Committees

Home About Us Helping Families Building Homes Volunteer Donate ReStore

Volunteer Committees

Thank you for considering a contribution of your time and efforts to Habitat for Humanity Niagara.

Most people think of construction work when they think about volunteering for Habitat, but due to the tremendous amount of fundraising, planning, and management required to achieve our mission, we also have constant need for committee volunteers.

The unparalleled expertise and dedication of our committee volunteers helps Habitat Niagara grow and enables us to keep home prices low for our future home-owner families. But you don’t need to be an expert in any of these fields to help out; there are many tasks that require only a willingness to learn and work with others. Volunteers are expected to dedicate two - five hours a month to their particular committee.

Site Selection

The Site Selection Committee's goal is to seek out affordable and viable residential building lots in Municipalities within the Niagara Region on which we can construct simple, decent and affordable housing. The Committee relies on connections with local realtors, professionals and socially-conscious municipalities in finding sites. There is often substantial work required from the Site Selection Committee before a lot is delivered to the Building Committee, including re-zoning and site services such as sewer & water.

Interested in becoming a member of the Site Selection Committee? Contact us: land@habitatniagara.ca

Build

The Building Committee is responsible for determining an appropriate house design for a new property and following through construction to ensure that the house is built according to the selected design and specifications. This involves identifying any specific needs of the selected homeowner, finalizing construction drawings, applying for all of the necessary municipal permits, making arrangements for procurement of materials and construction services, monitoring technical and schedule performance, final inspection of the work and rectification of any deficiencies. Most of the houses are constructed under partnerships with the District School Board of Niagara and Niagara College. Community Volunteer Builds are also part of our mission.

Interested in becoming a member of the Build Committee? Contact us: build@habitatniagara.ca

Family Services

The Family Services Committee participates in two main areas, Family Selection and Family Partnership.

Family Selection

As part of the Family Selection process, you will work with various social service agencies, churches, and community associations to locate low-income families which meet the criteria of Habitat for Humanity Niagara. Committee members review homeowner applications, interview applicants and recommend the families that will partner with Habitat to construct their homes. This involves home visits to establish their present housing inadequacies. Volunteer members of this committee require sensitivity, patience, flexibility and commitment. Some awareness of the issues confronting low-income families and a genuine respect and empathy for them is required. Each member of this committee must sign a confidentiality agreement and make a minimum two-year commitment.

Family Partnership

It is the goal of Family Partnership to provide a vital link between our new families and Habitat, based on trust, respect, responsibility, and privacy. It is our privilege to support and educate a family through all aspects of home ownership from preparing for the move, to participation in Habitat programs, to signing of the final papers, as well as finding additional support through community resources, if needed. This is accomplished through family homeownership workshops that range in topics from budgeting to seasonal home maintenance tips, as well as one-on-one support from the time the family is selected to the happy day they move into their new home and beyond.

Interested in becoming a member of the Family Services Committee? Contact us: familyservices@habitatniagara.ca

Faith Relations

Founded on Christian principles, Habitat for Humanity Niagara believes that putting an end to poverty housing is a mission that all people of faith can accomplish together. The Faith Relations Committee builds and maintains relationships with faith groups of all religions in the twelve municipalities of Niagara. We engage people of all faiths in our work and on our committee through prayerful support, speaking opportunities, volunteer activities, fundraising and donations, family selection support and ongoing spiritual encouragement for families in need.

Habitat is a partnership founded on common ground -- bridging theological differences by putting love into action. Everyone can use the hammer as an instrument to manifest God's love. Habitat founder Millard Fuller calls this concept "the theology of the hammer" explaining, "we may disagree on all sorts of other things... but we can agree on the idea of building homes with God's people in need, and in doing so using biblical economics: no profit and no interest."

Interested in becoming a member of the Faith Relations Committee? Contact us: faith@habitatniagara.ca

Interested in becoming a committee volunteer? Contact us volunteer@habitatniagara.ca