The second home to be constructed through Habitat for Humanity in the Estevan area is virtually ready for its owners to move in.
Construction started last summer on the home, located in the Matchett Bay subdivision in northeast Estevan. Holly Boreski and Chris Lewis and their four children are the partner family.
Doug Barnstable, who is the chairperson for the Estevan Habitat for Humanity chapter, said they have been working on the final tasks, such as painting, installation and cleanup before the partner family moves in.
“We got the things we plan to do still in the spring,” said Barnstable. “There’s some stone on the exterior and some siding in the exterior, as well as the landscaping that we’ll be doing in the spring.”
The family is expected to move in this week. They have started to move some things over to the room, and some items were in storage in the garage.
The Estevan chapter had hoped to have the home finished and the family moved in by Jan. 1, but they decided to push the move-in date back by a few days so they wouldn’t have the move taking place while construction on the interior is still taking place.
Lewis and Boreski have been spending a lot of time at the build site during the Christmas holidays to help ensure the house is ready to go for them, and to fulfill the sweat equity hours that are associated with being a partner family.
A key ceremony, which is the highlight of any Habitat for Humanity build, is expected to take place later this month, but it likely won’t be at the house, since the family will have already moved in.
Barnstable said it’s not common to have the family move in before the key ceremony, but the ceremony is still a good opportunity to mark the milestone and to recognize those who were involved with the build.
Fundraising for this latest build has been a challenge due to the state of the economy and other fundraisers happening in the community. They will continue to fundraise into 2020 to pay for the remaining work.
Barnstable noted that Habitat for Humanity chapters need to build a home every three years. Their first home was completed in 2017, so they had to have this home built by the end of 2020.
Once the exterior work is complete on this latest project, the three-year cycle will start again, so the Estevan chapter will need to construct a new home by mid-2023.
“We’re going to likely need a three-year period to put all of the funding together for the next one.”
