ANNUAL REPORT JUNE 2015 Inside this issue: Chair’s Reflection Social Return on Investment Habitat for Humanity Canada partnered with the Boston Consulting Group to create a study called Transforming Lives: The Social Return on Habitat’s Work in Canada. This study provides a quanti- tative assessment of the so- cial return on investment (SROI) of Habitat’s domestic work, calculated at an aver- age national level. The key findings include: Every $1 invested in Habi- tat’s homeownership pro- gram initiates $4 worth of benefit to society. Habitat’s homeownership program generates $175,000 of total benefits per partner family. This represents about $39 mil- lion for the 221 homes built by Habitat in 2014. Habitat homeownership also results in greater employ- ment stability, improved health behaviors, increased community engagement and better education for partner families. It is hard to believe a year has passed since I took on the role of HFH Brant Board Chair. I re- member feeling at this time last year that although there was much work to be done, we were “on the cusp of great- ness”. I could feel the sense of renewed hope and passion for all those involved with HFH Brant, staff and volunteers alike. The year has proven to be very busy and productive. I want to take the opportunity to thank our dedicated Board, ED and staff who have worked tire- lessly to move forward, being guided by our Strategic Plan. I am thrilled to see 2 homes be- ing built this year for wonderful partner families; I celebrate with and congratulate the Ry- der family on the tremendous accomplishment of paying off their mortgage. I am excited about the Adopt a Home pro- ject in Simcoe and the poten- tial future opportunities there to help serve more fami- lies. The growth in our Restore sales is to be applauded. Partner family applications have in- creased tremendously as well as our profile in the community. There are so many wonderful things in the works……but I will have to wait to give voice to them in next year’s reflections. So for now, I once again ap- plaud our faithful supporters. Thank you for all you do as we work diligently to serve the families of our community. Always thinking families first, Susan McDowall Susan McDowall—Chair Habitat for Humanity Brant Board of Directors Home for the Harvest 2014 In November 2014, Habitat Brant hosted our third annual Home for the Harvest Fundraising Dinner at Zander’s Restau- rant in Brantford. The goal of the fund- raising dinner was to generate funds for Habitat for Humanity’s build program as well as raise Habitat’s profile in the com- munity by hosting a well managed and well attended function. The event took place on Sunday Novem- ber 9 th and we had 100 people in atten- dance for dinner, wine, live music and prizes. In 2013 we raised a little over $7500 and this year we earned over $10,000!! Our major Event Sponsors were Investor’s Group, Clarence Street Dental Group, Millard’s, Rouse and Rosebrugh LLP and Scotia Bank matching proceeds up to $5000. It was a great event and planning is underway for a new spin on the signa- ture event for fall 2015. Chair’s Reflection 1 Home for the Harvest 1 Financial Freedom 2 Introducing 2 Every Season 2 What a Year 3 Partner Family Outreach 3 Winning Year 4 Global Village 5 First Annual Picnic 5 100 Women 6 360 Grant 6 Volunteer of the Year 6 Photos of 2014-2015 7 Core Values 8 Our Team 8
Transcript
ANNUAL REPORT
JUNE 2015
Inside this issue:
Chair’s Reflection Social Return
on Investment
Habitat for Humanity Canada partnered with the Boston Consulting Group to create a study called Transforming Lives: The Social Return on Habitat’s Work in Canada. This study provides a quanti-tative assessment of the so-cial return on investment (SROI) of Habitat’s domestic work, calculated at an aver-age national level. The key findings include:
Every $1 invested in Habi-tat’s homeownership pro-gram initiates $4 worth of benefit to society.
Habitat’s homeownership program generates $175,000 of total benefits per partner family. This represents about $39 mil-lion for the 221 homes built by Habitat in 2014.
Habitat homeownership also results in greater employ-ment stability, improved health behaviors, increased community engagement and better education for partner families.
It is hard to believe a year has
passed since I took on the role
of HFH Brant Board Chair. I re-
member feeling at this time last
year that although there was
much work to be done, we
were “on the cusp of great-
ness”. I could feel the sense of
renewed hope and passion for
all those involved with HFH
Brant, staff and volunteers
alike.
