Staff at Youville Home give the gift of a household
Staff at Youville Home in St. Albert help residents in their care facility everyday. But on Saturday, September 22, they teamed up with Habitat for Humanity to build affordable houses in the St. Albert community.
“We all experience moments of need at varying degrees. It is an honour to be here to help,” said Heather MacGillivray, Director of Care at Youville Home.
The staff recognize that it can be difficult to find a reasonably priced permanent home in the St. Albert area. Seeing this as an opportunity to give back to those in their community, they decided to take action.
“I think it’s really important to lead by example. It fits in with what we believe in at Covenant Health – especially when you think about helping the most vulnerable population. Those are the people who want a hand up, not a hand out,” said Sherry Botti, Clinical Educator.
Heather added that building affordable homes in the area ‘helps with employability as many people have difficulty with the commute to St. Albert’.
Saddled up with tool belts, hard hats, safety goggles and steel toe boots, the group of 16 staff and three family members worked in various capacities on 14 homes. Some helped with insulation, window structures while others installed kitchen cabinets and cleaned the houses that were completely developed.
“With this, you can actually give your time and your expertise to something meaningful. This is affordable housing to help people get started,” said Craig Pritchard, Maintenance Coordinator.
Staff at Youville Home are always looking for ways to give back, and to instill those values not just within their own facility, but also throughout the community. They have looked into a couple of initiatives including a penny drive, which would be donated to a local charity.
“It’s about our staff wanting to be here to help, from our leadership group to frontline staff,” said Heather.
The houses will be ready for families to move into starting October to December 2012. Qualified families can apply through Habitat for Humanity.
View photos of the Youville Home team in our Photo Gallery!