Despite many challenges due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Habitat for Humanity Windsor-Essex is determined to finish this year's builds.
One of the biggest issues has been the skyrocketing cost of lumber, which Executive Director Fiona Coughlin says will likely result in build costs doubling.
"The cost is just really, it's daunting and we're just looking at how we can navigate that basically double the cost for the build."
Coughlin says the pandemic has also limited the number of volunteers who are able to help with the builds.
"A big way that the community rallies around a build is that they come into the build site and dig in and roll up their sleeves and help," she says. "Unfortunately the pandemic has also limited our ability to do that, we can't have build teams out on the build site, at least for the time being."
With a goal of building four houses this year, Coughlin says one of the homes will be going to a family who lost a loved one to COVID.
"For one of our families, they lost their father due to COVID due to living in really cramped conditions, seven people in a two bedroom apartment, there's no way to socially isolate," she says "So we know this pandemic is impacting people and housing is a life or death basic human right."
One way people can continue to support Habitat for Humanity is through donating to the Re-Store. Coughlin says any appliances such as refrigerators are refurbished and sold in the store, with proceeds from all goods sold going towards the builds.