CORNWALL, Ontario – On Thursday, July 9, Habitat for Humanity Cornwall broke ground on what will be the new home for the Ortiz family.
This will be the 15th local home built by Habitat for Humanity in Cornwall and the surrounding counties.
The home is expected to be completed by Christmas 2020 when it will be appraised and sold to the Ortiz family with a zero per cent mortgage amortized by Habitat for Humanity over 20 years.
“At the beginning we didn’t know we would be selected but we never lost faith.” said David Ortiz “Now we’re here with you and we’re here to work and build the house.”
Families who are selected to be partners with Habitat for Humanity have demonstrated a need for a new home. For the Ortiz family, their current home is too small for their needs. Small bedrooms have meant that furniture such as dressers have been pushed into the hall way creating safety issues.
Habitat for Humanity will be building on land donated by the City of Cornwall. The original plan was to build their first semi-detached home for the Ortiz family and the Leaf family, but COVID-19 has meant that they will now be constructing separated buildings, one in 2020 for the Ortiz family and one in 2021 for the Leaf family.
“Our home build will definitely be a little different this year,” said Leigh Taggart, Executive Director of Habitat for Humanity Cornwall & the Counties. “We will not be able to engage as many volunteers on the build and much of our fundraising for the home build has been postponed or cancelled. However in light of a global pandemic, the fact that we are here today and prepared to begin construction on our next local home build speaks to the tremendous support from local organizations, government and our community.”
