Local Grade 5 student is grand prize winner in national writing contest
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Wins $30,000 grant for Habitat for Humanity Victoria

Where the Heart Lives
 
I watch my home being built
 
Its frame, the skeleton
Its siding, the skin
Its electricity, the brain
Its ventilation, the lungs
Its plumbing, the blood
 
But where is its heart?
 
My home is not alive
Until the day my family moves in
We are my home’s heart
Beating life and love into our new home
 
Beating fast with excitement
Racing up the stairs
Down the halls
To see our new rooms
 
Beating slow as we eat our first meal together
Feeling so fortunate that we have
These walls around us
This roof over our heads
 
Home truly is where the heart lives

The Meaning of Home is a national writing contest in support of Habitat for Humanity Canada that asks students in Grade 4, 5 and 6 to share what home means to them. 10,200 students entered this year’s Meaning of Home contest, more than 300 of them from Greater Victoria, which sets a new record. The Grade 5 grand prize winner is Nathan Papps, from Victoria, British Columbia. He has won a $30,000 grant for Habitat for Humanity Victoria. Read Nathan’s winning poem “Where the Heart Lives” at meaningofhome.ca/winners-2020/.

This grant will help Habitat Victoria build eleven new affordable homes for local families in 2020 – ten in North Saanich and one in Central Saanich.

 “Nathans’ entry really does express how a house becomes a home when you bring in a family,” said Kelly King, Director of Communications & Giving for Habitat for Humanity Victoria. “And the importance of being able to have a secure and safe home in which to live has never been clearer than it is right now.”

There are three grand prize winners, one from each grade, who have won a $30,000 grant towards a local Habitat for Humanity build. Nine runners up have won a $10,000 grant towards their local Habitat. Each student entry also earned a $10 donation for their local Habitat. During a time when many local Habitats are struggling with the financial impact from COVID-19 on their operations, this contest helped raise over $280,000. 303 Students in the Greater Victoria area completed entries resulting in over $3000 of additional funds which will go towards building homes for families in need of a safe and secure place to call home.

The Meaning of Home contest would not be possible without the generous support of founding sponsor, Genworth Canada.

“I’d like to congratulate each of the contest winners and thank all the students who submitted entries on what home means to them. Since 2007, the Meaning of Home contest has been empowering youth to become engaged and compassionate members of the community while educating them on the importance of affordable housing. We’re proud to be a founding sponsor of this initiative,” said Stuart Levings, President and CEO, Genworth Canada.

In addition to the support of founding sponsor Genworth Canada, the Meaning of Home contest would not have been possible without the support of awards sponsor, Revera Inc. and judging sponsor, The Silver Hotel Group. 
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For a complete list of winners and to read the winning entries, please visit meaningofhome.ca/winners-2020/.