Karen and her son Kurt both had a sleepless night. Excitement was bubbling inside them as they waited to move their belongings into their Habitat home.
Before Habitat, Karen found it difficult to secure a stable home for her and her son, Kurt. They were consistently moving from apartment to apartment and, just when Karen thought she had found a place to settle down, the owners of the apartment complex they lived in announced a drastic increase in rent costs. Karen realized that her new monthly payments were equivalent to a mortgage. She was frustrated with the prospect of continuing to rent and moving from place-to-place, but saving enough money for a down payment was nearly impossible.
When a friend spoke with Karen about Habitat’s affordable homeownership program, she realized that she was eligible, and quickly applied. A short while later, she received the news that she would be a homeowner and wasted no time in telling Kurt. She vividly remembers receiving the keys to her home, and the sleepless night preceding it. There was too much excitement to sleep!
“In the morning, we left our old apartment to drive to our new home and couldn’t contain our happiness! My son kept asking me over and over when we were going to move, and so the very next day we moved everything in.”
Now, Karen and Kurt live in a safe and stable home. After years of asking, Kurt finally has his own room, and Karen sees him becoming more responsible and mature while he does his own laundry and makes his own bed. For Karen, owning her own home has created transformational change in her life. While she used to feel unsafe in her home and sleep with lights on, she is now happy and content, and sleeps soundly at night. She loves the neighbourhood, and her friend lives only a few houses down. Best of all, her monthly rental payments are hardly more than her previous rent, and this time, each payment she makes is saving for her future.
Karen is grateful for the hand-up Habitat has provided her and has already encouraged several friends to apply to become a homeowner. Learn how you can own an affordable home.
