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About Habitat for Humanity Winnipeg
About HFHW • Annual Reports
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History
Habitat for Humanity Winnipeg (HFHW) was incorporated in 1987 with its first office in the basement of a church on Church Street. We have built more than 160 homes since that time with the Jimmy Carter build in 1993 producing 19 homes, the largest number in any single year.
In 1991, HFHW opened the ReStore, the first of its kind in the world. The idea has proven so sound that there are now 60 ReStores in Canada and several hundred in the USA. Initially the ReStore was in a small building at Palliser Furniture. In 1993 both the office and the store moved to 75 Archibald, occupying those premises until the spring of 2004 when we moved across the street to newly built premises at 60 Archibald. The new location boasts 20,000 square feet of retail space with offices and meeting rooms situated above the store. 75 Archibald was subsequently sold.
In 2005, HFHW organized the Women Build program for the first time in Winnipeg. Two houses were built under the Women Build banner in each of 2005 and 2006 and single homes in 2007 and 2008.
2006 saw HFHW serve as the pilot affiliate for a new program: National Student Build, which brought together students from across the country to build a home. In 2007, that program expanded to become the National Youth Build with homes built in seven Canadian cities, including Winnipeg. In 2008, we were unable to secure a Youth Build Corporate Sponsor in Winnipeg but continued the program using funds from our general fund raising pool. We have been successful is signing a three year sponsorship agreement for Youth Build commencing in 2009.
2007 also saw us build our first “visitable” home designed to permit easy wheelchair access to the home and around the main floor of the home including wide hallways doorways and turning radius in the bathroom. In 2008, Habitat for Humanity Winnipeg made a policy decision to design and build all of our homes to be wheelchair accessible on the main floor.
In 2008, a landmark partnership was announced - The Manitoba Lotteries Habitat for Humanity Legacy Build Program. This is a first in Canada and can provide up to $5 million to Habitat for Humanity (HFH) communities in Manitoba. MLC is donating up to $2.5 million over a five-year period, and with matching support from other donors, as well as the investment of future mortgage payments, read a fund will be created to enable the construction of homes for low-income working families for decades.
The unique program, which assists the Manitoba’s Habitat communities including Winnipeg (which includes Chez Soi), Brandon, Portage la Prairie, South East, Selkirk and The Pas, has been created to encourage both families and communities to work together to provide housing for low-income working families.
Also in 2008, Habitat for Humanity Winnipeg (HFHW) announced a partnership with the Manitoba Metis Federation –Winnipeg Region (MMF), specifically its service delivery arm the Winnipeg Metis Association (WMA), to construct 10 new energy efficient homes for low-income working Winnipeg Metis families. The 10 new homes will cost $1.5 million to construct and the Province of Manitoba will be contributing $1 million in funding towards the program. The remaining $500,000 will be raised through various HFHW fundraising efforts. Five of the new Habitat homes will be built in 2009 with the remaining five in 2010.
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