The year has proven to be very
busy and productive. I want to
take the opportunity to thank
our dedicated Board, ED and
staff who have worked tire-
lessly to move forward, being
guided by our Strategic Plan. I
am thrilled to see 2 homes be-
ing built this year for wonderful
partner families; I celebrate
with and congratulate the Ry-
der family on the tremendous
accomplishment of paying off
their mortgage. I am excited
about the Adopt a Home pro-
ject in Simcoe
and the poten-
tial future
opportunities
there to help
serve
more
fami-
lies.
The growth in our Restore sales
is to be applauded. Partner
family applications have in-
creased tremendously as well
as our profile in the community.
There are so many wonderful
things in the works……but I will
have to wait to give voice to
them in next year’s reflections.
So for now, I once again ap-
plaud our faithful supporters. Thank you for all you do as we
work diligently to serve the
families of our community.
Always thinking families first,
Susan McDowall
Susan McDowall—Chair
Habitat for Humanity Brant
Board of Directors
Home for the Harvest 2014 In November 2014, Habitat Brant hosted our third annual Home for the Harvest Fundraising Dinner at Zander’s Restau-rant in Brantford. The goal of the fund-raising dinner was to generate funds for Habitat for Humanity’s build program as well as raise Habitat’s profile in the com-munity by hosting a well managed and well attended function. The event took place on Sunday Novem-ber 9th and we had 100 people in atten-
dance for dinner, wine, live music and prizes. In 2013 we raised a little over $7500 and this year we earned over $10,000!! Our major Event Sponsors were Investor’s Group, Clarence Street Dental Group, Millard’s, Rouse and Rosebrugh LLP and Scotia Bank matching proceeds up to $5000. It was a great event and planning is underway for a new spin on the signa-ture event for fall 2015.
Chair’s Reflection 1 Home for the Harvest 1 Financial Freedom 2 Introducing 2 Every Season 2 What a Year 3 Partner Family Outreach 3 Winning Year 4 Global Village 5 First Annual Picnic 5 100 Women 6 360 Grant 6 Volunteer of the Year 6 Photos of 2014-2015 7 Core Values 8 Our Team 8
In September 2014, Habitat Brant welcomed a new
season with vibrant fall colors, a change in tempera-
ture and an announcement that evoked many warm
feelings for Habitat supporters alike. The Skokun
family is the first family to be approved since our
West Brant Build and represents for us the impor-
tance of serving a community with diverse needs.
Melvin and Evelyn Skokun, and their grandchildren
Abagail, Corrina and Whitney MacKenzie are ex-
cited about their Habitat for Humanity home to be
built this summer. The Skokuns have had full cus-
tody of their granddaughters, Corrina, 10, and nine-
year-old twins Whitney and Abby, for a couple of
years but Evelyn says she and her husband have
been caring for the girls, off and on, all their lives.
Their home represents a new future filled with hope
and security especially for Abagail, Corrina and
Whitney. The homes on River Road will be com-
pleted in the summer and are the first to be built by
Habitat for Humanity Brant since 2012. We are ex-
cited to welcome the Skokuns to the Habitat Partner
Family community.
Every Season Has a Reason!
Page 2
JUNE 2015
Financial Freedom - Habitat Family First to Pay Off Mortgage
The house on Nelson Street finally
feels fully like home for the Ryder
family, after 15 years of paying
down a mortgage.
Travis and Val Ryder have become
Habitat for Humanity's first Brant-
ford partners to pay off their mort-
gage, hitting a happy milestone for
the 15-year-old community
agency.
"Through the years it didn't feel
fully like our house," says Val Ry-
der. "It was like a rental. But now
that it's paid off, it's ours."
Ryder says the process has given
her trucker husband and herself a
great sense of pride and has
helped them teach their children
about saving.
"Through the years we looked for
jobs that paid a little more so we
could pay more toward the house."
The Ryders' interest-free mortgage
payments were geared toward
their income over the years, based
on 25% of what they were earning.
