Habitat for Humanity will be running a Public Information Meeting on April 7th regarding affordable housing in Portage la Prairie.

Chair of the family selection committee Norman Collier says they're going to go over the qualifications for home-ownership, as well as the schedule of events for Habitat for Humanity in the near future.

"You don't have to call in," notes Collier. "Anybody can attend if they feel they would like more information and if they would like to talk about whether or not they qualify. If they have any questions about the homeownership process for Habitat for Humanity, then by all means they can come by."

He notes they've built 11 homes in Portage so far and are looking to add another two for families in need of housing. He says people who attend the meeting can pick up an application, then Habitat for Humanity will choose who to interview.

"The actual homes won't be built until the fall and over the winter," explains Collier. "The families will move in next spring or summer, hopefully."

Chair Betty-Jean Checkley says they're excited to be back in the business of building homes again in these difficult times.

"So many people are just totally priced out of the market," says Checkley. "It's with inflation and the cost of everything, so it's really difficult for single families and the working poor, and it's a way for people to become homeowners. We give them a hand-up, not a hand-out, and they have to do their sweat equity, which is 500 hours of community work. And that was 95 per cent impossible in COVID times. People couldn't go out into the community, and people that qualified didn't want to expose themselves and take it into their workplace."

Checkley explains that many of the workplaces in town were closed, making it quite a challenge for families to engage in sweat equity.

"So, we were just really regrouping, resting, rebuilding and, looking for different ways to get some seed money so that we could start up again," continues Checkley. "We did have a lot and we were hoping to build a duplex on it, but our site managers felt that it was not the best fit for that kind of build. It just wouldn't be enough yard room or room for two families, so we've ended up purchasing two separate lots."

She notes this will be a double-build, adding they've done this before while situating them more closely. 

"These are not quite side-by-side," adds Checkley. "We haven't been able to do the work that we love to do, and we know how important it is in our community. It's a struggle here for a lot of young families to be able to afford a home."

Checkley says the last family of four that moved in was on October 26, 2019.