Employees from a Stouffville-based company recently traded their usual tools for hammers and saws, volunteering their time to help address the affordable housing crisis in the Greater Toronto Area.
Building Walls, Building Hope
Groundworks Toronto, a foundation repair and waterproofing specialist, joined forces with Habitat for Humanity Greater Toronto Area for a volunteer build event in late October. The activity took place at a modular build factory in Caledon, Ont., where corporate teams help construct prefabricated wall sections for upcoming multi-unit communities.
This initiative is part of a larger, North America-wide partnership between Groundworks and Habitat for Humanity that will result in the construction of 74 homes by the end of this year.
A Family's Story Fuels the Effort
For Jonas Murphy, Sales Manager for Groundworks Toronto, the experience was made memorable by the story of the family who will ultimately live in one of the homes. During a lunch break, volunteers watched a pre-recorded interview with the future homeowners.
"They had immigrated to Canada about 10 years ago, they have an expanding family with a child on the way, and they had been living in a basement apartment that actually had foundation issues and water coming in," Murphy shared. The family was selected by Habitat for Humanity and is now thrilled to be moving into a safe, clean, and healthy newly built home.
The Shift to Modular Multiplexes
The walls assembled by Murphy and his seven colleagues are destined for Countryside in Brampton, a 15-unit stacked townhome community offering three- and four-bedroom homes. This project exemplifies Habitat for Humanity's strategic shift towards modular construction and multiplexes, a method intended to maximize impact on Canada's affordable housing shortage.
The volunteer event was well-organized and engaging, requiring no prior construction experience. Volunteers were assigned a team lead and given specific design criteria to follow as they assembled interior walls. "It's pretty cool," Murphy said, noting how easy it was to visualize the final product. The day also included fun team-building activities like a hammering contest to keep the atmosphere light.
For Murphy and the Groundworks crew, the day was more than just a corporate volunteer outing; it was a chance to make a tangible difference in their community. "Overall, it was an amazing experience," he concluded.
