Carly and her family lived in substandard rental housing for many years. Dealing with cramped spaces, inadequate heating, and safety concerns is not what Carly wanted for her kids at home. Instead, she was dreaming of creating a home base.
Nevertheless, after working hard to rebuild her credit and career post-separation, Carly applied to the Habitat Homeownership Program. She hoped this would be her chance to build a safe, stable home that was big enough for her family. She was accepted and began to work diligently towards completing the requirements of the program.
Full Circle for Carly
When it came time to offer Carly a property, Habitat Capital Region staff thought the location they had available would be a great fit for her. The vacant lot meant we could build as many bedrooms as she needed. Little did anyone know, she grew up around the corner! Carly was eager during her property walkthrough, checking out the entire lot.
Ultimately, she was picturing it becoming her family's home base during her property offer. Plus, the idea that her future next door neighbor would also be a Habitat homeowner make her feel right at home.
Building a Home Base
Since being accepted, Carly completed over 150 hours of sweat equity and attended various homeownership education classes. She is a very active volunteer, spreading the word about our programs and helping at construction volunteer events. Accordingly, Carly is a vocal supporter of Habitat’s mission and helps volunteers understand their impact.
On top of that, she also spent many hours swinging a hammer herself, working to build her house so that her and her family can call it their home base. After being accepted into the Homeownership Program, Carly got started building alongside 167 dedicated volunteers. Eventually, the group went through building every portion of the house.
From framing the walls, all the way to installing the kitchen sink.
Her well-attended Home Dedication was proof that Carly is deeply involved in the local community surrounding her new home, with many neighbors and in the Lansing area.
Finally, Carly and her children are excited to move and settle into their new home. Now they'll have more space to spread out and the peace and quiet that comes with owning a house of your own. Carly is also excited to build equity when she pays her mortgage payment each month, instead of paying rent.
In total, a whopping 1,858 volunteer hours were put into Carly's home base, and it shows!
Partnership with Ingham County Land Bank
Habitat Capital Region built this house on a lot owned by Ingham County Land Bank to sell to qualified, low- to moderate-income Habitat homebuyers like Carly. Through this partnership, vacant lots in the Capital Region have been transformed into affordable housing and are increasing neighboring properties' values.
Habitat Capital Region Homeownership Program
Homeownership may be more attainable than you thought.
