Habitat for Humanity Sarnia-Lambton celebrated the start of construction for two link homes at 774 Devine St. with a ground-breaking ceremony Tuesday morning.
The Tshangala family, who emigrated to Canada from the Democratic Republic of the Congo three years ago, will be the recipients of one home built, in part, by volunteers with Ontario Works.
The second home is Habitat's second WomenBuild project and will support Ryan Hastings and Adam Hutchinson, two young men with developmental challenges.
Director of Build Services Kim Racher says their families are working with Lambton County Developmental Services to pilot a new care delivery model for their sons.
"It's such a blessing to the family to know that as the parents age, there's somewhere for those boys to go and have a safe home," she says.
Racher says 12 teams each comprised of 12-15 local women will each take ownership of a build day in the construction schedule. They'll also be tasked with raising a minimum of $250 each for the project, to raise about $50,000.
Mother Kathleen Hutchinson says they can now imagine a new beginning for Adam, 29, who is visually impaired and developmentally delayed.
"I'm worried about being older and not being able to take care of him," she says. "It's all going to be safe, it's all going to be on one level and there will be some grab bars, things like that. He will have staff come in who he will get to know."
Ryan, 32, has extreme developmental delays with autistic tendencies and will be sharing the home with Adam.
Each home will feature three bedrooms, a full bathroom, an open concept kitchen and main floor dining and living rooms with a partially finished basement.
It's expected construction will begin early next week with an estimated completion date in late September.
