ARCHIVED - Partnering with Habitat for Humanity Canada

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The Harper government has renewed a partnership among Public Safety, the Correctional Service of Canada (CSC) and Habitat for Humanity Canada. Under this agreement, federal offenders can work as supervised volunteers to help build homes for low-income working families, as well as volunteer in Habitat ReStores across Canada.

The Government of Canada also announced $125,000 in funding for a Ready to Move project at Rockwood Institution where offenders are helping to build a Habitat for Humanity home at the institution, which will be moved to its final destination once completed.  This project is being undertaken with the local affiliate, Habitat for Humanity Manitoba.

Founded in 1985, Habitat for Humanity Canada is a national, non-profit organization working towards a world where everyone has a safe and decent place to live. With the help of over 50,000 volunteers every year and 69 affiliate organizations from coast to coast, their mission is to mobilize volunteers and community partners in building affordable housing and promoting homeownership as a means to break the cycle of poverty in Canada and around the world.

Celebrating their 25th anniversary in 2012, Habitat for Humanity Manitoba has built over 250 homes throughout Manitoba since 1987. Their vision is to provide families with a foundation for positive change through affordable housing.

These partnerships with Habitat for Humanity are part of CORCAN, a key rehabilitation program of the Correctional Service of Canada that provides employment training and work skills to federal offenders.

CORCAN plays an important role in CSC's mandate to enhance public safety by providing offenders with the employment experience and skills they need to become productive members of society and to safely reintegrate into the community.

Operating in 39 institutions across Canada, CORAN has four business lines: textiles, manufacturing, construction, and services (such as printing and laundry).  For example, the CORCAN shop at Bowden Institution in Alberta builds kitchen cabinets, custom storage units and other pieces of furniture.  Rockwood Institution in Manitoba has a shop where workers strip, disassemble, and recycle various components of Department of National Defence trucks. This is in addition to the construction shop at Rockwood Institution where houses are built as part of the partnership with Habitat for Humanity Manitoba.

CORCAN shops operate as businesses as much as possible given their institutional setting, and strive for the most realistic work environment possible. Offenders in the program produce products and services that meet private sector norms and standards, and most shops are ISO-certified.

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