Members of the media and invited guests were on hand to launch the first “Home at Last” affordable home ownership project. “Home at Last” is a public-private partnership made up of the London and St. Thomas Association of REALTORS®, the London Home Builders Association, the London Affordable Housing Foundation and Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation.
The goal of “Home at Last” is to help families currently residing in assisted housing achieve their dream of home ownership and, in so doing, to free up an assisted housing unit for a household on the London and Middlesex Housing Corporation’s waiting list. At the end of October 2006, there were 3,442 families on that waiting list.
Media and guests were also able to meet for the first time the family who will be calling the soon-to-be-renovated house at 836 Lovett Street “home, sweet home,” Andrew Neilson and Vicki Schnurr and their daughters Arianna (15) and Talia (6).
“We’ve had phenomenal cooperation and support in this venture,” says Mike Carson, Chair of the London and St. Thomas Association of REALTORS® Community Relations Advisory Group and that organization’s President-Elect. “The City of London came forward with a grant of $10,000 towards the project and individuals and corporations have been extraordinarily generous in their donation of both goods and services.”
“Our Members will be involved in every aspect of the renovation,” comments Carmine Gargarella, Chair of the London Home Builders Association’s Community Service Committee. “Their generosity and commitment to making this work is a testament to the value they place upon making our community a better place one family at a time.”
The project will serve as a kind of field classroom for High School Construction students, who will be observing and, at times, assisting LHBA Members with the renovation. While onsite, students will be supervised by their teacher and qualified tradesmen and builders. The partners hope to have the renovations completed by February 14, 2007 – Valentine’s Day.
“This renovation is our pilot project,” says Gargarella, “and, while we can’t predict just how many renovations we will end up doing, it is certainly our expectation and our goal to make the program ongoing and sustainable.”
