Dan Galler Guest Writer
Habitat for Humanity is a global nonprofit housing organization working in nearly 1,400 communities in approximately 70 countries around the world. The build site on Pinery Trail in Toronto is a development of 50 Townhomes. The project, started in August 2016, is the largest project Habitat GTA has ever undertaken.
And the men of MDI were there.
The men of the Eastern Canada Region took part in its first “Habitat for Humanity” GTA / MDI Build Days in December 2016. I had the honour of enrolling a group of 12 MDI volunteers to work on this project for the December 10 workday. Now, we hope to have 10 men helping with the build on Saturday, May 27. We are going back to help families reach their dream of owning a home. Affordable housing in the Greater Toronto area has been an increasing challenge in the last few years, so being able to facilitate that is a great feeling. It’s also fun and rewarding to see the results of our efforts.
In the December build day, there were men from four GTA MDI teams represented: Parkour, Catalyst, Northern Quad and Midnight Sons. Also contributing their labour were several spouses, significant others and friends. It was a cool December day, about -5 Celsius, with a bit of snow at times. The group worked in several areas of the project, doing such things as building exterior walls, installing metal fire breaks on the interior party wall plates and nailing posts together for reinforcing the support of interior beams.
Cary Lavine, a member of Midnight Sons, noted that the group really did construction, not just “busy work.” The sounds of hammers, saws and grinders were heard throughout the day. This was all under the direction of the Habitat crew leaders, who did a great job explaining what needed to be done, as well as coaching us along the way.
While we may have been tired and a bit chilled by 4 p.m. as the sun was setting, everyone felt great about what had been accomplished. This will hopefully be the first of many more opportunities to serve. We really could see the results of our efforts, and knowing that we had visibly moved the project forward. It was a wonderful feeling.
For more information contact Dan Galler at galler.dan@gmail.com.
PICTURES OF THE EVENT
https://www.flickr.com/photos/122598541@N02/sets/72157676061296361/
SITE UPDATED LIVE
http://ucitonline.com/habitat2/