Safely reopening and adapting our build sites
At Habitat for Humanity GTA, our heart is in homebuilding. But the health and safety of our community always comes first. That is why on March 16th we made the difficult decision to close all of our active build sites in order to mitigate the spread of COVID-19.
Since temporarily closing our build sites and pausing construction activity, our team has been working diligently on a safe reopening plan with consultation from the Ministry of Health and Habitat for Humanity Canada. And with the recent announcement of construction sites allowed to reopen in Ontario, we are ready and prepared to safely resume building homes for families in need of a decent place to live.
To start, we will be reopening our CentreTown build site, a 24-home townhouse project in Oshawa, on May 20th. The build site will be open three days a week for the foreseeable future. Since we rely on volunteers to help us build Habitat homes, we will prioritize bringing back long-standing volunteer Crew Leaders who have years of experience building with us.
There are a number of new build site measures that we are undertaking to ensure the health and safety of our community are upheld at all times, including:
- A maximum of four people are allowed per 1,000 square feet on the build site each day.
- Volunteers may build with us by invitation only.
- Upon entering the build site, everyone must acknowledge and sign a health screening intake form.
- Water basins exclusively for handwashing have been installed on the build site.
- Volunteers who are building with us must wear a mask or face covering.
- Tools and personal protective equipment are cleaned and sanitized after each use.
- Sharing of tools and personal protective equipment is not permitted
The health and safety of our community are of the utmost importance. We look forward to learning from our experience and reopening additional build sites with similar safety guidelines and protective measures in place.
Thank you to everyone who expressed interest to lend a helping hand during these rapidly changing times. We ask our community to remain patient as we navigate a responsible path forward in order to continue to help families realize the strength, stability, and self-reliance of affordable homeownership.