SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - "You're not gonna make me get into that water tank?" asked Connie Roberts with a chuckle.

From left, Martha Kanatsiak, Connie Roberta, Jessika Claros, Cindy Ring and Bonita Bohnet attended a home maintenance/repair course on Wednesday organized by the Centre for Northern Families. - Aaron Beswick/NNSL photo Other NWT home ownership programs Providing Assistance for Territorial Homeownership (PATH) Ð Forgivable loans are provided by the housing corporation to assist in the purchase or construction of a 'modest home'. The funds available to each participant are decided on a case by case basis, with criteria including the location of the community and the size of the family involved. Applicants through this program must obtain the rest of their funding through a financial institution approved by the housing corporation. Contributing Assistance for Repairs and Enhancements (CARE) -- Assists existing homeowners to make necessary repairs to their residences. Homeownership Entry Level Program (HELP) Ð Those turned down for mortgage financing by a bank, can enter this program to become eligible for a $10,000 forgivable loan. Public housing clients enter into a lease agreement for their current homes with the housing corporation, learning about the responsibilities of monthly payments, repairs and utilities costs. If the client makes their payments for two years, the housing corporation offers the forgivable loan to be used as a down payment on their own property.

Instructor Craig Hockridge looked at the mobile home's water tank, attempted a straight face, and replied, "I've got a scuba mask and scrub brush for you."

A few laughs can lighten a lesson.

Five women were learning a few important lessons on Wednesday, courtesy of the home maintenance/repair course offered by the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation. The women, brought together by the Centre for Northern Families, were learning basic maintenance of a home and how its various systems work – whether it be plumbing, electrical or heating.

"They learn things like how to know when a furnace filter needs changing and how to change it, functions of the water and sewer systems in their home, home safety, how to conserve energy," said Hockridge, a technical advisor with the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation, of the six and a half hour course. "Basically what a person should know about maintaining and repairing their home."

However, not all the lessons were new. The women chuckled when they came across a picture in their textbooks detailing how to use a plunger.

"Some of what we're learning may seem like common sense to some of us, but there are also a lot of new things we couldn't do by ourselves before," explained participant Bonita Bohnet. "And we most definitely don't need a man to do it for us."

The Housing Corporation offers the course to organizations in the city as part of its Solutions to Educating People (STEP) program.

"As women, it empowers us to understand what's going on in our homes and try to fix problems ourselves," said participant Jessika Claros.

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