Tag Archive for: home dedication

Confidence

Building a Habitat Kent home takes more than timber, cement, and vinyl. It takes a homebuyer willing to believe that they can accomplish more. Therese took on the challenge of building and purchasing a new Habitat Kent home in the Roosevelt Park Neighborhood.

Her hard work will provide a bright future for her three daughters Aline (15), Nina (11), and Helene (5).

She heard about the homeownership program from her friend, Desire, who is a Habitat Kent homebuyer also living in Roosevelt Park. She previously had been renting a cramped apartment with little space for her growing daughters to play. After being unable to qualify for a traditional mortgage, Therese decided to apply to the Habitat Kent homeownership program.

The process was daunting at times for Therese. She had to earn sweat equity hours while working full time, parenting her daughters, and taking classes at Grand Rapids Community College.

Thankfully, Therese had friends to support her, including Frida, who lives across the street from her new home. She said going through the homeownership program pushed her and built her confidence in the skills she learned, including home maintenance and budget management. As the most recent Habitat Kent Women Build, more than 200 women joined Therese in building her new home where she and her daughters can thrive.

“I thank God that I’m done,” Therese said. She now can enjoy the home she built for her children, who will have room to grow and play. Because of you, Therese was able to build a confidence in herself to achieve her dream of homeownership.

“If you feel like you can do something—don’t give up. No matter what people say to you, just go forward.”

Home Dedication: 935 4th St.

Join Dini Kamal & Mansura Musa and their two children – Nuredin Ahmed (son) and Amira Ahmed (daughter), for the dedication of their new home at 935 4th St. NW. Their home was built in partnership with Grand Rapids Community College M-TEC students.

Home Dedication: 865 Oakland

Come join Therese and her family as they celebrate the dedication of their new home at 865 Oakland. Snacks and refreshments will be served following the dedication ceremony.

GRPS Students Build Habitat Home

While most students associate the end of the school year with studying for exams, cleaning out lockers, and longing for summer, a group of Grand Rapids Public Schools students were celebrating a project that took the entire school year to complete.

Juniors and seniors at GRPS’ Academy for Design and Construction (ADC) spent the 2017-2018 school year partnering with Habitat for Humanity of Kent County to build a new LEED-certified home. More than 200 GRPS ADC students have partnered with Habitat Kent over the last 12 years, and this is the eleventh house they’ve built.

From framing in the humid days of late September to installing windows in the bitter cold of January, students had to learn how to work together to overcome obstacles with support from Habitat Kent staff and ADC instructors.

“We’re like a family because we built this,” said ADC student, Alex, at the end-of-year celebration inside the family room of the new house.

“It took a lot of hard work and teamwork.”

Students learn valuable hands-on construction skills as well as knowledge of energy-efficient home building techniques and materials. But the most valuable part of the program is that the students help a homebuyer build a safe, stable, and affordable home.

Cassandra, the homebuyer, applied for Habitat’s homeownership program because she had a need for housing, the ability to pay an affordable mortgage, and a willingness to partner with Habitat. She’s been able to meet and watch the students work on her new home this past year.

“I think it’s really important that [the students] learn how to build a house for their [own home] when they grow older and also if they work in the construction trade.”

Cassandra is working hard to wrap up her sweat equity hours, which include construction of her home and other Habitat homes, financial courses, and homeownership training. She hopes to move into her new home by the beginning of the new school year.

Every single task students completed, every single hour they spent on this house is going to make a lasting impact for Cassandra and her family, and even their own future. To close the celebration, Alex perfectly summed up what the program is all about.

“[This house] was built with love.”

Tag Archive for: home dedication

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