A family that didn’t have adequate insurance when the wildfire tore through the region will start to see progress on their property.
NGOs Supporting Uninsured and Underinsured Residents (NSUUR) will break-ground on their first rebuild on Sunday, July 9 in Beacon Hill.
Crystal Lewis-Wilton, executive director with Habitat for Humanity told MyMcMurray that construction should start in the next two weeks.
“We are just in the permitting phase right now. This one we did similar to the Railway Avenue home where we worked with our Edmonton pre-fab shop, so it is a panel home. The panels have actually already arrived, were waiting on the foundation work,” said Lewis-Wilton.
NSUUR will be busy throughout the summer with six homes needing to be rebuilt.
Habitat for Humanity will build three and Mennonite Disaster Service and World Renew will work together to build another three.
Lewis-Wilton said that Mennonite Disaster Service pre-built their homes in Saskatchewan and they are expected to be on the homeowner’s lot by July 24.
There is no cut-off date for accepting applications for the NSUUR program.
“We are always looking for new applications. If there are still people out there in the community who are uninsured or underinsured and they think they might need some support with a rebuild or repair work they can come forward,” said Lewis-Wilton. “We are keeping the process open knowing people are at different stages in their recovery.”
To be eligible you do need to be a homeowner and it has to be your primary residence, from there NSUUR will conduct a needs assessment and a financial review.
“With the clients we take on, the expectation is that they are contributing to their recovery as well. They need to put in whatever they can toward their own rebuild and we make up the difference with volunteer labour, discounted materials and donations of money to cover whatever is outstanding,” said Lewis-Wilton.
Lewis-Wilton said Habitat for Humanity and the other organizations have done fundraising and that they are still reaching out to local businesses to see what kind of help they can offer through discounted products and services.
Habitat for Humanity also received a $500,000 donation last year from the Bank of Montreal to go toward rebuilding five homes.
If you are underinsured or uninsured and think you need support you can contact the NSUUR Coordinator at nsuurwoodbuffalo@gmail.com or by phone at 780-747-1201.