"Our first payment was $300. We
definitely worked hard. At one
point, with $25,000 to go, our pay-
ments would have been so high,
we worked with Habitat to lower
them a bit, or we would have been
paid off even sooner."
The Ryder kids - Kathryn, 23, and
Christine, 22, have grown up in the
home and Eldon, who was just a
baby when the family moved in, is
now 16 and still at home.
Now, with two good incomes, the
Ryders figure they may never have
been able to afford a home without
the impetus Habitat provided.
"Moving in here was cheaper than
paying rent and the 15 years it
took to pay it off went fast."
That's not to say everything was
easy.
Val Ryder has words of encourage-
ment for anyone who is where she
was 15 years ago - stuck in less-
than-adequate rental housing and
struggling to pay the bills.
"Habitat for Humanity is not what
people perceive it to be. Don't be
ashamed of the program because
you can accomplish things to-
gether and it's really worth it." http:///www.brantfordexpositor.ca/ 2015/02/25/habitat-Family-first-to-pay-off-mortgage
We are excited to introduce Stephen and Cindy who will be joining our Habitat family. Stephen is currently employed full time at Swiss Chalet and Cindy is a stay at home mom for 2 children. Sally is 5 years old and Roland is 3 years old. Stephen and Cindy's dream is to own their home.
Introducing . . .
The Skokun Family
Partner Family Outreach - Frances Richardson,
Chair of Family Relations Committee
What a Year it Has Been! - Sandra Cocco, Executive Director
Page 3
ANNUAL REPORT
Last year when I sat down to write the Executive Direc-
tor’s message for our An-
nual Report; I had only been
on staff as the ED for a total
of 4 months. I remember
thinking THIS IS going to be
Habitat’s Brant year! The
words transformation and
renewal surfaced every time
I thought about the potential
our affiliate had to serve this
community. Looking back, I
don’t think I fully realized
what that would look like
and how incredibly transfor-
mative the journey would
be; both professionally and
personally.
A year has passed since we
gathered together as a com-
munity; a community so
deeply connected by one
overarching conviction-
“that everyone deserves a
safe and decent place to
live”. In that year we have
seen tremendous growth in
our ReStore sales; marking
the first year ever whereby
our sales exceeded our pro-
jected budget by 20%. Our
staffs’ positions were en-
hanced to maximize their
talents. Their contribution to
our success is an indicator
of our ability to realize
greater potential. Our part-
ner family application rates
have increased by 600%.
We have transformed our
affiliate and yet we know
our work is not done.
We started the year 2014
with no land and today we
have acquired 2 lots in the
City of Brantford which are
currently being developed
to serve two families in our
community. These are fami-
lies who perhaps believed
home ownership would not
be an option for them. To-
day, a dream is becoming a
reality. When an organiza-
tion embraces a vision and
the people stand strongly to
advance its goals, dreams
can become reality. With a
renewed sense of vision,
indeed anything is possible.
Our Board, our staff and our
committee members moved
swiftly and strategically;
remembering to always
think families first!
The year 2014 also pro-
voked an important conver-
sation about the possibility
of serving a community that
is currently not being
served by a Habitat affiliate.
As our inspiring leader and
CEO of Habitat Canada,
Mark Rodgers often encour-
ages us to ask “why not”, we
are doing just that- asking
why not Habitat Brant? Why
not embark on a very im-
portant journey to serve
families living in Norfolk
County? Our Adopt a Home
project in Simcoe is being
planned and Habitat Brant
has received a warm wel-
come from a group of sup-
porters who understand our
mission has no boundaries.
That is people deserve ac-
cess to safe decent afford-
able housing.
When we talk about maxi-
mizing our potential and
renewing our affiliate, we
are really talking about al-
ways thinking families first.
THEY are the reason we
stretch ourselves to learn
and grow, to take calculated
risk, to serve more, to put
aside the past and to serve
our community with a
greater sense of hope and
conviction. If not us, who
else will?
