About Us
Our Story
What sets Habitat for Humanity apart…
Habitat for Humanity began in 1976. It is an organization that originated in the United States and has grown to encompass over 100 countries around the world. Our founders, Millard and Linda Fuller believed in the idea of partnership housing and giving a hand up to those in need by working alongside them to build safe, decent and affordable houses. Habitat for Humanity Canada has over fifty-seven affiliate organizations across the country including one on the Sunshine Coast of British Columbia. Our universal vision has remained the same: A world where everyone has a safe and decent place to live.
Housing for All – We believe that access to safe, decent and affordable housing is a basic human need that should be available to all.
Human Dignity – We believe in the worth and dignity of every human being. We respect the people we serve and those who help us in this effort and recognize them as our greatest resource.
Diversity and Inclusiveness – We believe there is a role for everyone committed to our vision, mission, values and we seek to enrich our organization through diversity.
Our Values
Who we are.
Sunshine Coast was the smallest community to have a Habitat chapter when it was formed.
Our story begins in the early 2000s at a men’s church breakfast. “We were looking to do something for our community”, Gwen says. Ed, with his real estate background, was interested in housing. “Habitat was the only organization I had heard of that built homes alongside low income families and tailored their mortgage income to their income. It sounded like a nice organization.” With the support of the Living Faith Lutheran Church in Davis Bay, Ed did the necessary paperwork and the chapter was launched in 2004. The chapter bought some land on North Road in Gibsons for $75,000. “The first house was basically all built by volunteers — 20 to 30 people in all, with 10 or 12 guys working all the time,” says Ed. That’s not to say that the community wasn’t quick to support the project.
When the chapter started its second project, a duplex in Sechelt, Ed, still busy promoting Habitat wherever he could, gave his card to a plumber at a presentation he was making at a school. One day shortly afterward, 18 plumbers rolled up in their trucks and went to work plumbing the entire duplex. The man was Arnold Skei, and his company was Sechelt Plumbing.
As the chapter moved on to its next project, Habitat Village, on the Sunshine Coast Highway in Wilson Creek, more and more volunteers signed on. Gwen thumbs through a book with the names and phone numbers of all the volunteers she could call on for women’s work days. The women would install insulation and do the interior painting. It’s an impressive book. Meanwhile, Ed kept busy mining other sources of revenue for Habitat. He convinced local building supply companies to donate a playhouse kit to Habitat, which volunteers built (on Ed’s boat trailer) and raffled off. Canadian Tire donated a greenhouse kit, which was also raffled off. “But the main source of income for Habitat is always the ReStore,” Ed says.
Our Staff
Douglas Dunn
About Douglas Dunn, M.B.A., C.F.R.E. (Certified Fund Raising Professional)
Douglas Dunn has been active in the not-for-profit sector for over 46 years as well as being a successful entrepreneur taking two companies public. A Rotarian as well as founder, director, and member of over 30 non-profit organizations, Mr. Dunn has been active in a diverse range of organizations ranging from the Fine & Performing Arts to E-Commerce.
Committed to improving the quality of life for British Columbians Mr. Dunn has spent the last two decades working with social welfare organizations such as Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Fraser Valley, B.C. Council for Families, and SOS Children’s Villages B.C. Mr. Dunn stated, “The opportunity to work with Habitat for Humanity Sunshine Coast was irresistible. I am delighted to join the Habitat team and embrace their community building focus which is making a significant contribution to local low-income families by giving them stability and self-reliance through providing affordable housing.”
Lisa Moore
Lisa and her husband have been residents of the Sunshine Coast for the past twelve years, however her coastal roots go way back. Her parents relocated to the Sunshine Coast from the lower mainland forty-five years ago. The happy result is she has spent countless summers and holidays enjoying all this beautiful coast has to offer. Lisa was fortunate to be able to retire from her career in finance when they relocated, and she relishes the opportunities to enjoy the natural surroundings spending many hours hiking the countless trails with her husband and their Bernedoodle Luna.
Prior to moving to the coast Lisa frequented the Habitat store in Burnaby numerous times, purchasing items used in home improvements and renovation. A long-time believer in the mission of Habitat to provide affordable housing for working families, it seemed a natural fit for her to join the organization and bring her finance experience to the job of working with families in the Affordable Housing Program. She is proud of the work Habitat has done on the coast and looks forward to continuing to help future families in their search for security, affordability and a safe place to raise their family.
Todd Campbell
Todd relocated to the Sunshine Coast recently after growing up in North Vancouver and could not be happier to be a part of the community. In his free time he can be found hiking with his wife, exploring the area, and spending time with family.
Todd is proud to be part of an amazing organization that is doing great work helping families get into affordable housing. Being part of such a wonderful team of caring and supportive coworkers has been a true blessing. He is looking forward to continuing to help families and the community to build more homes and hope in the future.
Jon Brown
Formerly a resident of Vancouver Island, Jon moved to the Sunshine Coast a few years ago to be with his now wife in Gibsons. Jon has a background in working with young people to develop and achieve sporting excellence, and also managing delivery operations where developing and supporting his team gave him the most job satisfaction.
“I’m excited to join the Habitat for Humanity team as accessibility to decent housing for working families is something I feel strongly about. Helping to enable our donors to support the local community makes the goal of building new housing for families in our community come to life every day.”
Steve Murdoch
Steve has been working on the ReStore Team for 15 years. Why? He finds the ReStore and Habitat for Humanity to be engaging and worthwhile producers of social housing.
The sheer variety of items, tasks and people he meets are immense and stimulating. Steve finds fighting waste and creating housing to be a truly virtuous cycle.
Jelayna Murdoch
Jelayna Murdoch has always been an active member of her community. She has volunteered with organizations such as UNICEF, Big Brothers Big Sisters, Best Buddies, and was selected for a four month internship in Rwanda. Jelayna has studied political science at Concordia University and at the University of Victoria
With a passion for creativity and helping others, she has enjoyed working for Habitat for Humanity Sunshine Coast (HFHSC) since May 2020. During her time at HFHSC, Jelayna has welcomed the chance to collaborate with like-minded individuals and the opportunity to help build strength, stability, and independence in the community.
