For Quarlisa, owning her home means a lifetime of love, security, safety, and relaxation. It represents a future filled with hope and the promise of better days ahead.
As she looks forward to purchasing her new, energy-efficient Habitat Orlando & Osceola home, she envisions a place where her children can thrive and create lasting memories.
“My vision for the future is to enjoy the rest of my life watching my children really grow and be happy with what they accomplish. This home will help me create it,” she said.
Quarlisa grew up in the Pine Hills area of Orlando. She and her husband had two children, a girl and a boy, now aged 12 and 10. She was in school studying criminal justice when their life was upended. Her husband suffered a heart attack and passed away.
On her own to raise two children, she turned grief into determination and worked hard to graduate the next year and start work as a detention service technician at a local jail.
While her career was thriving, she found her living situation increasingly frustrating: a cramped two-bedroom apartment that cost almost as much as a mortgage. “We been living here for 7 years and my kids and I have outgrown our place,” she said.
Determined to change their living conditions, Quarlisa embarked on a journey toward homeownership. She took a First-time Homebuyer Workshop with Habitat Orlando & Osceola and began the arduous process of taking control of her finances.
“I had to clean up my credit, get my credit score up, cut down some expenses, and learn how to budget and save,” she said.
Housing counselors at Habitat Orlando & Osceola helped her make a plan and guided her to success. She was accepted into the homeownership program and has been attending Habitat U education classes to set her up for success.
Her home will be built during Builders Blitz 2025. Park Square Homes along with their subcontractors and vendors, will donate the time, materials and labor to build the home that will be sold to Quarlisa with a stable mortgage. She’ll help dedicate her home during a ceremony on Feb. 7, 2025.
Her children are most excited about having their own rooms. Quarlisa hopes that owning a home will instill in them a sense of ownership, responsibility, and the value of hard work and dedication.
“It makes me feel great because I will actually say I made my mom proud of me and I’m proud of myself,” she said.
She’s grateful to Habitat Orlando & Osceola and Park Square Homes for helping her realize her goal.
“Thank you to everyone who made homeownership possible for me and my family.”
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