We recently held a Stories of Home Contest where we asked Twin Cities Habitat homeowners to share a story answering the question: "What does your home mean to you?" Here's one of the winning stories in the homeowner's own voice. Story and photos shared with their permission.
Written by Daniel Onyancha, Habitat Homeowner since 2017.
On a hot summer day, you might find Naja out on a Habitat build site with her volunteer crew from Securian Financial. As she puts on her hard hat and gets to work on a table saw, she thinks about the kids who will one day live there. She envisions the yard where they’ll play, the dining room where they’ll share meals, the rooms where they’ll study.
She can see these scenes so clearly because she was one of those kids.
We recently held a Stories of Home Contest where we asked Twin Cities Habitat homeowners to share a story answering the question: "What does your home mean to you?" Here's one of the winning stories in the homeowner's own voice. Story and photos shared with their permission.
Written by DeAngela Flournoy, Habitat Homeowner since 1997.
Hi, my name is DeAngela Flournoy, I was blessed with my home in 1997 through Habitat for Humanity. It was the first Habitat home to be built in Bloomington, MN.
Back then I guess what home meant to me was a place to live, something nice to have your family own and be in. It wasn’t till ten years later and now, that you really understand what a HOME really means.
It's been a fun and interesting ride, but the time finally came for the first House That Beer Built to be dedicated!
We recently held a Stories of Home Contest where we asked Twin Cities Habitat homeowners to share a story answering the question: "What does your home mean to you?" Here's one of the winning stories in the homeowner's own voice. Story and photos shared with their permission.
Written by Melody Lawson, Habitat Homeowner since 2011
I am so excited to write the greatest memories I have in my life when I purchased my Habitat of Humanity home.
LaShonda was in a bind: with her good job as an x-ray technician, her income was too high to qualify for things like food or housing assistance—but her income wasn’t high enough to afford homeownership. It’s a bind that’s all too common and almost invisible at the same time.
With the holiday season in full swing, there's one thing that new Habitat homeowner, LaVera, has been looking forward to with great anticipation...
"Hosting my first Christmas in our new home!"
This story began with a member of the Maple Grove community deciding to donate land and say "yes, in my backyard" to Twin Cities Habitat and the partner family that worked so hard to buy their home.
Toya has lived in her home for 28 years, and after years of giving she's finally getting the opportunity to receive.
Deborah has fond memories of her childhood. Her mom was a natural host, and her home was always filled with people. Friends, family, neighbors—anyone and everyone was welcome at Deborah’s mom’s place.
“She was like a counselor to our friends,” Deborah remembers. “All of our friends would come over to my mom’s house and stay the night.” It was the place to be.
“I’m glad she rubbed off on me!” she adds, laughing, because Deborah’s just the same way—always having people over.
Now, Deborah’s Habitat home is the place to be.
