Homes For Heroes Foundation announces new strategic partnership

The Homes For Heroes Foundation, who’s mission it is to integrate all homeless military veterans into the community through the provision of housing and support services across Canada, announces a strategic partnership with Beyond Foam Insulation, a Calgary-based family owned and operated spray foam insulation contractors, Huntsman Building Solutions, a global leader in the manufacture and supply of open-cell and closed-cell spray polyurethane foam (SPF) insulation and coatings and ATCO, a one-stop provider of integrated energy, housing, transportation and infrastructure solutions. This partnership sees these four organizations working together to get veterans off the street and back into society as proud and productive citizens, by providing energy efficient insulated homes and services that restore their pride, dignity and self-respect.

“Our mission is to provide a caring and comprehensive solution to homelessness among our veterans. To do so, we have partnered with Beyond Foam Insulation, Huntsman Building Solutions and ATCO to build unique, affordable and innovative urban villages to house veterans during their transition back to civilian life and living independently in the long term,” says Cameron H. Diggon, Capt. (Ret’d) and Director of Fund Development for Homes for Heroes Foundation. “The design of our villages is deliberate and is intended to maximize a sense of community, teamwork and peer-to-peer support. This approach was developed in direct consultation with our Canadian veterans – it is a program developed by veterans for veterans.”

For one out of every four Canadian Forces members, the process of being released from their military career and transitioning back into the community can be stressful and complex. Due to the challenges, they face in making this transition, veterans are twice as likely as non-veterans to experience homelessness – and female veterans are twice as likely as their male counterparts to be homeless. In its May 2019 report on Moving Toward Ending Homelessness Among Veterans, the House of Commons Standing Committee on Veterans Affairs concluded that up to 5,000 veterans are likely to be homeless in Canada with likely over 200 in Edmonton.

“Beyond Foam Insulation sees value in supporting our veterans who have sacrificed so much to allow us the luxury of freedom in our great country. We are truly thankful for their service and are happy to contribute towards this project,” says Curt Janzen, Owner and CEO of Beyond Foam. “We could not provide quality spray foam product without the support of spray foam manufacturer, Huntsman Building Solutions who is providing us with their Heatlok Soya HFO closed-cell product that contains a total of 22% recycled plastic and renewable soya oil content. Just one of their resin drums contains up to 3000 plastic bottles that are diverted from landfills. The installation generates zero waste, zero trash on the jobsite and the product adapts to all surfaces, shapes and volume.”

Homes For Heroes opened its first Veterans’ Village in Calgary on November 1, 2019. Because companies like Beyond Foam, Huntsman Building Solutions and ATCO helped, 15 Veterans were able to get off the street, into a warm and safe home. The second village, located in Edmonton, will provide over 7,000 bed-nights per year for Veterans experiencing homelessness. Construction commenced on

the tiny homes for the Village on April 7, 2021, and with the help of these partners, Homes For Heroes plans to welcome their first cohort of 20 Veterans-in-need by October 1st.

“We are contributing to home building projects that provide a sense of purpose and a place of hope for Canadian veterans,” says Joe Upper, Director of Sales – ROC with Huntsman Building Solutions. “Our Heatlok Soya HFO applied by Beyond Foam Insulation will make these homes comfortable to live in and reduce the cost to veterans from an energy efficiency standpoint. It’s the highest performing air barrier system out there and it is made from renewable soya and recycled plastics, with low VOC emissions.”

“We couldn’t be more pleased with the assistance we have received from Beyond Foam, Huntsman building Solutions and ATCO’s building partners. In total, we expect that these contributions in-kind from building and construction partners will fund almost one-third of the cost of the Village,” says Cameron H. Diggon.