Stephany’s Story

Stephany is a Denver native and always dreamed of raising her family in the same community where she was born and raised.  But with Denver’s rising housing costs, she struggled to find a decent and affordable place to live.

Stephany works hard as a full-time cake decorator and has always done her best to make ends meet for herself and her three children.  Stephany and her kids spent years searching for the right place to live – but that resulted in frequent moves and a lack of permanence in their lives.  At one point Stephany and her kids all shared a single room in her father’s house because they couldn’t afford an apartment of their own.

The frequent transitions and lack of stability started to impact the entire family’s life. In fact, by the time Stephany’s son went into fourth grade, he had already changed schools four times.

Stephany first learned about Habitat for Humanity’s homeownership program from a coworker and couldn’t believe what an amazing opportunity it was.  Now having lived in their home for five years, the family is enjoying stability and consistency that has made all the difference in the world.

Stephany’s Habitat home has created so much more space for her family to live and grow, including enough bedrooms for them each to have their own for the first time in their lives.  And staying in the same school has had a real impact on her children’s education.

“Living here has helped my daughter tremendously, as far as school goes and with the stability,” shares Stephany. “It’s permanent. This is where we’re going to live forever!”