Belleville Lions Club donates $100,000 to local Habitat for Humanity

By Casey Horn

BELLEVILLE – The Belleville Lions club let out a mighty roar on March 30 when they presented a cheque for $100,000 to Habitat for Humanity.

The money will be used to help build two houses that have already begun construction on Donald Street in Belleville. Ground was broken in mid-March on what used to be the site of the old Holy Rosary Catholic Church.

Belleville Lions Club president Larry Brown said donating to Habitat for Humanity was about giving to the community.

“The way I look at it is they’re building homes in Belleville and all we do is raise funds and spend them back into the community for people that need a hand up.” He added “It’s probably one of the most exciting things I’ve ever done. You don’t get to give away $100,000 dollars every day.”

Vannessa Francoeur and her family will soon be moving into a new house in Trenton built by Habitat for Humanity.

“I’ve been with this process pretty much since the beginning. I’ve helped and put all my time that I could into being here every step of the way,” says Francoeur. One of the requirements of owning a home built by Habitat for Humanity is that a family put in 500 hours of “sweat equity.” According to the Habitat for Humanity website, this could include working in their new home itself, volunteering at the ReStore located on Bell Boulevard, or taking classes related to owning and maintaining a home.

Francoeur says that she wasn’t expecting to get picked to own a Habitat home, and definitely not as quickly as it happened. “I actually told my husband ‘What are the chances they show and tell us something. Should I dress the kids up?’ as a joke.” Bob Clute, the executive director of the local Habitat branch says it’s not an uncommon way of thinking.

“When asked ‘Do you think you’d ever be picked for a house?’ They say ‘No. I’d never be that lucky.’ We try to encourage them not to give up.” He says he spends a lot of time with families encouraging them not to lose hope. “I tell them to try to treat hiccups like speed bumps. No walls. Just speed bumps.”