Home clearly has a special place in Kaedan Rosman鈥檚 heart. And sharing his thoughts has also helped make a home for others.

Rosman, 11, recently earned second place in the Genworth Canada Support for Habitat for Humanity contest, earning a $5,000 contribution to a Habitat for Humanity project, an iPod and a pizza party for his class at Shuswap Middle School.

With no Habitat for Humanity projects taking place in Salmon Arm, Rosman has directed his funds towards a Habitat for Humanity project in 琉璃神社, where his grandparents live.

鈥淚 was really surprised,鈥� says Rosman of his win. 鈥淚 didn鈥檛 really think it was that good, so it feels a bit weird鈥� I like knowing that something I wrote did something to help other people.鈥�

Rosman says he chose to write a poem because, 鈥渁n essay is a lot of words.鈥�

He was inspired by a few things, including watching videos of himself as a baby with his parents as he was learning to walk around the house.

鈥淚 thought about my parents helping me, how I wasn鈥檛 out in the cold, I was inside warm and safe.鈥�

The nation-wide project is a program for Grades 4-6, where students are asked to write on the topic of the meaning of home. All the students in teacher Jaimie Vezina鈥檚 French Immersion class participated by submitting written work.

This is the third year Vezina鈥檚 students have participated, but the first time she has ever had a winning student.

Here is Rosman鈥檚 winning entry:

Home is happy,

Home is for family

It鈥檚 where you feel safe, it鈥檚 where

You take your first steps and make memories

Where love is on a flow,

It鈥檚 where you grow

Somewhere you feel welcome it鈥檚 where your friends come

Home is warm like wool

Home isn鈥檛 cold like the north pole

Home is not perfect, it鈥檚 imperfect

But it鈥檚 magnified like a unicorn

Where you feel true,

Home is where we help you

Where you鈥檙e safe from the world

Where you learn your first words

Home is where you play

Home is where you spend your day

Your family helps with things that are tough

Home is where you take your first breath

In the end home is a happy place.