There was a point in time when Rutland Williams and his physically disabled daughter thought they might never have a home to call their own.
Running desperately low on money, forced to the people of Thunder Bay to come through in the crunch to support their $100,000 lottery, the local chapter of Habitat for Humanity at one point thought they might not be able to build a single house in Thunder Bay last year.
But the public came through in the crunch, and although Williams’s daughter has yet to move into the Johnson Avenue home, he’s ecstatic to finally be moved in.
All that’s left is a few renovations to his daughter’s bedroom and a family they’ll be all over again.
“It was a very good feeling, one that I enjoy,” said Williams, who immigrated to Thunder Bay in 1980 from his native Jamaica.
“Now that I’m in all I have to do is get some things together for the rest of my family, to move in.”
There’s a lot to keep Williams, owner of the Caribbean Kitchen, smiling these days.
One look around his new home is all it takes for the hardworking Williams, who has struggled for years to make ends meet for his family, to beam.
“There’s lots to like about it. Right now I’m just liking to get the feel of it, to get to know it a little better,” said Williams, one of several people on the waiting list for a new home before his name was chosen.
Habitat for Humanity Thunder Bay CEO Diane Mitchell said it was a close call this year, a scenario she hopes never repeats itself again.
“Phew,” she said. “We did it. It’s not we, as in Habitat, it’s we as in community. And the community of Thunder Bay came together and was able to raise the money for the raffle last year at this time to be able to build this home.
“It was not only the community that raised the funds to do this, but the community that pulled together, like the sponsors of this house who gave us gifts in kind and things they gave us for free to be able to build the house. And also it was our volunteers.”
Mitchell said the financial concerns appear to have taken care of themselves.
Williams, who will pay a mortgage to Habitat for Humanity, will actually see that money put into a collective pot, along with the mortgages from other home recipients in past years, allowing the organization to continue on.
“We’re at the point now with Rutland’s family that we’ll get enough mortgage payments at Habitat for Humanity Thunder Bay to build a house every year for us. So that’s exciting for us,” Mitchell said.
She added the organization hopes to raise enough additional money to start building a second home in the fall.
