Join our Mailing List and stay connected with us!
Entering your information below allows Habitat Saskatchewan to contact you with any news, upcoming events or any information regarding our organization right to your inbox! Sign up today!
Habitat for Humanity Saskatchewan (HFHSK) has announced the appointment of Darrick Latsay as its new Chief Executive Officer, effective May 1, 2023. Darrick brings with him a wealth of experience, having served as General Manager at Saskatoon-based Kova Engineering, where he increased profit and staffing levels while driving new organizational structures, business systems, and a risk management program. Darrick also worked at Regina-based IPSCO/Evraz for over 15 years, progressing through various roles into management and serving as a continuous improvement leader. He is an Advisory Board member with the Make-a-Wish Foundation and a past volunteer with Realm Foundation, a charity offering personal support networks for people experiencing high levels of physical disability.
Darrick has an MBA and a Leadership Certificate from the University of Regina. He is also a Certified Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt, an internationally recognized process of continuous improvement that helps organizations respond to rapidly changing environments.
The CEO Selection Committee was impressed with Darrick’s relationship-building skills and his ability to build consensus and make meaningful connections with partners. He has a strong management background and has demonstrated his ability to empower others to common goals. His results-oriented approach and experience will help Habitat Saskatchewan build upon its provincial merger to attain sustainable growth and serve more families in need of affordable housing.
Darrick, his wife Laura, and their two boys (aged 12 and 13) live on an acreage south of Saskatoon. Active sports schedules and summer camping keep the family busy.
In his new role, Darrick will be based in Saskatoon but will be spending considerable time in all locations to get to know staff and volunteers and understand the best way to support them. He will be working on building a stronger staff and volunteer team, renewing the build program, building new partnerships, and attracting resources to achieve strategic priorities.
Gail Lefebvre, Board Chair of Habitat for Humanity Saskatchewan, said, “We believe that Darrick brings the level of leadership that our organization requires. We are confident he will help us achieve our growth agenda to serve more low-income families across the province with safe, decent, and affordable housing. His leadership and strong organizational skills will be instrumental in helping us achieve our mission.”
Darrick expressed his excitement about the new opportunity, stating, “Leading Habitat for Humanity Saskatchewan is an incredible honour, and I am excited to embark on this journey with our dedicated team. With a deep commitment to making a difference in our communities, I am eager to apply my experience and expertise to advance the organization’s mission of uniting communities to empower low-income families with strength, stability, and self-reliance through affordable homeownership. As a leadership professional, I am committed to driving growth, achieving our mission, and fostering a culture of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.”
The Habitat for Humanity Saskatchewan Board of Directors expressed their appreciation to all those who helped work through the transition to the new CEO, including Gary Gurtler, who served as interim CEO. The organization is excited about the future under Darrick’s leadership and looks forward to the journey ahead.
Safe, decent, affordable housing provides families a place to build and grow. When a family is willing to work with Habitat Saskatchewan and is dedicated to the hard work of becoming a homeowner and achieving affordable homeownership, families can transform their lives.
Affordable homeownership helps create the conditions that free families from stress and fear, helping build stability and confidence. Studies show that strong and stable households are foundational to child development and growth. Owning an affordable home also allows homeowners to lift up their entire family by saving for their futures and investing in educational opportunities.
Our Impact on Homeowners
Research has shown that Habitat homeowners are happier, healthier, and more financially stable, allowing them to return to school, learn a new trade or upgrade their job skills. Meanwhile, their children are more confident and do better in school.
The Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation conducted a Canada-wide survey of Habitat families, and the majority reported improved health, happiness, and overall well-being.
Here are the stats:
- 86% of Habitat homeowners report being happier since moving into their Habitat home. 89% said their family life improved.
- 70% of homeowners reported improved health, including reduced colds, allergies, asthma symptoms, and stress.
- 65% reported an increase in their children’s confidence. Children’s participation in extracurricular activities also increased.
- 58% reported they were better off financially.
The benefits of a Habitat home reach far beyond the four walls these families help build. Through reduced reliance on social housing and food banks, better education and employment outcomes, and improved health, every Habitat home built helps benefit the entire community.
Our Impact on Children
Growing up in a safe, decent, affordable home can powerfully affect children. Our work shows that housing quality, location and affordability affect a child’s ability to thrive.
Low-quality housing accompanied by pests, poor ventilation, lack of heat and other detrimental factors has been strongly linked to physical health problems for children.
