“Our trailer home was rundown, we didn’t have any heat, and the front electricity didn’t work.” Kristen and her two boys lived there for nearly three years. During the winters, “I had to put in extension cords in the kitchen, and that’s how I heated the back where the kid’s rooms were.” On top of that, the back door wouldn’t open, and the neighborhood never felt safe.

Around the holidays, Kristen was told their home was being sold by the owner, leaving the family only two weeks to relocate. “We had to move quickly,” she recalled. In that short time, they moved into a two-bedroom apartment that cost more and offered less space.

Kristen heard about Habitat through her sister, who has a Habitat home in Elkhart, and later learned more on our Facebook page about how to apply for the Homeownership Program.

“I always knew I wanted something better,” Kristen said. When she learned she had been accepted into the program, she could hardly believe it at first. But as the news sank in, she felt overwhelming joy and gratitude. “I was so happy—thank goodness!”