Stories
Future Homeowner Ashley
For Ashley, homeownership with Habitat represents a step toward hope. When Ashley and her six-year-old twins move into their new Habitat home, it will signify
08 Mar, 2024
Stories
Meet Future Homeowner: Mercedes
Mercedes is a hardworking mom who is used to juggling a lot of priorities to support her family. She currently works an overnight shift at a call center for 40 hours per week, while also working a second job helping with patient intake at a local hospital. Mercedes appreciates being able to work during the night because it allows her to spend more time with her three children—ages 11, 4 and 2—when she gets off of work at 6:30 am. However, working all night and then taking care of kids all day doesn’t leave much time for Mercedes to rest and recuperate.
Mercedes knows that all of her hard work is about to pay off when she becomes a first-time homeowner in Denver.
“I’ve tried to get a home loan recently but it’s just so hard to get approved for enough to buy a home in Denver,” Mercedes shares. “Buying a home with Habitat feels very surreal. I’ve been saving up money like crazy so that I can buy some new things and have the chance to start over. It’s so exciting!”
Mercedes is craving the safety and stability that owning a home will bring her family. She and her kids have had to move frequently in recent years and haven’t always felt secure in their rentals. Recently, Mercedes was renting a bedroom in a shared house, and she felt like her kids’ safety was at risk with various roommates rotating in and out of the house at all hours.
The family of four is currently living in a shared house with roommates that Mercedes trusts. But they are only offered 6-month leases at a time because the owner plans to sell in the near future.
When asked what will be different when they move into their Habitat home, Mercedes exclaims, “It will be ours! We can hang things on walls, paint and make it our own.”
“Best of all we are going to be stable,” Mercedes shares. “We won’t have to worry about landlords selling with little notice or new roommates moving in and out.”
Mercedes has her sights set on the future and hopes to one day go back to school. She’s a certified medical assistant, and enjoys working in the emergency room and staying involved in medicine. Once life stabilizes, she’s hoping to go back to school to become a radiology tech.
