FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Habitat York serves the communities of York Region: Markham, Newmarket, Vaughan, Richmond Hill, King, Whitchurch-Stouffville, Aurora, East Gwillimbury, Georgina and the Town of Bradford West Gwillimbury

112,500 local area families in our communities are living in low income households, which have increased by 55% since 2001. The number of children living in low income households has increased by 62%.

In 2008, there were 6,028 social housing units operated and/or administered by York Region with over 5,838 household on the waiting list for a unit.

Habitat York provides relief to our strained social housing system by providing the opportunity of affordable home-ownership to more of our community members who cannot afford conventional housing financing. By providing this opportunity, we leave crucial social housing spots for those members of the community who are especially vulnerable: those who are physically or mentally disabled and those seeking aid and protection.

Research from the UK has shown that there is a higher risk of poor health and educational under-achievement among those who live in low income households. This in turn may affect their economic prospects and increases the risk of unemployment or working in low-paid jobs. Adults with basic skills are five times as likely to be unemployed as those with average skills.

Habitat York has helped 11 families realize their dream of home ownership. There are Habitat Homes in the communities of Newmarket, Keswick, Mount Albert, and Markham. By building decent, affordable housing we allow our families to build equity in their own homes rather than spend a disproportionate amount of income on over-crowded sub-standard housing.

Habitat York provides a “hand up, not a hand out”. Home owners are selected on basis of need. They must be living or working in York Region for a minimum of one year, live below the poverty line and reside in inadequate housing. Selected homeowners must be able to provide a minimum of 500 hours of labour (Sweat Equity) and they must also be able to take on a 25-35 year no-profit, no-interest mortgage, to repay the original fair market value of their home.

Habitat York holds the mortgage on each Habitat Home. If the family income rises, so does their monthly mortgage payment. Mortgage payments go into a revolving fund to build more affordable homes in York Region.

For each of our builds, Habitat York will be using sustainable building practices by working to obtain LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Certification. LEED Green Building Rating System™ encourages and accelerates global adoption of sustainable green building and development practices through the creation and implementation of universally understood and accepted tools and performance criteria.

Good housing contributes to a strong infrastructure by attracting economic investment and development. Housing construction creates job opportunities and stimulates the creation and subsistence of small business.

Between 2012 - 2015, Habitat York plans to impact the lives of 22 low-income families in York Region, and consistently build a minimum of 10 homes per year beyond 2012.

Habitat York’s fundraising goal is $5 million, which will go towards our vital home building program. Fundraising efforts are essential in our efforts to purchase land, building materials and contract specialized trades for project leadership. Habitat York receives no government funding to support its valuable home building program.

100% of your donation will go towards our building initiatives. All administrative costs are funded through revenue generated from our ReStore.