and our partners in this build, including Mayor David Bailey – County of Brant, Joan Gatward – Councilor Ward 5 County of Brant, Sumit Ajwani – Founder of Makers, and Darren Neziol – ROI Group. Future homeowner Kayla watched along from home, as her and her kids were unwell that day.
The Upstart Project is an eco-conscious Habitat home to Passive House standards in the County of Brant! Learn more about how you can support this build for Kayla's family at www.upstartbuild.com.
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Drumbo Groundbreaking Ceremony!
To celebrate beginning our semi-detached home build in Drumbo, Oxford County for Laura's family and Kristen & Ian's family, we held a live streamed Virtual Groundbreaking Ceremony on the Habitat Heartland Facebook page! If you missed it live on December 9th, you can watch it any time here.
Habitat Heartland was excited to celebrate the start of our semi-detached home build in Drumbo with members of the community, our supporters and future Habitat homeowners. Thank you to Ricardo DeSouza – TMMC Vice President of Manufacturing, Ernie Hardeman - MPP Oxford County, Nancy Demarest, Councillor for Township Blandford and Habitat Heartland Drumbo Steering Committee Chair, Lynda Bartlett - Manager Human Services Oxford County and member of Habitat Heartland Ontario Homeowner Selection and Support Committee, Rebecca Smith - Manager of Housing Development Oxford County, the Drumbo Lions Club, and more for joining us to mark this special occasion!
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Brantford Groundbreaking Ceremony on Dec 16th!
Join us from the comfort of home to celebrate Habitat Heartland Brant-Norfolk Chapter's Virtual Groundbreaking Ceremony in Brantford on Thursday, December 16th! This exciting new multi-family build project will bring much needed affordable housing to the community.
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Get Involved in our upcoming builds in London, Drumbo, Brantford, and The County of Brant!
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OSCO Christmas Market
Thanks to the Old South Community Organization in London for inviting us to participate in their annual Christmas Market! Local businesses generously donated food & beverage items for us to sell at the market. Thanks to:
Nicole - Metro on Wellington Road
John & Harriet - Wortley Valumart
Matt - Wortley Auto Service
You all helped us raise over $1,000 for our upcoming builds! Thanks to our volunteers work our chalet booth, and to everyone who supported our fundraiser!
We were also happy to donate our trucks to transport the chalets to and from the event.
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Holiday traditions with Habitat families
The holiday season is a time for tradition — they bring our families closer. For the past four years, the holiday tradition in Naomi's family is making salt dough ornaments. As Habitat homeowners, they're very excited to carry on this tradition and celebrate a special first holiday season in their new home.
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Doors of Norfolk County poster
"Doors of Norfolk County" Posters are available at the Simcoe ReStore for $10 each! All proceeds help support Habitat Heartland Brant-Norfolk's builds in Norfolk County
Jo Thomson and Susan Olmstead of The Pause Button Photo Art undertook the project of photographing doors found within Norfolk County for the purpose of assembling a poster to sell as a third-party fundraiser for the Habitat Heartland Brant-Norfolk Chapter.
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Double your donation to Habitat Heartland with Finch Auto Group
Finch Match My Donation will match personal donations up to $1,000 made to Habitat Heartland from now until the end of 2021.
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Gerry's retirement
At the end of November, we were able to safely gather to celebrate the retirement of Gerry Pieroni, General Manager, ReStore Operations. Gerry has been invaluable at Habitat Heartland for over 20 years. The staff and volunteers at Habitat Heartland wish Gerry all the very best in his retirement!
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A letter from Gerry
Dear Habitat Heartland Ontario Staff, Volunteers & Supporters,
I want to thank the entire ReStore staff, Administration staff and dedicated Volunteers of Habitat for Humanity Heartland Ontario for their gracious words and recognition of my retirement from the position of General Manager, ReStores.
For the past 23 years, it has been my pleasure to have served in the position of General Manager, ReStore Operations for Habitat Heartland. It has been a wonderful and rewarding journey. There is a long list of volunteers, staff, donors, and customers that I need to thank for their assistance and support over those years, too many names to list here. The ReStore’s success would not have been possible without their invaluable contributions. I thank all of you most sincerely from the bottom of my heart. The memory of the experiences we shared are in my thoughts every day.
