“It was always my dream to become a home owner.”
Carla and Leonard were living in a two bedroom apartment with their young daughter when they found out they were pregnant with another child. After he was born, the couple requested a three-bedroom unit at their apartment complex. They thought this would allow them to get into a unit that didn’t need as much work as their current apartment. The basement and tub leaked and management took an extremely long time to fix any arising issues, if they got fixed at all. After three years waiting for a larger unit to become available, their children were still sharing a room. The ceiling in their apartment collapsed, twice and Carla realized that the rising number of issues required her to look for alternative housing options.
Carla had applied to multiple home assistance organizations but was unsuccessful at getting any aid that could facilitate proper housing for her family. When she saw a flyer for Habitat for Humanity Oakland she went to a meeting to see if Habitat was something that could help her achieve her goals . At the meeting, she discovered that Habitat would be the perfect solution for her family. “[Habitat explained] what I had to have, I was going to be in a brand-new home, and that I would help build from the ground up. It was a dream come true…”. In 1999 Carla and Leonard applied to the Habitat Homeownership Program.
Carla closed on her new home April 18, 2003. Owning her own home has given her children a place to grow and feel secure. They’ve been able to create more family time by gardening and being able to paint their rooms any color they’d like. “This year it will be 15 years I’ve been in my house. Some days I still can’t believe my family helped build on this house from the ground up, never missed a day, was there step by step. My family was really and truly blessed to get this home. Now that my kids are grown the grandkids can have a home to come to, thanks to Habitat.”
For anyone considering applying to Habitat Carla has some advice: “To go for it. There is nothing like having something you can call your own.
With Habitat, they are always there for you and with you, they really become your family.”
