Stories

Noah & Naphtali

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An artist, a doctor, a TV producer, a writer or an actor—these are just a few of the careers Noah (age 11) is considering. It wasn’t long ago that Noah’s focus was less on his education and more on his health due to frequent asthma attacks in his family’s basement rental.

Seeking a healthier and more stable environment, Noah, his older brother, Naphtali, and their mom moved out of their basement rental and into their grandma’s one-bedroom apartment. It was a healthier space but quickly felt overcrowded when all four family members were forced to quarantine together during the pandemic.

“There wasn’t a lot of space to move around,” shared Noah. “It was pretty cramped and uncomfortable.”

Naphtali also recalls the challenges of school while living in a small apartment.

“Once remote learning started and we had to stay at home to get educated, we didn’t have much room to go on our meetings and listen with all the background noise. It was very cramped and hard to be comfortable and focused.”

Life quickly turned around and remote learning got much easier once Noah and Naphtali’s mom, Azariah, closed on their Habitat home in April 2020.

“It’s so much easier for us to focus,” Naphtali shares. “We have our own space to work on the things that we’re given at school. And it’s so much easier to learn and to be more engaged.” Noah adds, “And now we have our own rooms!”

Now that Noah and Naphtali have dedicated space to learn and study at home, they know that they want to go further in school.

“I am interested in going to college after high school so that I can get a top tier education… I’ll be really excited for when that time comes,” shares Naphtali. “I’ve always just had a mindset elementary school, middle school, high school, and then college. So yeah, I’m going to go to college and get educated a lot more,” adds Noah.

“We’re so thankful for our mom and Habitat for giving us this opportunity to change our lives,” Naphtali and Noah share.