The stress that parents experience due to living in poor conditions can translate into emotional and behavioural problems in their children. Children whose families are forced to move frequently in search of better, more affordable living situations often struggle. Parents paying too much for a place to live too often must deplete financial resources that otherwise could be invested in their children’s health, education, and futures.
By building safe, clean, and healthy housing for low-income families, we work to eliminate children’s experiences of substandard housing, thereby supporting their growth and development.
Impact Highlights
Habitat Saskatchewan has partnered with thousands of families throughout our time as an organization. We aim to ensure our families succeed through their homeownership journey by offering them support. One of the areas of support is through our education platform, which allows them to learn about budgeting, financial saving, home maintenance, home insurance, etc.
Here is our impact brought to light:
Highlights from Latoya –
“The consistency that comes from homeownership will allow me to plan and save for my children’s futures. My children can have opportunities I never had, and maybe I can explore other opportunities for myself, like going back to school.
A Habitat home is a strong foundation for a family, an opportunity on which we can build a better life. Stability for my family is fundamental, and Habitat has made it possible by providing us with a basic tool in achieving this, a home. So, thank you so much to everyone that has made this dream possible for me and my children.” – Latoya, Habitat Saskatchewan homeowner.
Highlights from Ramona –
“Being able to say that this is our home brings joy to our life. We are very happy we have a beautifully built home that suits our family’s needs. We live in an accessible unit, and it has provided me with the accessibility to care for my son with more ease. Our everyday routines are manageable without limitations.
The accessibility and modifications that have been done to our home has had a huge impact on our quality of life. Our lives have become more stress-free, and at the end of each day we enjoy reminiscing and looking forward to what our future holds.” – Ramona, Habitat Saskatchewan homeowner.
You can look at Habitat Saskatchewan’s impact by checking out the stories on our website in the news section or by visiting our social media pages @habitatsask.
National Volunteer Week – April 16th to 22nd, 2023
This is the week we get to celebrate the many volunteers that chose to dedicate their time to work with our charity. They felt a clear connection to our mission and wanted to help us create a world where our families have access to safe and affordable housing.
They are the heart of our work across Saskatchewan and we rely on them to show up for us and their community every single day. This is why we wanted to take the opportunity to thank and celebrate them all this week!
We are grateful to You!
We are especially grateful to highlight a particular volunteer that keeps showing up at one of our ReStores each week and has been coming to help us since 2022. Cheryl has a kind soul and she told us that her favourite part about volunteering is the satisfaction of giving back and at the same time, doing something she enjoys. Sounds like a win-win situation to me!
“Volunteering at Habitat for Humanity helps me help others by participating in raising funds used to help build future housing for people who could otherwise not qualify for it” – Cheryl
Cheryl has managed to do over 500 volunteer hours at the ReStore! How incredible is that! It is an individual like her who we long for to help us deliver our mission. She brings her smile and her talents to work with us and we are so lucky to have her.
You can see from her picture that she is happy to help and she gets to wear one of our cool volunteer aprons!
Thank you so much for all of the work that you have done and for your commitment to our organization, it does not go unnoticed!
Many Volunteers
Habitat Saskatchewan has many more volunteers that work with us to make all things happen. Our board works with us voluntarily to help steer our organization toward a sustainable future. Their roles are not taken lightly and they put so much of their personal time into making sure we live and breathe our mission, vision and values. It is almost crazy to think that a volunteer could give so much of their time to help in this way, but they do it, they love it, and we count on it.
Every Volunteer Makes a Difference
At Habitat Saskatchewan, we welcome volunteers from all backgrounds, experiences, skills, and stages of life. Fulfilling volunteer experiences begin with matching your skills and passions with our volunteer opportunities.
Whether you’re an individual, corporate team, community group, or a small group of friends – assisting at events, picking up a hammer, or helping out at the ReStore, there are many different ways for you to volunteer. Being a volunteer means you are an integral part of what we do and how we do it.
With your help, whole neighbourhoods improve and completely transform. Through this transformation, families can overcome the barriers that so often exist between their families and better, healthier, and more financially stable lives. We believe everyone has the skills to contribute, and we will work with you to find the right opportunity!
Volunteer today to help us build a better future in our community!
Sign-up to Volunteer Today!
We always need your help and can’t wait to work with you! Check out the link below for more details and to reach our page to sign-up!