Branthaven Homes decorates the YWCA Hamilton for the holidays!

Earlier this year, Branthaven Homes volunteered their time at the YWCA Hamilton to help fix up 65 rooms. Recently, Branthaven’s team returned to help bring in the holiday season.

“There are 65 rooms here that are occupied by ladies that are transitioning in their life; they’ve left a troubled situation, and they’re allowed to stay here for up to a year,” explained Steve Stipsits, President of Branthaven Homes. “The place was in a bad need of an overhaul because nothing had been done for decades. So we went in and renovated all 65 rooms, gave them all new beds, new chairs, furniture, wall colours, new flooring and totally transformed the place.”

For the renovation process, Branthaven set up a temporary dorm in the gymnasium so that the women had somewhere to stay when they were fixing up a room. It only took a couple days to finish one room, and with 65 rooms, it took Branthaven’s team about a month to complete everything, plus they revamped the common areas and hallways.

“I wondered how they were decorating the place for the holidays, so we called them up, and they said they had never done that before,” Stipsits added. “They didn’t have the materials or anything like that, so we’ve come in to work with them and spruce the place up for the holidays. It was such a rewarding experience working with them in the first place, seeing these ladies, their perseverance, their struggles, how they’re hanging in there, so it should be fun today.”

And it was fun! When we hit the 4th floor of the YWCA, the elevator doors opened to a flurry of activity. About 10 of Branthaven’s team and residents were decorating the Christmas tree, hanging wreaths and garland, and snacking on cookies and hot chocolate.

Branthaven had their volunteers and members of their design team help make the residence a Christmas wonderland. There was also a craft table where the women were making holiday cards.

It was a pleasure to have experienced the joy in that room on that day. All the women currently living at the YWCA treat each other like family, and the Branthaven family was welcomed with open arms. We are grateful to everyone at the YWCA and Branthaven for allowing us to participate in the activities!

A big year for Branthaven Homes

Branthaven Homes has been super busy for all of 2015. In addition to their charity work and launching many new communities, they also just received their 10th award of the year! They recently were awarded Builder of the Year from the Hamilton Halton Home Builders’ Association.

“We are so proud of our significant achievements in 2015,” said Stipsits. “These accomplishments are testament to Branthaven’s forward-thinking approach to real-life living, our unwavering commitment to excellence in customer service and the style and sophistication we bring to the design of each of our homes. I am extremely proud to share these awards with all of the dedicated, community-minded members of the Branthaven family.”

With new low-rise and mid-rise communities in Burlington, Grimsby, and the Hamilton area, Branthaven has been very successful throughout 2015. While chatting with Stipsits at the YWCA, he mentioned that out of the 400+ units at their master-planned Grimsby waterfront development, Lake House, they’ve sold over 300! That means that they will be starting construction very soon.

For more information about Branthaven Homes’ current communities, click here!