Ivan and Natalie Scowen have found their new home and now they are looking forward to meeting their new neighbours at the Habitat for Humanity tri-plex under construction in Vernon.
The parents and their three children have rented over the last few years and they are the first to be successful in applying to purchase one of the units on East Hill.
“Ivan and I are so pleased to see construction underway,” said Natalie.
“The kids love visiting the building site and seeing the walls go up. They are so excited, trying to imagine where things will fit in their new rooms and what colour they will choose for their bedroom walls.”
On a more practical level, Ivan is happy to be working off the family’s sweat equity in the project.
“We need a total of 500 hours working on our own unit or any other Habitat project,” he said.
“We are already up to 50 hours. Natalie and I enjoyed framing a wall in the basement last week. I have done some construction work but this is Natalie’s first try. I drive a truck in the summer and do drywall in the winter so I do have some experience.”
Two units in the complex are unclaimed.
“We really didn’t push for applicants as hard as we might have last winter when the project was first approved by the City of Vernon,” said Glory Westwell, Habitat for Humanity chairperson.
“Habitat for Humanity builds such as this one are largely overseen by volunteer contractors and sub-contractors. That is certainly the case with our situation. Heartwood Homes have been especially helpful but, as one might expect, they needed to fulfill their commitments to projects already underway prior to starting ours. We are more than pleased to welcome them on site and with things now progressing nicely and the building rising rapidly out of the ground, we are once again soliciting applicants to purchase the existing units.”
Interested applicants can request an application form at famvernonhabitat@yahoo.ca.