ELORA – Habitat for Humanity Guelph Wellington has a different kind of fundraiser in store this year.
Rather than host a gala event geared to adults, the organization is holding a “Hands On for Housing” Showcase involving 150 high school students from the Upper Grand and Wellington Catholic school boards.
What’s at stake? The future of housing. Who will talk about it? Students, whose very future may depend upon solving the current housing crisis.
Some 43 per cent of youth aged 20 to 29 still live with their parents – not because they don’t want to leave, but because they can’t afford to.
“This is a call to action to start looking at the future of housing,” said Habitat’s director of communications and resource development Karyn Boscariol.
“We realized we wanted to pivot and make our fundraiser focus on youth.”
From Nov. 6 to 8 three groups of students will be transported by bus to the Grand River Raceway in Elora for a three-day symposium that culminates with the showcase event on Nov. 8 from 6 to 9pm.
One group, in the skilled trades program, will build backyard sheds that will be auctioned off during the showcase.
“We really need to prioritize a love and interest in skilled trades,” said Boscariol, noting droves of baby boomers are retiring, leaving a void in the trades.
These students will be guided by volunteer leaders who supervise Habitat’s build sites.
“Structurally, a shed mimics a house on a small scale,” Boscariol said. “We hope in time the students can build tiny homes that could help the homeless population.”
The second group, in the Beyond Borders program, will attend workshops on affordable housing, prepare and circulate a survey about the future of housing among their peers, and present their report on the future of housing based on those results.
The third group is an interior design class. They will take items from the ReStore, refurbish them, and present them for silent auction in “rooms” they have also designed.
“This is making youth the focus of everything,” Boscariol said.
“Youth have the platform and youth will tell us the future of housing. It does not have to be bleak if they are equipped with knowledge and skills.
“If you give youth a platform, it’s usually mind-blowing what they come up with. I think it will be amazing.”
Tickets for the event are $40 and include food and non-alcoholic beverages as well as the Beyond Borders presentation and the chance to bid on auction items. They can be purchased at habitatgw.ca/hofh-tickets.
Anyone who finds the ticket price a financial barrier is invited to reach out to Boscariol at karyn@habitatgw.ca.
There will also be trade show booths. Linamar will take people up the scissor lift, Conestoga College’s Women in Trades program will do some on-site welding, and there will be other demonstrations to watch as well.
Boscariol is grateful to all sponsors but gave a shout-out to the Guelph and Elora Rona stores, which are supplying all the raw materials for the shed builds.
And while organizers have lofty goals of raising $50,000 to $100,000 at the event, “What we really want is to make this successful. For me it’s about community building,” Boscariol said.
“We need people with ears there, to hear what the students have to say.”
For more information, visit habitatgw.ca.
