The Habitat for Humanity Foothills Chapter broke ground yesterday on their duplex build project in the D'arcy neighbourhood.

Marilyn Boake, Foothills Chapter Chair for Habitat for Humanity Southern Alberta, says it's been a long wait and they're excited to move forward.

"We have been working for a couple of years now to raise enough money to build a duplex in Okotoks for the habitat program, so we're pretty excited that today is finally here," said Boake.

Boake says once land is acquired, the flood of volunteer help they get is incredibly inspiring, as the builds would not happen without those, and many other efforts.

" Thanks to some of the sponsorship from Anthem, United, Morrison Homes and the Town of Okotoks, they've really been instrumental in helping us get into this area," she said.

According to Boake, the biggest expense is acquiring the land for the projects, which is followed by fundraising for the build itself.

" The contractors bring donations and discounted services to us, which helps to keep our build costs low, and that's how we get to build more, and sooner," she said.

The duplex will be located on Willow Crescent, and has one family approved already, with several applications in process for the remaining side.

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