Brittni and her family lived in substandard rental housing for many years. Dealing with unanswered maintenance requests, disruptive noise levels, and safety concerns is not what Brittni wanted for her kids at home. Instead, she was manifesting home.
Nevertheless, after working hard to repair her credit and build up her savings, Brittni applied to the Habitat Homeownership Program. She hoped this would be her chance to build a safe, stable home for her family. She was accepted and began to work diligently towards completing the requirements of the program.
Manifesting Home
When it came time to offer Brittni a property, Habitat Capital Region staff thought the location they had available would be a great fit for her. It is in the kids’ school district and on the same side of town as their apartment. Little did anyone know, she previously saw this property on Ingham County Land Bank’s website. Brittni secretly dreamed of living there with her family.
Ultimately, she was manifesting home with this property offer.
Building Home
Since being accepted, Brittni 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, Brittni is a vocal supporter of Habitat’s mission and helps volunteers understand their impact.
Then, she also spent many hours swinging a hammer herself, working to build her house so that her and her family can call it home. After being accepted into the Homeownership Program, Brittni got started building alongside 166 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 ground breaking was proof that Brittni is already deeply involved in local community surrounding her new home, with many friends in this neighborhood and the larger Lansing area.
Finally, Brittni and her children are so 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. Brittni is also excited to build equity when she pays her mortgage payment each month, instead of paying rent.
In total, a whopping 1,635 volunteer hours were put into the build, and it shows!
Brittni closed on her dream Habitat home in December.
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 Brittni. Through this partnership, vacant lots in the Capital Region have been transformed into affordable housing and are increasing neighboring properties' values.
Ingham County Land Bank helped to reduce the costs typically associated with a Habitat homeownership project and house acquisition. Ultimately, Habitat Capital Region was able to more quickly serve people in need of a decent place to live.
Habitat Capital Region Homeownership Program
Homeownership may be more attainable than you thought.
