A family of eight have officially received the keys to their new Habitat Home.
Habitat for Humanity Windsor-Essex celebrated the Kashindi family on Wednesday night during their Annual General Meeting where the keys and the mortgage were handed over.
The Kashindi family arrived in Canada from Kenya in 2017 and have moved a number of times to try to find an affordable place to live for the family of eight before Habitat for Humanity stepped in to help.
The home - located on Brock Street - marks the completion of the fifth and final house in Sandwich Town.
This home was boarded up and Habitat was unable to restore it the way they received it, so it was torn down and rebuilt. Construction of this home took approximately four months.
Dieu Kashindi is one of the son's of the family who received the house. He says seeing the home for the first time was emotional.
"Just looking around you're like... man... we finally have a place where we can call home. It's not a place where you're looking and rent is due, the landlord wants this, it's a home where you can have memories, laughter, holiday's, and just new things."
Kashindi says he's happy to watch his younger siblings grow up here.
"They have a place and environment where they can grow up, make friends, go to school, they don't have to switch schools or houses. And I'm excited for them to be honest because it's something that I didn't have that much when I was their age, but just seeing them because they're younger, it's a happy feeling."
Fiona Coughlin, CEO of Habitat for Humanity Windsor-Essex, says the home is beautiful.
"It has five bedrooms because they've got so many kids, and it has a little bit of storage space, and things like that for such a big family. It's in Sandwich Town and it's on Brock Street, and you can just see how the street has brightened up in the neighbourhood."
Coughlin adds that this home was built on the last piece of land that Habitat for Humanity has in Windsor. She says there are plans to build in Essex County starting in 2026, but as of right now they have no land in Windsor.
Habitat for Humanity Windsor-Essex helps families achieve affordable homeownership through a process where they invest in their homes, alongside volunteers and Habitat, and pay a mortgage they can afford.
Those looking to receive a home through Habitat have to apply on the website, demonstrate that you are living in housing need, and that you are willing/able to pay a geared to income mortgage, as well as provide 500 volunteer hours.