Habitat for Humanity Lake Country build nears completion

Despite skyrocketing real estate prices across the Okanagan, three local families are now just weeks away from becoming homeowners.

The families will be the first to occupy brand new townhomes, constructed as part of Habitat for Humanity’s Lake Country build.

“It’s perfect, wow!” said Amber Biglow.

Back in 2018, the mother of three knew just how difficult becoming a homeowner could be, especially in the Okanagan. So, she turned to Habitat for Humanity for help.

Her application was thrown into a pool along with hundreds of others before she was contacted after a seven-month screening process.

“We were actually in Vancouver at the time. My son Liam was having surgery, so it was my daughter Logan and I in a car … when we got the call and it was surreal, it was absolutely surreal,” Biglow told Global Okanagan.

One of three families moving into their new, three-bedroom Lake Country Home on May 1, Amber’s story resonated with the local Habitat team.

“Amber and her family have been living in her mom’s house who has really wanting to get rid of that so she can retire,” said Habitat for Humanity CEO Andrea Manifold.

“Amber’s son also had some health challenges. She’s a single mom and we know that trying to get a house in the Okanagan as a single mom is a challenge and then you throw in all the other (complexities) of her family and it’s just heartwarming to see that she will be moving into her house in a few weeks.”

Amber and her two kids are one of eight families set to move into phase one of the Powley Crescent project in Lake Country, which cost more than $3.1 million to construct.

“We actually finance the build and then the home is purchased from Habitat,” said Manifold.

“The mortgage, however, is geared to their income. So their mortgage and other associated homeowner costs cannot exceed 30 per cent of their gross annual income and we maintain that every year. We check every year what their income is and then we realign the mortgage, so it’s truly affordable “

In addition to the homes nearing completion at the Lake Country build site, Habitat Okanagan has already begun the process of raising the $1.4 million it needs to build a four-plex on the very same build site, with the goal of beginning construction, sometime next year.

For Amber and her family, it’s about putting the uncertainty of where they live to bed.

“I am on my own,” she noted. “Just knowing that my kids are going to have a place to stay, it’s a weight off my shoulders that I don’t have to worry about.”

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