Niagra Falls Review
Thursday, August 18, 2016
By Ray Spiteri
Abdulrazaq Ali talks things over with Karen Dolyniuk, chief development officer for Habitat for Humanity, at his Habitat house build on Caledonia Street in Niagara Falls. Ali is hoping to move into the house in late September with his wife and nine children. (Mike DiBattista/Niagara Falls Review/Postmedia Network)
The Ali family’s dream of owning their own home is closer to becoming a reality.
Abdulrazaq Ali continues to help build his Habitat for Humanity house on Caledonia Street, where he, his wife and nine children are scheduled to move in by late September.
Construction began in June.
The family is originally from Somalia and is currently living in a two-bedroom apartment that has a storage room converted into a third bedroom.
Ali said the family has been on the waiting list for affordable housing for six years. When some friends told him about the Habitat for Humanity program, he applied a year ago and was approved.
“I’m building my own home and it’s amazing,” he said. “It will be a bigger place than where we are now with space to have some privacy for me and my family.
“We’re going from one washroom to two washrooms, no basement to having a basement, and from small rooms to bigger and more rooms.”
Another benefit of the new home is it will be right around the corner from James Morden elementary school, where the Ali children attend, which means they won’t have to change schools.
Owning a Habitat home isn’t as simple as getting the keys and walking into a new house. Families actually purchase their home with an affordable, no-interest, no-down-payment mortgage. The new homeowners are required to commit 500 sweat-equity hours, helping build their own homes alongside volunteers.
In addition to Habitat volunteers, a team of six-to-eight people from Ontario Power Generation were on the Caledonia Street site Wednesday to help with the build.
OPG, as well as Diamond Estates Winery, helped sponsor the build.
“We have all taken a vacation day to come here and help out,” said Don Gagnon, production manager for OPG.
“It’s to give back to the community, to give back to people that could use the help.
“We think it’s a good cause, we’ve supported this program in years past, coming out and helping Habitat for Humanity with their builds.”
Ali works at Great Wolf Lodge and Karen Dolyniuk, chief development officer for Habitat, said some co-workers also plan to come out and help with the build.
Construction on the Caledonia Street home began in June and the dedication day is scheduled to be Sept. 22, said Craig Brown, construction manager for Habitat.
He said because the house is going to be home to 11 people, it’s a “much larger home” than typical Habitat builds as far as square footage.
“For a smaller family we wouldn’t have finished the basement,” said Brown. “Our typical homes are around 1,100-square-feet. Including the finished part of the basement, (the Caledonia Street home is) approaching 1,700 to 1,800-square-feet.”
The Caledonia Street home is the 51st Habitat build in Niagara.
Dolyniuk said the organization broke ground on its 52nd home Wednesday on Crescent Road in Fort Erie.
She said the excavation for that home is scheduled to start by the end of August.
Dolyniuk said Habitat keeps in touch with families after they have moved into their new homes.
“It’s very transformational. We hear many stories about how the stability of having their own home and owning their own home has really changed the lives of the children in many cases.”
That includes health benefits, she said.
“We had a story of one family who moved in and their doctor … when he saw them every week for asthma, treating all the kids, he thought they had moved away from Niagara, but in fact they moved into a stable home that was safe and was decent and it cleared up health issues.
“School has improved because children have that stability of home, they’re not in fear of moving. They have space to enjoy. Many times the kids invite friends home and that’s the first time they have sleepovers and things that most families just consider normal.”