Lethbridge resident named winner of $20,000 home renovation contest

“When we moved into this house 12 years ago, it had never been updated or anything, it was built in the 1960s and the first thing we did was take out the wool shag carpet that was burnt orange, put down some hardwood and then we made it a little bit more open,” she said.

“We never had a chance to finish the kitchen, so it got started and some of cupboards got moved around, the hood fan ended up falling off the wall and cracking our cook-top. We had to put in a new stove, and some of the counters are not completely sealed…there are just things that are missing.”

She said the kitchen is a small space, which makes it difficult for her kids to help her cook. About a month ago, Taylor received the call that she was in the top four, and BILD informed her that they would be sending a crew over to view her space in person and what they could do with the layout.

“I didn’t hear anything for a few weeks, so I though oh well, maybe I will just get that phone call that they went with someone else,” she said.

“Last week, we got a call from BILD saying they needed to come do more measurements and I thought, okay – that’s interesting.”

On Monday morning, Taylor was greeted by representatives from BILD and contest donors on her front doorstep.

“I’m pretty excited and stunned,” she said. Taylor was beaming when she received the news.

“The window in my kitchen needs to be replaced and it’s needed to be replaced for a long time, but I haven’t ever found the extra however many hundreds of dollars to get a new kitchen window. Every winter, I feel a draft coming in from underneath it and we try to put plastic over it, so I’m really excited for things like higher efficiency and to save costs that way,” she remarked.

BILD’s Executive Officer Bridget Mearns said the teamwork shown from donors and the BILD crew is heartwarming. She noted that the contest originally received 100 applicants.

“We had 13 weeks of qualifiers and then we narrowed it down to four. We went to their homes, took a look at their houses and they invited us in and shared their stories, which is incredibly heartwarming,” she said.

“(There are) so many people out there that can benefit from this, but having come here and having the chance to meet Katie and her boys and seeing what a difference that we could make in their lives was a really great thing for us to do.”

She said crews will sit down with Katie and figure out her needs. Preliminary designs have already been completed.

“We’ll sit down with her and talk about what the timeline will be, we have to work within her schedule (because) she won’t have a kitchen for a while, make sure that we’re meeting her needs. We’ll demo and reno over the next couple of months and the final reveal will be in October,” Mearns explained.

Taylor added that the renovations will be beneficial to her entire family.

“I’m really excited to create a space for my family to be together and to cook together more and (teach) them some of those life skills that they could really use and all those little things that are always on my list but I can’t ever do anything about,” she said.

“I’m so grateful to have somebody be like, hey we’re going to be able to take care of this. It’s huge to improve the value of my home and improve the quality of our lives.”

by Justin Goulet

Lethbridge resident named winner of $20,000 home renovation contest

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