From 1998 - 2011, I was responsible for managing one ReStore in London. Now, we operate 9 ReStore locations in the 6 counties Habitat Heartland serves. While I had a part to play in all this growth, it would not have happened without the vision and support of our CEOs and Board of Directors through the years. Most notably, our most recent success is due to the efforts and vision of our current CEO Brian Elliot and our BOD led by Al MacKinnon. Thank you for trusting me with the responsibility of overseeing the substantial investment that has been made in our ReStore Operations over the past five years.
I hope to see some of you at the 2022 Habitat Canada National Conference, hosted by Habitat Heartland in London this year. Best wishes to all for a happy and healthy holiday season. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
Gerry Pieroni
Retired General Manager, ReStore Operations
Habitat for Humanity Heartland Ontario
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International Volunteer Day |
December 5th was International Volunteer Day! Volunteers are the backbone of our organization, donating their time and expertise to achieving our vision of a world where everyone has a safe, decent place to live. Habitat for Humanity Heartland Ontario would like to recognize and thank all those who dedicate their time to helping make the communities we serve a better place! We appreciate all that you do, thank you.
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High school student volunteer & co-op opportunities! |
Earn your community service hours for graduation, or complete a co-op placement at the ReStore!
Gain valuable experience with volunteer and co-op placement opportunities in our retail space, warehouse, and product testing area at all 9 of our ReStore locations in Brantford, Listowel, London, St. Thomas, Simcoe, Stratford, and Woodstock.
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Thank you to all of our dedicated Habitat volunteers!
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Holiday Sales at the ReStore!
The holiday season is here, and the Habitat Heartland ReStores have special sales on everything you need to make the season bright! Our ReStores are also well stocked with items to help you get your home ready for winter weather.
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ReStore Ornament Fundraiser
Until December 24th, all nine Habitat Heartland Ontario ReStores are holding an ornament fundraiser!
Buy an ornament to add to the ReStore Christmas tree for $2, $5, or $10. All funds raised will go towards Habitat Heartland's builds!
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The best Christmas gift they ever received? That’s easy, teenagers Jamian and Jaquille say. It’s the home their mother Jill built for them. Before partnering with Habitat for Humanity Greater Birmingham, Jill was paying most of her salary from her job at Alabama’s organ donation registry for a too-small apartment where the boys slept on air mattresses in the living room. Now she has a mortgage that is half of what her rent was and her children have rooms of their own — one plastered with University of Alabama posters, the other with posters of chief rival Auburn.
Jill did most of the heavy lifting. She built her Habitat home as part of Habitat Birmingham’s 2018 Home for the Holidays program, which sees two families build two homes in the two weeks leading up to Christmas each year with the help of local sponsors and their volunteers.
Christmastime is now even more magical for Jill’s family because of where and how they spend it. “It is really special that we get to put decorations out,” Jamian says. The real Christmas tree that they now have room for is what’s special for 13-year-old Jaquille. “It smells good,” he says.
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Build strength, stability and self-reliance through affordable homeownership for a local family today,
like Claire's family in Stratford!
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Pacific ReStore
5-40 Pacific Court. London
t: 519-659-1949 ext. 225
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Adelaide ReStore
317 Adelaide St. London
t: 519-659-1949 ext. 281
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Wonderland ReStore
611 Wonderland Rd. N. London
t: 519-659-1949 ext. 261
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Listowel ReStore
1-500 Rocher Rd. Listowel
t: 519-815-8158
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St. Thomas ReStore
5-280 Edward St. St. Thomas
t: 519-631-6868
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Stratford ReStore
598 Lorne Ave East. Stratford
t: 519-273-7155
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Woodstock ReStore
1058 Parkinson Rd. Woodstock
t: 519-421-0003
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Brantford ReStore
80 Morton Ave. E. Brantford
t: (519) 751-7474
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Simcoe ReStore
29 Park Rd. Simcoe
t: (519) 426-8686
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