Habitat for Humanity hands new house keys to grateful local family

After years of living in a non-accessible apartment, Sault Ste. Marie's newest Habitat for Humanity homeowners are looking forward to spending their first night in their new home.

Ahmad and Manal Barakat, along with sons Zen, Zayd and Amir, will be moving into their new four-bedroom detached Blake Street home later today — and with a fourth child expected in May, this morning's key ceremony came just in time.

"We are very excited for a new home, a new life and a new chapter of our lives," Manal said immediately after the ceremony, where the family is presented with keys to the home. “Today will be the first night for us to spend in here, we are so happy. We can’t wait for tomorrow morning to start the day in here."

Originally from Syria but displaced by civil war, the Barakats lived for a time in Lebanon before moving to Sault Ste. Marie in 2016. The family of five has been living in an apartment building, which has proven to be a challenge for Ahmad, who uses a wheelchair. 

Now the family is moving into a home that has many accessible features, including wider doorways, level front and rear entrances, kitchen and bathroom counters with cutouts to accommodate a wheelchair, handrails in the bathroom and a roll-in shower.

“The house is very good for me, it’s accessible," said Ahmad. "It’s easy for me, especially in the bathroom I struggle a lot with it in the apartment but here it is very comfortable."

A similar fully-accessible home was built by Habitat on Oakwood Drive in 2020. Chelsey Foucher, marketing and fundraising coordinator for Habitat, said above all else, this home will be safer for Ahmad than the two-bedroom apartment the family has been living in.

“Everything is level so Ahmad can live safely and comfortably without any of the inconveniences he has with his current apartment,” she said.

Ahmad said he is also happy his sons will have a backyard to play in.

The home at 23 Blake Street is the fifteenth offered to new homeowners through the local chapter of Habitat for Humanity. It was built on land donated to Habitat for Humanity by the City of Sault Ste. Marie.

Homeowners participating in the affordable home ownership program must meet three criteria to be eligible for a home through the organization, said Katie Blunt, executive director for Habitat for Humanity Sault Ste. Marie & Area. They must need a home, have sufficient income to pay a mortgage, and volunteer a minimum of 500 hours toward the project.

"It’s not a home that is free, it’s a mortgage and it’s at fair market value," said Blunt. "The difference between our mortgage and a bank mortgage is ours is geared to income set at a maximum of 30 per cent of the family’s income divided by 12 months and it’s interest free."

Habitat for Humanity Sault Ste. Marie & Area's next project is a single-storey five-plex planned for Goulais Avenue next year, with two-, three- and five-bedroom units. Blunt said it will be offered with a blended model for mortgages, where participants pay whatever they are eligible for and Habitat will make up the rest.

“Again, it’s a hand up, not a handout, to make sure families are earning sufficient income, have good credit, a history of paying their bills," said Blunt. 

The application process for that project closes tomorrow at 5 p.m.