Lauzon’s Habitat for Humanity home now move-in ready.

John MacGillis
Lauzon’s Habitat for Humanity home now move-in ready.
The excitement of the Lauzon family as they cut the ribbon in front of the crowd outside their new home (John MacGillis/ Seaway News).

CORNWALL, Ontario – After thousands of hours of volunteer work, donations, and a community coming together to support one another, the Lauzon family is ready to move into their Habitat for Humanity-built-home on Oct. 19.

The Lauzon family, parents Ashley and Shane and there three sons, Kyler, Austin, and Hunter, couldn’t hide their excitement as they stepped into their new home at 1108 Churchill Street. “We are just thrilled and can’t repay the community enough,” said Ashley.

“Our old home had a lot of issues, there was no space and we were always on top of each other, it had a lot of flaws because of how old it had been,” said Ashley Lauzon.

Health, structural, and safety issues made life more trying for their family, according to Ashley Lauzon.

In March 2018, Shane Lauzon learned that he had a non-cancerous tumour in his throat, increasing the difficulty in their lives by adding medical troubles, according to Ashley Lauzon.  “When you’re in a situation where one parent is sick, it is super difficult to ever get ahead, it always feels like you’re trying to get back up again.”

Another issue the Lauzon’s had faced was security with intruders being more common than they ought to be, according to Ashley Lauzon. “We had a lot of break-ins, our old house was at the very back of a road and Shane often works nights, so we really did have a scary security problem at our old house.”

After completing the 500 hours, the amount Habitat for Humanity requires a family to volunteer in the construction of their home in lieu of a traditional down payment, Shane Lauzon worked an additional 200 hours beyond the requirements. The Lauzon’s will also pay their interest-free mortgage to Habitat for Humanity, with the money being used to fund future projects.

Shane often worked on the construction before he went in to work, according to Leigh Taggart, executive director for Habitat for Humanity Cornwall & the Counties.

This home is also armed with a security alarm, to give the Lauzon’s additional peace of mind, according to Taggart.

“Every time it seemed like they were getting back on their feet, something else would happen that would set them back again, so they were really a perfect family for Habitat for Humanity to partner with,” said Taggart.

For the first time in Cornwall, Habitat for Humanity will be building a semidetached home as their next project for the Leaf and Ortiz families. “We’re very excited for this project, especially since we will be able to help more people more quickly,” said Taggart.

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