We're already one month into 2017, can you believe it? One of our resolutions for 2017 is for the Advisor Websites team to be more involved with local organizations on a regular basis.

On January 26th, we got a chance to spend the day with Habitat for Humanity Greater Vancouver and help paint the walls of a home before a new family moves in.

Vancouver's housing crisis

The average price to own a house in Vancouver is about $1.2 million. Real estate in Vancouver has been increasingly annually for the last few years, making it difficult for young families to save and become homeowners.

Affordable housing has become one of the most pressing social issues in Vancouver. Habitat for Humanity is dedicated solving this issue through its mission statement to: "mobilize volunteers and community partners in building affordable housing and promoting homeownership as a means to breaking the cycle of poverty." 

Julie, Ally, Nitesh, Rachel, Fred, and Ievgen from Advisor Websites!

Meeting the CEO of Habitat for Humanity

Fred and Ievgen working hard!

Dennis Coutts, the CEO of Habitat for Humanity Greater Vancouver, gave our team a warm welcome the morning we arrived at the house. Dennis gave us a thorough walkthrough of the background of Habitat for Humanity before we even had the chance to roll up our sleeves and get to work!

We learned the story of how a struggling family became proud homeowners, how this organizaton got started, as well as Dennis' extensive experience working with Habitat for the last ten years. Dennis' enthusiasm and passion for the organization was evident from the beginning of our orientation until we were finishing up for the day.

We love Habitat!

We found it extremely rewarding to get in touch with Habitat and help a family celebrate new beginnings. At the end of the day, it was also an amazing team bonding exercise and we could not have done anything better to kickstart 2017!

For more information about Habitat for Humanity Greater Vancouver, please visit www.habitatgv.ca.

Ally, Julie, and Rachel helping out!