Habitat Orlando & Osceola homeowner Stephanie knew her son and granddaughter were watching her everyday as she went off to work and diligently managed her budget saving up to purchase their home.
Stephanie, who works for a local school district and at a large retail store, said it’s important to her to set an example for them, to let them know if she can reach milestones like homeownership, someday they can too.
“I work very hard, and if they’re seeing what I’m achieving, they’re going to know that if they do it, it can happen for them too,” she said.
After years of trying to purchase a home on the open market and being denied the first time she applied to purchase a home through Habitat Orlando & Osceola, Stephanie said she was over the moon to be accepted into the program and be able to purchase her own home.
Her Orange County home was the sixth home built by Williams Company during Habitat Orlando & Osceola’s annual Home for the Holidays event. During the event, the homebuilder, along with its subcontractors and vendors, donated the labor and materials to turn two empty lots into brand new, affordable homes in a matter of weeks. Dedication ceremonies for both homes were held on Dec. 13, 2024.
Stephanie said she is incredibly grateful to Williams Company for donating their time and resources to build the home she now shares with her son and 15-year-old granddaughter. She said the home provides security and peace for her and her family.
Now, unlike with the rentals she’s lived in in the past, she said, she doesn’t have to worry about things constantly breaking or being patched up in her new home.
Stephanie said she’s most looking forward to creating a special place just for herself in her new bedroom. She’s envisioning a brand-new bedroom set, big comfy pillows and a fresh mattress to help her make her house a home.
Now that she’s reached her goal of homeownership, Stephanie said she wants her story to help encourage anyone else struggling to purchase a home.
“I want to encourage anybody that wants to go on a homeownership journey: Don’t give up. Because at one point, that’s what I felt like,” she said. “I felt like giving up. I felt like, this is not for me. I’m not going to get it. But I just prayed. I really just prayed, and I asked God to just lead me where he wants me to go.”
Stephanie said that led her to start working on her credit and paying off her debt. She said she had to make tough choices when it came to spending, deciding what was a want and what was a need. And in the end, all that work led her to qualify to purchase her home through Habitat Orlando & Osceola.
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