Home for the holidays

Mike Kehler likes to work with his hands.

The 25-year-old student often worked on carpentry projects with his father and together they even built a barn. Kehler continued to follow his interest and enrolled in Confederation College’s trade program. Now in his second year, his program co-ordinator asked him and his classmates if they wanted to participate in an apprenticeship program with Habitat for Humanity.

The students went to work Monday to help with the building of Habitat for Humanity’s Mary Street home. Kehler and 22 other students in the program, with guidance from AbitibiBowater employees, started to put up the walls Wednesday and expected to have the roof on by the end of the week.

"I think this is a great experience," Kehler said. "Usually we would be in the classroom being told how things are done. Now we get a chance for everybody in the class to see different ways on how to do things and put them all together and build a house."

While he’s getting hands on work, he said what makes the experience better is knowing the house is going to help a family in need.

But there are a few challenges before the family moves in around December. The biggest being organizing all the students and working as a team, he said.

Diane Mitchell, CEO of Habitat for Humanity, said it is the first time that the organization has worked with Confederation College and AbitibiBowater on building a home.

"The family is excited they’re going to move in before Christmas," Mitchell said. "We’ll have kids in the house. They already picked out their bedrooms and where they want to sleep. We help families in need. These are families that are working poor and people who just need a handup…not a handout."

Mitchell said the Canadian Revenue Agency chooses families based on their income, their ability to pay off an interest free mortgage and complete 500 hours of community service.

Richard Groves, forestry manager with AbitibiBowater, said they provided the lumber and additional workers to help in the construction. He said it was an excellent opportunity for the company to be active in the community and they jumped at the chance to participate.

"Not only do we get to promote wood as a building material but we get to see our product in a home right in our backyard," Groves said. "It’s a great three-way initiative for us."