Renovated house becomes home for second Habitat family

OTTAWA — It’s a long way from war-torn Congo to a neighbourhood in Orléans for a family of seven struggling to find a new life and appropriate housing. But thanks to Habitat for Humanity, that journey is almost complete for the Hachokake family.

“You made some really tough decisions,” Habitat Habitat CEO Donna Hicks said Tuesday at a dedication ceremony for the family’s new home. “You left your homeland. And even though it was war torn, your family was there and your friends were there, and your livelihood was there. And you came to a strange land where you didn’t speak our language, where our customs were different. And even our food was different. But you had such a strong faith, you believed in yourselves, you believed in God, and you believed that there was a better life here for your children.”

The Hachokakes, parents Charlotte and Christophe and their five children, who range in age from five months to 17 years old, fled the Democratic Republic of Congo and came to Canada via Zambia in 2003.

Although Christophe Hachokake found steady, full-time employment at the École secondaire publique Louis-Riel in Gloucester and the family exercises tight budgeting, home ownership was a distant dream until 2009 when the Hachokakes qualified for a Habitat home. The Habitat program requires 500 hours of sweat equity from the family, which can be earned at Habitat build sites, the organization’s Restores and through other volunteer activities, in exchange for a new or retrofitted home with an interest-free mortgage.

In the case of the Hachokakes, they are receiving a retrofitted Habitat home at 906 Hiawatha Park, a family-oriented neighbourhood near Jeanne d’Arc Boulevard North and Orléans Boulevard, just steps away from the Ottawa River.

Standing on the front deck, anchored by two soaring pines, Hicks praised the hard work of those who helped to give the family a safe place to raise their children. She was joined by a group of 25 that included build sponsors, neighbours, volunteers and the family.

“I am very, very happy to be here for this special event,” said Christophe Hachokake, an energetic and well-liked janitor. “I’m not surprised at all by the generosity that I’ve found in Canada.”

The 12-year-old bungalow was once owned by another Habitat family, but the single mother’s children had grown up and moved out. So she thought it was time for another family to have the opportunity to bring up their children in a stable and secure environment.

Hicks said when a family gives a home back to Habitat, they receive the money that they have invested in the home, less taxes and insurance, to give them a “nest egg” to walk away with.

Most Habitat homes are new builds, but she said when they take a home back and get it ready for another family, they try to update it as much as possible so the new family will have a fresh start. In this case, they replaced everything from the furnace, roof and windows, to electrical, new hardwood flooring, and vinyl siding. But more importantly, they turned the three-bedroom, 950-square-foot home into a five-bedroom home by adding two rooms with egress windows in the basement.

Sponsors like O’Reilly Brothers Ltd., which foamed the walls in the basement to ensure that it is energy efficient and warm, the Muskoka Cabinet Company, which installed the new kitchen, and Home Depot, which took the house apart so Habitat would have a fresh slate, helped to keep costs down.

There were also many volunteers, including U.S. Ambassador David Jacobson and his wife, Julie, who spent two days painting in May along with about 20 embassy staff.

“Charlotte (Hachokake) and I worked together most of the day painting,” Julie Jacobson said earlier. “And my understanding is that (the family) have been working very, very hard. They have come here from the Congo, and left sort of brutal conditions, and have made this wonderful new life in Ottawa, except for the fact that they have some very rough housing, and they live in a place where the kids can’t go outside and play. So they are just so excited about being in this new home.”

The family will move in a few weeks once the new bathrooms and kitchen are complete. Then they look forward to settling in and enjoying summer in their new home, which will include a garden with special squash from their homeland.

“One of the advantages of an older home is having lovely yards, more property,” said Hicks, who will now turn her attention to finding a property in Carleton Place for Habitat’s next project.