After fleeing religious persecution in Cambodia, the Rmah family moved to Greensboro in 2007. As their family grew to include seven children, finding an apartment or home to rent became difficult and extremely expensive.

With the support of a family friend, the Rmah family learned about Habitat Greensboro and successfully purchased their Habitat home in 2018. The affordable mortgage, which represented half of their previous rental payment, allowed them to ensure educational opportunities for the children.

“My parents have always stressed the importance of education to us and having a house built by Habitat has allowed everyone in the family to focus on their educational goals and achieve something new,” says H’Po Rmah.

H’Po pursued a degree in early childhood education and Spanish at Western Carolina University. Her goal to inspire young children is now a reality as she started her first day of teaching this August at Cone Elementary.

“Education was my calling because I wanted to return to a place in my community where I could inspire children like me from different backgrounds, who will one day be pursuing their goals. If we didn’t have help from Habitat, I don’t think me or my siblings would have had these opportunities.”

H’Po’s older brother has fulfilled a life-long dream of serving in the military and has just begun basic training with the US National Guard. Her oldest sister is completing a degree in Public Health. Another sister has just completed Business School.

Having stable and affordable housing has truly been life-changing for the Rmah family, and in turn, they are giving back to their community and to their adopted country in such meaningful ways.