Joselyn’s 6-year-old son is a dedicated Cub Scout and camping enthusiast.
The boy received a tent for Christmas in 2022, but nearly a year later, it’s still in the box it came in. There’s just no space in the family’s small townhouse to set it up.
“He looks at it from time to time, and he’s like, ‘Man, I wish I could put my tent up,’” Joselyn said.
That’s going to be one of the first things Joselyn sets up after she closes on her Habitat Orlando & Osceola home with an affordable mortgage.
Joselyn’s home will be built in just two weeks by Williams Company during Home for the Holidays 2023. This is the local builder’s fourth consecutive year donating the labor and materials to build a Habitat home in this sped-up timeframe. The event kicks off Monday, Nov. 27, and concludes with a home dedication ceremony on Friday, Dec. 8, in Orlando’s Holden Heights neighborhood.
Joselyn, a mother of two who works in records retrieval for a local cancer institute, was shocked when she found out that her home would be built that fast.
“Right now, it’s just a pile of dirt,” she said. “And one day soon, we’ll be stepping foot in there and just making all kinds of memories.”
Her homeownership journey
She and her late husband had a shared dream of buying a home for their family. Tragically, after he died suddenly in 2020, she decided to go down the homeownership road alone. But she found she couldn’t afford a safe and comfortable home on the open market with her single income.
She turned to Habitat Orlando & Osceola’s homeownership program but faced obstacles initially because she didn’t meet the income or credit requirements the first two times she applied.
“My credit was shot,” she recalled. “The second time, I didn’t have enough income, so it was like wow, another door slammed in my face.”
But she didn’t give up. She worked diligently on improving her credit and pursued a raise at work. By the time she was able to apply for a third time, she was finally accepted into the program.
Opening up doors
She can’t wait to move out of the small townhome where her rent keeps going up and her two sons, ages 17 and 6, share a room.
Her eldest son, a high school junior and aspiring college basketball player, is also an avid gamer.
Her 6-year-old loves basketball and video games too, and that can create issues when sharing a TV.
“They are both looking forward to having their rooms with their own televisions so they can play their own video games,” she said.
Joselyn hopes that becoming a homeowner will also open doors of opportunity for her kids.
“Definitely stability and letting them know that if Mom did it, we can do it,” she added. “Whatever they put their minds to they can do it.”
She will also make sure her kids don’t make the same mistakes she did with her finances.
“Don’t ruin your credit as a young adult,” she said. “I sure did, and I had the price to pay.”
What the future holds
She can’t wait to start making memories in her brand-new home.
“When I think about home, I think of cozy, comfortable, safe,” she said.
Owning her home and having a stable, monthly mortgage payment will allow her to save for other goals. She plans to travel more and connect with her sister, whom she only met for the first time a year ago.
Additionally, she might turn her hobby of making beaded bracelets into a business or even start a YouTube channel. The future is her oyster.
She’s so grateful to the Williams Company for helping to make homeownership possible for more families in our community.
“Thank you for helping families like mine and so many others to achieve our goals of becoming first-time homeowners — and please don’t stop.”
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