Hydronics
The industry
a hand
lends
2014
marks the 20th anniversary of the CIPH/HRAI partnership with Habitat for Humanity Canada, a partnership that raises funds and takes in product donations from our industry members to help provide lowincome families with their own homes. While not all homes receive a hydronic heating system, a number of the more recent builds have, and my company has had the good fortune to be a part of some of them. I personally first became familiar with Habitat for Humanity when its founder, the late Millard Fuller, was the honorary doctorate recipient during my graduation from university. He told the story of how he became a self-made millionaire before the age of 30 and then decided to dedicate his life (and fortune) to helping others by “building a better world, one house at a time.” A quick Google search on his name will provide lots of interesting information about this amazing individual and the history of Habitat for Humanity. It was a number of years later before I personally got involved with a local Habitat affiliate as a member of their construction committee. Part of my job was to order building materials from the “Gift In Kind” site for our local builds. Many of those product donations were from CIPH and HRAI members.
$10 Million Through its charitable partnership, CIPH and HRAI and its members have helped raise over $10 million in cash and product donations for Habitat for Humanity Canada to date. The 2014-2015 campaign was kicked off this past March at a special gala event held the night before the CMPX trade show in Toronto.
Although the builds use donated labour and materials, there is a bit of a misconception that the homes are free. Qualifying families must show a level of need, have the ability to pay a Habitat mortgage, and have the willingness to partner with Habitat to contribute to the build of their new home. Each family must contribute a total of 500 hours of “sweat equity” to their home build. This participation helps foster a better sense of community and pride in ownership for the partner families. Once the families move into their homes, they pay their mortgage to Habitat based on the fair market value of the home. They do not require a down payment, and the mortgage is interest-free to help make the monthly payments affordable, but homeowners do pay for their purchase.
Adopt-a-Day As part of the 20th anniversary of the CIPH/HRAI Habitat for Humanity partnership, members of our industry have the opportunity to “adopt-a-day” with Habitat where companies can participate in the HfH Halton build. This is the site where a 13-unit townhouse complex is being built, on a street named in honour of Case De Jong, who was instrumental in the industry’s adoption of Habitat for Humanity Canada as a major charitable cause while chairing the CIPH charity committee. Please contact Matt Wiesenfeld at CIPH for details if you are interested in participating (m.wiesenfeld@ciph.com).
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