I invite you to continue to be
champions for our cause, to
feel renewed by our success
and to always think families
first! We are so blessed to
have support from a strong
army of volunteers and do-
nors, dedicated staff and a
knowledgeable Board of
Directors. There is a great
need to create affordable
housing options in this com-
munity. There are many
more families to serve. I am
excited to see what 2015 –
2016 has in store for Habitat
Brant. Let’s write an amaz-
ing story together. Let’s
leave behind more than just
a “house count”~ let’s lead
by example and show what
can happen when humanity
comes together to break the
cycle of poverty.
Sandra Cocco,
Executive Director, MA
The committee has been busy in the
last year reviewing applications for
new partner families.
The stories on the applications re-
ceived reflect the need in the com-
munity for affordable home owner-
ship.
In 2014 the total number of applica-
tions received for home ownership
was 11.
To date this year the committee has
received a total of 20 applications.
This increase is due to the dedica-
tion of staff in getting the word out
that Habitat Brant is building in
2015.
Out of the applications received this
year one partner family has been
approved for home ownership.
We expect to approve two more
families by the end of the year.
The committee has worked dili-
gently in the past year fine tuning
the application to ensure that upon
review, we have all the information
required to make a good decision.
The committee has also reviewed
current policies, procedures and
processes to streamline the applica-
tion process.
A special thank you to my commit-
tee members for all the hard work
and dedication in the past year.
Habitat Brant ReStore Has a Winning Year in 2014/15
Page 4
JUNE 2015
over 12,000 hours of service at the ReStore in
2014/15 doing everything from working on the
truck to testing lights, stocking shelves and pro-
viding excellent customer service at the till!
In the spirit of “paying it forward”, the ReStore
donated product or services to more than 25
local non-profit organizations with donations of
over stocked “gifts”. These donations included:
donations of furniture as props for the Ichthys
Theatre Group, lumber and supplies to the
United Way to build their community garden,
arts and craft supplies to many local summer
camps, gift baskets to support the St. Joe’s Life
Care Center Hand Bags for Hospice event, the
Nova Vita Shop Until You Drop event, pet sup-
plies from the Habitat staff and volunteers as a
Christmas donation to the SPCA and food stor-
age containers for the St Andrews Soup for the
Soul to name a few.
The ReStore increased its donor base this year
with donations from over 85 local manufacturers,
contractors and retailers to keep the shelves full
of a variety of quality products. A growing level
of support from Norfolk County contributed to
the ReStore providing low-cost building and
renovation materials to a record breaking 22,324
satisfied customers. Most importantly, the Re-
Store provided increased funding to cover Habi-
tat administrative costs that allowed for the hir-
ing of an Executive Director, Sandra Cocco in
early 2014 and Construction support staff in
early 2015.
The ReStore was represented out in the commu-
nity at the Brantford Home Show; Nails for Nails
sponsored by Aldolfo Robert Galuppi; Home for the
Harvest; BBQ’s sponsored by Rosehill Liquida-
tion; World Habitat Day BBQ as well as the Paris
Fair, St George Apple Fest, the Norfolk Fair,
Simcoe Chamber Spring-a-rama and Brantford
Chamber Trade show.
As the Habitat ReStore team looks ahead, we
are confident that with expanded community
support, we can continue to grow the donor
and volunteer base to reach new highs in funds
raised to support Habitat’s Home Building
goals.
Thanks to support from the community, the Re-
Store had a record breaking year, increasing its
capacity to better serve customers, expand pro-
grams and create awareness of the good work of
Habitat Brant in 2014/ 2015.
For the second year in a row, the Habitat ReStore
won the Corporate Social Responsibility 2014 Ex-
cellence in Retailing Award. This is a shared high-
light of the year for Habitat ReStores across Can-
ada, but the Brant ReStore celebrated many suc-
cesses in our own community.
New partnerships led to new opportunities begin-
ning in early 2014 when an Ontario Job Creation
Program Grant was received through the Ministry
of Training, Colleges and Universities. The funds
were designated for the creation of a Marketing
Strategic plan that supported the hiring of three
participants to update our website, create all new
marketing materials, update our newsletter de-
sign, and better establish our brand in the com-
munity through social media. Grants to hire three
participants to support the ReStore Operations
were also secured through a growing partnership
with the Grand River Education and Training
agency.
