Foundations → Possibilities
Before I started working at Habitat for Humanity GTA, the image of recently poured building foundations didn’t mean a whole lot to me. Now images like the one shown here are a major source of energy and inspiration.
Procuring land is exciting, but having a plot of land doesn’t guarantee what you can build on it, much less when. Foundations, on the other hand, exude possibility.
The foundations in this picture were poured in late June at the site of our Normandy Street build in Oshawa. Pictured here are the foundations for the first block of 18 back-to-back stacked townhomes in a development which, when complete, will provide affordable homes for 50 families.
Against the daily barrage of headlines lamenting the escalating crisis of housing unaffordability in the GTA, the sight of foundations for a new Habitat for Humanity GTA community provides tangible proof of possibility.
Possibility…if we all work together.
It takes political leadership and foresight–in this case, by the Oshawa City Council in ear-marking the property for sale to Habitat for Humanity a number of years ago.
It takes courage–on the part of the then, Habitat for Humanity Durham volunteer board of directors to take on a project that was several quanta larger than anything previously undertaken.
It takes adaptability, by the Habitat Durham and Habitat GTA boards of directors in agreeing in late 2019 to amalgamate the two organizations and create the expertise and capacity to turn land into possibility.
It takes multiple actions seen and unseen by municipal planning staff, consultants, volunteers and others to turn concepts into plans, plans into forms, and forms into foundations.
And now, it will take broad mobilization of an army of volunteers, private donors, local businesses and community partners to turn the possibility of these foundations into a brighter future for some of Durham Region’s hardest working families.
Why does it matter?
It matters because communities thrive when everyone has the foundation of a decent and affordable home from which to begin the work and school day.
It matters because in Canada, homeownership is a proven pathway for both housing stability and upward mobility from one generation to the next.
It matters because the continued escalation of housing prices over the last two decades and the pandemic buying frenzy over the last year have left a growing number of citizens in our communities falling farther and farther behind. The ripple effect is both seen and unseen. Seen in the growing size of the homeless population. Unseen in the growing number of families living in crowded rental units. Unseen in parents working multiple jobs to pay the rent and still struggling to make ends meet. Unseen in children with limited personal space at home for homework. Unseen in the sense of futility and pessimism that can take root when working hard keeps you in the same place and “getting ahead” feels forever out of reach
For decades, housing affordability in Oshawa was not a major headline and in fact, Oshawa and Durham Region were viewed as one of the remaining enclaves of affordability in the GTA. As recently as five years ago, the median household income in Oshawa, at $70,000, was just shy of the threshold required to buy an average home priced at $440,000. Today, average home prices in Oshawa are rapidly approaching $800,000 with half of the increase realized since the start of the pandemic. Meanwhile, median incomes have inched forward at the rate of inflation.
The foundations at Habitat for Humanity GTA’s Normandy Street site represent possibility. Through our unique affordable homeownership model, homeownership at the Normandy Street site will be achievable. Brighter futures will be possible for families with parents who have played vital roles in our communities during the pandemic, including personal service providers, delivery drivers, customer service representatives, restaurant managers, warehouse supervisors, and transit operators.
When they move into their homes at Normandy Street, these families will free up badly needed rental units, creating a positive ripple effect on overall affordable housing supply.
We know from experience with hundreds of Habitat homeowners that the families at Normandy Street will do well after they realize the strength, stability and financial independence of a home that they own. Their incomes will improve. Family health will improve. Kids’ confidence and educational outcomes will improve. And, in time, they will be in a position to move on to their next home, creating yet more possibilities for future lower-income families to repeat the cycle of upward mobility.
The site of foundations will forever serve as energy and inspiration for me. I hope that all who read this will now see the surge of possibility that they represent. Let’s keep at it together!
