By Pam Wright
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
Adam Ferren is glad he took his shot.
Now after going through the lengthy application process, the single dad has the keys to a new Habitat for Humanity home in Chatham.
“It’s like Wayne Gretzky said,” Ferren explained. “‘You miss 100 per cent of the shots you don’t take.’ I took my shot and I scored.”
Ferren, along with his two young children Adalynn, 6, and Maize, 4, are the proud owners of Habit’s latest build, calling one half of a duplex on Houston Avenue home. It’s a bright and airy dwelling with a bathroom, a combined kitchen and living room space, as well as three bedrooms on the main floor. There’s also an unfinished basement with a bathroom, for a total of 1,150 square feet of living area.
Ferren said it’s a great opportunity for his kids who are used to apartment living. Now they’ll have a fenced-in yard with room to grow. The youngsters even got to pick the colours for their bedrooms.
Adalynn went with pink and blue, while Maize chose yellow and blue. That’s the colours of he and his dad’s favourite sports team– the Michigan Wolverines.
Ferren, who heard that Habitat for Humanity C-K was searching for families for the new build, said he decided he’d roll the dice.
“I thought, I’m never going to get a chance to own a home otherwise,” the 43-year-old fibre-optic worker explained. “So why not.”
It was an extensive process, he added, but said he got a lot of help from Habitat staffers Anne Taylor and Mike Coyne.
Taylor, who serves as the director of partnerships and stakeholder relations for Habitat C-K, agrees that it is a lengthy process to apply for homeownership with Habitat.
“We have to make sure it is feasible and we look for families who are able to handle the financial responsibility,” Taylor said, as the payments on the 25-year mortgage equal 25 to 30 per cent of the applicant’s income. Debt also has to be factored in.
“The last thing we want to do is make it too tight,” Taylor said “People need to have money left over to live. We realize it’s a process, but it has to be.”
It’s taken some time to find the right owners for the Houston Avenue dwelling, she added, however, the board of directors recently approved ownership for a single mother with three children for the other half of the duplex.
The other family is expected to move in this summer.
More work on the property still needs to be done, Taylor said. A privacy fence will be built to divide the backyard, and sod still needs to be laid.
Local companies that pitched in materials and man hours on the latest build include Mylen Custom Cabinets, CK Tubs and Taps, Sherwin Williams, Entegrus, AUBI, Sacwal Flooring Centres, Countertops Unlimited, Aurora Exteriors, MOJO Drywall, Waste Connections of Canada, The Shock Doctor, Dover Port-A John, McLean’s Painting Inc., and Handy Bros.
Habitat builds are funded by sales from the ReStore, as well as other fundraising events.
