$2,120.00

Habitat Manitoba Builds Houses for Families in Need!

One of our 2021 Partner Families is Gemina and her daughter Jancis.  (Featured in Image above)

Gemina, originally from the African East Coast, immigrated to Canada in 2011 with her then, 5-year-old daughter Jancis who is deaf.  They lived with her Mother in British Columbia before moving to Montreal for the possibility of cochlear implants for Jancis.  When this opportunity failed, they moved to Winnipeg to live with her Aunt who cared for the two of them until Gemina found a job as a health care aid.  They moved into their own apartment, a small two-bedroom basement apartment. The apartment rent is quite high and located in an unsafe and noisy area.
  
Gemina applied to the Habitat for Humanity homeowner program in Manitoba in May 2019 and was accepted into the program in October 2020.  When asked what this means to her and her daughter, she said, “With the COVID tension in the world, this was feel good news for us.  Jancis is feeling so happy and is determined to work hard in school.  We are looking forward to being in a safe neighbourhood and to finally be a homeowner where we can create memories together. It’s a new beginning for us.”  She has started the eight-week Habitat Homeowner training course being delivered virtually and is thrilled that this program exists to help her learn how to be a good homeowner.

Jancis is now 14 years old and a very active teenager.  She attends the Manitoba School for the Deaf which is an hour bus ride to school everyday.  Her Habitat home will be located in the Amber Trails development on Templeton Avenue and will reduce her commute to 15 minutes; she is thrilled about this.  Jancis is looking forward to decorating her new room, something she hasn’t been able to do in a rental property.  She enjoys being active outside and playing basketball and learning how to ice skate. Jancis is also writing a story for Habitat that will count towards the required 500 hours of sweat equity.  
 
As soon as Jancis’ school found out that her and her Mom were accepted into the program, Ricki Hall, her teacher, reached out to Habitat to learn how they could be involved.  They plan on using one of their professional development days to help build Jancis and Gemina’s home. Ricki has also offered to assist the construction team with the home’s visual requirements including visual doorbells and fire alarms. 
 
Gemina wanted to makes sure that we mentioned in her bio how grateful she is for every single Women Build volunteer, sponsor and donor who are making her dream of owning her own home a reality.  She can’t wait to meet all of you and thank you in person.