Habitat for Humanity enlists the army to help build new home
A family of seven will soon move into a new home in Oromocto thanks to Habitat for Humanity.
Samantha Hayes and her husband Greg have five children ranging from 10 months to 12 years old.
The last two years have been challenging for the family — their oldest daughter, Mya, was diagnosed with juvenile diabetes, and their oldest son, Caden, was diagnosed with Crohn's disease.
"It was a rough road then, and we just had quite a small home that we were going to try to renovate as we went along," Samantha said. "But once that happened it just went downhill from there."
The family's current house is too small and has a number of issues that need to be fixed.
"Our water pressure is awful. We can't do a shower and the dishwasher at the same time or flush the toilet because there's no water pressure at all. Just horrible insulation.The windows are older," she said.
Habitat for Humanity enlisted help from Base Gagetown, and a crew of engineers from the Canadian Armed Forces have been building the house for the last month.
Sgt. Mark Dorherty said it's not something they get to do very often.
"It's a good experience for us," he said. "We framed up the house. We did all the plumbing rough-ins, the underground work, we did the electrical rough-in."
The military is wrapping up its stage of construction this week, and other volunteers from the community will finish up the build over the next couple of months.
On Thursday, the family got a chance to see the progress on their new home and to say thanks to the army engineers who have been on site for the last four weeks.
Perry Kendall, the CEO of Habitat for Humanity in Fredericton, said the family was a perfect fit for a home from the organization.
"Today was a special day," he said. "Not only was it an opportunity for the family to say thank you to the Canadian Forces team members that have been working on the home over the past month, but it was also the first time that they got to see the home in this in the state it's in today."
The Hayes family got a tour of the inside of the home before the drywall is installed. It was enough to excite family members who spent the morning sorting out who would get each room.
Samantha said the new house will give the family the space it needs.
"Right now the two boys share a small room. The three girls share another room, so there's no room for them to play."
And the family will no longer have to worry about old plumbing problems when they move in.
"Every winter at the place we're at now, the pipes freeze and it's usually days before we can get them to thaw out — that's going to be great to not have to worry about that. "
The Hayes family will be able to move into the house in November.
