Shelly’s Story

Pictured is Shelly and her daughters enjoying a traditional Newfoundland Mother’s Day lobster dinner.

My name is Shelly, and I have two daughters. We own a Habitat “buy back” home in Edmonton’s Kirkness community. About four years ago I heard about Habitat for Humanity and how the program helps families. I did some research and realized, wow, the program had helped so many families get a new fresh start. I was amazed and thought an opportunity like the Habitat program would be so great for my daughters and me. Before Habitat, life was okay, but I never felt like we had a stable home because with renting you just don’t have stability.

I was renting an old home that was very cold in winter. I had to put plastic on the inside and outside of my windows to keep the cold out. We rented this house because it was all I could afford, and the rent was 50% net of what I was paid at work. Before being accepted into the Habitat program, owning my own home was only a dream. Now I own a beautiful, bright, clean, warm, safe and stable home, and it is my dream come true. To me, the most important thing about being a homeowner is safety and stability for my daughters and me. I have had many positive and fun experiences while completing my 500 volunteer hours, including meeting all those nice friendly volunteers at Habitat.

I remember my very first 8-hour shift at Restore North. My youngest daughter and I went to the lunchroom and saw a bulletin board with our family’s picture on it and it said “future homeowner”. I started to cry, and I said to my daughter this is real. The past few years I have shed more than a few happy tears. I am so, so thankful for all the hard work Habitat staff and volunteers do to make dreams like mine come true. Since owning our Habitat home life has been GREAT for us!

For those of you who support Habitat, thank you for all the amazing things you do to help families! All of us are grateful for all you do and are grateful that you are people with very big hearts.

Please donate today in support of Habitat Homeownership.