On Monday, February 1, 2021 Habitat for Humanity Cornwall & The Counties shared a virtual key ceremony to welcome the Ortiz Family to their new home in Cornwall. Since the socially distanced ground-breaking in the spring, The Ortiz Family, the community, and Habitat Cornwall have worked together to build this safe, affordable, new home. The Ortiz’s have successfully contributed over 500 hours of volunteer time.

In addition to virtually hand over the keys, Habitat Cornwall also took the opportunity to publicly thank the more than 30 sponsors and many volunteers who have made this home build possible. Of significant note, the building lot for this home was generously donated by the City of Cornwall.

“We built this home from our hearts and with dedication for the Ortiz family,” said Habitat Cornwall Board Chair, Hank Blasiak.

This is the 15th home build that has been completed in Stormont, Dundas, Glengarry and Cornwall. While Habitat Cornwall builds normally call upon the community to assist with fundraising events and actual construction activities, the global pandemic forced a dramatic shift for the 2020 project. Habitat Cornwall’s Executive Director, Leigh Taggart expressed her gratitude: “We have an extremely supportive community that made this project possible. We truly can not thank our sponsors and donors enough for their contributions.”

New homeowner, David Ortiz, remarked: “We will always be thankful and promise we will take care of this house forever.”

The next Habitat Cornwall Partner Family, Owen Leaf and Chelsea Saucier, were originally slated to be neighbours to the Ortiz Family in Habitat Cornwall’s first semi-detached home build. Unfortunately, due to COVID-19 restrictions, it was necessary to adjust our home build program and build two single family home builds – one in 2020 and 2021. Information relating to the 2021 Habitat Cornwall build will be released in the coming weeks.

The link to the virtual Key Ceremony will be active on Monday, February 1st here:

About Habitat for Humanity Cornwall & The Counties:

Habitat for Humanity Cornwall & The Counties does not receive annual government funding. They rely on the support of the community to help the community through donations, fundraising, third party events, partnerships, and sponsorships.

Founded in 1998, Habitat for Humanity Cornwall & The Counties has now completed 15 home build projects. As a result, 38 children have had an opportunity to change their lives because of local supporters. 

The ReStore is stocked entirely through donations, meaning customers do not have to pay tax. ReStore revenue assists to offset day to day operational costs and contributes to home builds.