In 2014 the ReStore celebrated Earth week by
partnering with King George School with a Recy-
cle Heroes Contest. Each class room was respon-
sible for creating a recycle hero with a name,
super powers and a costume that was modeled by
the teachers at a fashion show held at the school
auditorium. The Re-Material Girl was the winner
but all those who participated took away the valu-
able lesson of the importance of recycling, reduc-
ing and reusing in our everyday life.
The ReStore also partnered with Lock and Key
Treasures to run two Re-Invent Events to encour-
age customers to use a little TLC to create one-of-
a-kind treasures from ReStore materials.
Habitat is very proud of the impact our recycle
program has achieved.
By selling new and used home renovation prod-
ucts, salvaging kitchens and recycling E-Waste,
the ReStore diverted 350 tons of construction and
household materials from the landfill and recycled
an additional 63 tons of scrap metal, cans, e-
waste, paper and water bottles.
The ReStore mentored youth through a variety of
programs including the Summer Employment
program, the St Leonard Student program, co-op
placements with the High Schools and Laurier.
Our dedicated ReStore volunteer team donated
Linda Moyer
Director of
Procurement
and ReStore
Operations
Tracey Langley
ReStore
Sales Manager
Habitat ReStore
Major Donors
2014-2015
Platinum Level
The Home Depot
Brantford
The Home Depot
Mississauga
Gold Level
Lowes
United Way
Silver Level
Royce Sales
Schut’s Unit Step Limited
Bronze Level
Canadian Tire Simcoe
Dan The Window Man
Insta-Insulation
Rick’s Carpets
Shercom Industries
Kirk Grant
Coordinator,
Contractor Relations
Global Village: El Salvador, February 2015
Page 5
ANNUAL REPORT
The summer of 2014 marked
the beginning of a new tradi-
tion, the Habitat Family Picnic.
Partner families, board mem-
bers, staff, volunteers and
committee members came
together at Mohawk Park on
July 13th for its first annual
family picnic. It was a won-
derful opportunity to enjoy an
afternoon of good food,
games and great company.
The picnic provided Sandra
Cocco, Executive Director, a
great privilege to get to know
the families, volunteers and
committee members on a
more personal level.
“It was amazing to see our
community come together to
celebrate our accomplish-
ments of supporting 18 fami-
lies in the City of Brantford and
look toward a prosperous
future”. Habitat for Humanity
Brant will be hosting its 2nd
annual Habitat Family Picnic
on Saturday July 25th 2015 at
Mohawk Park in Pavilion D
from 2:00 pm to 6pm. Don’t
miss out on the opportunity to
meet our new partner families
and to enjoy some good
fellowship with a fine group of
people.
This year marks the 10th Anni-versary of Habitat Canada’s involvement in Habitat’s global mission. To help celebrate this milestone, Habitat Brant teamed up with students and faculty from Laurier University Brant to travel to El Salvador and work on a build project with the Habitat Global Village. The trip took place over ten days, with 5 days working on the build project. We dug trenches in 40 degree weather with heavy pick axes and bro-ken shovels into hard soil which was filled with volcanic rock. The work was hard (at times very fun) and this helped to remind us how lucky we are at home in Canada to have ac-cess to simple things like back-hoes, brand new tools and run-ning water (which was not available in the village of Calepa where we were build-ing).
With the aid of some local friends of Habitat we helped build a home for Diana and her two daughters. And on our trip we were informed that our fundraising dollars paid for the entire cost of the home. This was an incredible experience and hopefully one of many global village trips to come for Habitat Brant. Although the need for affordable housing in developing countries is great, there is a great need right here in our own community. Trips like these allow for members of our community to travel glob-ally and come home with a new respect for our way of life and a level of enthusiasm that can make a difference locally. Habitat Brant hopes to return to the Global village in future years to carry on this great work and will continue to make an impact at home.
