Matt Belliveau has been the executive director of Habitat for Humanity NWT for roughly a year and despite the success of the brand and constructs for families in need in Yellowknife, he recognizes that housing challenges in the territory are stark.

Belliveau points to the 2016 Census in particular which shows that the NWT has among the highest core need for housing in Canada with 2,255 households - 15.5 per cent of all households - facing core need.

Core need () is defined by the extent to which housing is determined SA国际影视传媒渦nsuitable,SA国际影视传媒� or overcrowded; SA国际影视传媒渋nadequate,SA国际影视传媒� or in need of major repairs, or SA国际影视传媒渦naffordableSA国际影视传媒�, where households are spending more than 30 percent of take home income on housing.

SA国际影视传媒淣WT is above the 12.7 per cent Canadian average rate for core housing need rate,SA国际影视传媒� Belliveau said. The only one higher is Nunavut and that is  at 36.5 per cent.SA国际影视传媒� ()

To tackle the housing need, Belliveau said Habitat for Humanity has a fairly routine approach to building houses which has made its brand known world wide. The charity provides affordable housing for low-income housing by accumulating materials in-kind and providing occupants with a no-interest mortgage and taking payments from the dwellers as a bank would.
The non-profit organization obtains low cost housing by obtaining in-kind donations such as with land, monetary donations, housing supplies or skilled labour and the family occupants provide 500 hours of sweat equity.  In the end, dwellers get a home at a fair market, and affordable price.

SA国际影视传媒淏ecause we go out and get donations from businesses and residents and create initiatives like raffles, we are able to keep bill costs down and families make payments down to us,SA国际影视传媒� he explained.  SA国际影视传媒淭hose payments then go toward the next build SA国际影视传媒�

Outside of Yellowknife

Belliveau says the eventual plan is to expand outside of Yellowknife to communities that need housing, but there are challenges to do so. A larger and more urban population with more diverse streams of income and sources for donations makes it easier to raise money for a housing project. To go into other smaller communities would require local municipalities or band governments to want it to happen. This would likely mean in-kind support such as with local communities donating land for builds or community businesses helping with the finishing touches on projects such as by providing appliances, landscaping or other small contributions that can be procured locally.

SA国际影视传媒淭hat is something that we are looking at and it is going to be further down the road because we do need to reach a point of capacity where that is possible,SA国际影视传媒� Belliveau said.

SA国际影视传媒淏uilding in Yellowknife makes the most sense because it has a larger base of donors to draw from and a more skilled labour base to contribute to builds for housing for Habitat for Humanity.SA国际影视传媒�

Because NWT is in the title of the charity, there is always the aim to expand into the territory more broadly, he said.
Last summer the organization travelled to Behchoko, where it is recognized there is a large core housing need. Belliveau added that because the North Slave community is so close to YellowknifeSA国际影视传媒檚 donor and skills base, it has been identified as the next logical place for a potential expansion. However, he cautions that there are no set plans in stone at the present moment.

SA国际影视传媒淚t is a challenge because the amount of money we need to raise is much higher than what would be faced by southern Habitat for Humanity affiliates, he said. SA国际影视传媒淚n a very small community, typically the costs of housing (in the south) is much lower and so you donSA国际影视传媒檛 have to raise as much money. In the North, it is a double edged sword with a small donor base and high building costs. You have to raise a lot of money and money doesnSA国际影视传媒檛 go as far and so it is a real challenge for scaling up.SA国际影视传媒�

Raffle to build home

Raising money for builds that are expensive means being creative in fundraising, Belliveau said.
To date, Habitat for Humanity NWT has built two projects in Yellowknife and is aiming to build another this year on Spence Road in Kam Lake.
There are funding grants available that could be beneficial in the future, he added, but in the immediate-term the organization is holding a raffle as per one example of how it is raising money.