Susan McDowall , Board Chair (left) &
Sandra Cocco, Executive Director, (right)
at Habitat Brant’s First Family Picnic
Coordinator, People and Community Partnerships, Lynne
Davidson (top left) with Habitat Brant’s Global Village group in
Calepa, El Salvador February of this year.
First Annual Family Picnic:
Summertime Brings Habitat Families
and Supporters Together!
Volunteer of the Year: Gary Guillimette
Page 6
JUNE 2015
Donation Farm’s CRM In September Habitat for Humanity Brant had the pleasure of working with Dona-
tion Farm – a Waterloo based company interested in helping non-profit manage
their data. Donation Farm was designed to help small to medium sized charities
grow by providing access to donor management tools normally affordable only
to much larger organizations. They trim back the donation gathering and com-
munity-building process to offer a suite of intuitive, easy-to-use tools. The sys-
tem is built for any organization looking for cost-effective ways to promote and
further their chosen causes.
The system has streamlined the donation receipt process and made it much
easier for everyone access information. The team of Donation Farm developers
worked closely with the Habitat team to create a user friendly product aimed at
managing data in an effective manner. We look forward to sharing our experi-
ence with other Habitat affiliates. For more information about Donation Farm,
visit
www.donationfarm.com
Habitat Brant received our first build sponsor-ship for the 2015 project in November from a local group called 100 Women Who Care.
The goal of the group is to bring together 100 (or more) women in Brantford who care about local community causes and who are commit-ted to community service.
The group meets 4 times a year and jointly selects a charity, they each write a $100 cheque to the selected organization and watch how the group’s commitment turns into a $10,000+ donation. We were selected as the charity of choice in the fall and all of the money will go directly to the build project to buy
materials.
What a true demonstration of what happens when people come together to make a differ-ence in the community! Thank you for your generous contribution and we look forward to building with you soon!
For further information about the group or to join Email [email protected]
100 Women Who Care
Plank signed by the members of 100 Women,
to be installed in this year’s build project.
The Cliff Seeley Memorial Trophy is the top recognition award for the ReStore volunteer who contributes the most hours in a year. This award honours Cliff Seeley, a long-time volunteer and dear friend of Habitat, who passed away in 2011. The recipient of this year’s award is Gary Guillimette who has contributed 1620.75 hours of volun-teer time to the ReStore in 2014. This sets a new record for the most hours contributed by a ReStore volunteer since the ReStore opened in 2002.
Gary is celebrating 1 year with Habitat in 2015 and is eas-ily one of our most reliable and hard working volunteers. He greets everyone with a smile and always asks about how your day is going. He adds a lot of fun to the day with friendly jokes and gives us a hard time for fun. When the ReStore team learned that Gary would be this year’s winner they all said “What the Heck?” (inside joke)
We love you Gary! We are glad you joined our family. You are definitely one of us, for life!
Volunteer of the Year,
Gary Guillimette,
showing the spirit
he brings to the ReStore
Habitat for Humanity Canada, along with several national sponsors, award select Habitat
affiliates with a grant every year called the 360. The grant is intended to make a large
impact on a program within an affiliate that needs improvement. In 2014, Habitat Brant
was the lucky recipient of the 360 grant totaling approximately $14,000. The money was
granted to support volunteer engagement for the 2015 build project in Eagle Place. The
purpose of the money was to go towards recruiting, orienting, provide safety training and
scheduling of approximately 250 volunteers for the build project. We were also able to
update our website, concentrate on our social media presence, attend more recruiting
events, establish a volunteer scheduling software system, hire a Director of Construction,
provide crew leader training, and create a comprehensive risk assessment and health and
safety manual.
We are now in a position of strength and are ready to complete the project that has been so
well supported by Habitat Canada and the corporate sponsors of the 360 Grant. The spon-
sors include the Home Depot Canada Foundation, Everyday Essentials, FCT, Statefarm, and
the RBC Foundation.
We are sincerely grateful because families in Brant County, as well as one family in Norfolk
