building stability
providing safety, shelter and stability through housing
When you reflect on your childhood, are your memories filled with love, laughter, and the stability of a home? Of a place of shelter that provided comfort and safety? Many of us are fortunate to have known such a home where we return year-after-year and which we can share with future generations. The desire for that sense of permanence and shelter that a family home provides is what led Cassandra and her husband Michael to apply to become Habitat Greensboro homeowners.
As a child, Cassandra moved frequently. This continued into her teen years, and when her mother fell ill, Cassandra relocated from Jacksonville to High Point during her junior year of high school to live with her older brother. While her family did not lack for love, Cassandra longed for the comfort, safety, and stability of a family home. Trusting that “God has a plan for everything,” Cassandra knew that one day, she would have the home she desired.
In 2008, Cassandra met her husband while at church with a friend. The two were married just a few years later, and soon their family of two grew to a family of five with the births of Ayana (9), Michael (5), and Lyric (3). As with her upbringing, Cassandra has provided her children with a loving environment in which to grow up, but there has still been one thing missing – their own home.
After a break-in in their first rental home, followed by annual rent increases of more than 30% at their second rental, Cassandra knew that it was time to purchase their own home. Although Michael has a good job, a lack of credit history made qualifying for a conventional mortgage impossible until Cassandra saw information about Habitat Greensboro’s Homeownership Program on Facebook. The couple immediately applied. Cassandra recalled, “I was nervous.” As the application review process continued, Cassandra told Michael that “we’re going to trust God, we just have to believe.” The couple waited, worried, and prayed until the notification letter finally came – they were accepted into the program!
Several months into the program, these future homeowners have completed their homeownership education classes and have nearly completed their on-site sweat equity hours. Cassandra shared that everyone should take homeownership classes because there are “so many things you don’t know – it was very eye-opening.”
With the lot for their future home selected, Cassandra and Michael are looking forward to purchasing their first home from Habitat Greensboro. Thanks to Habitat Greensboro’s model, the couple will pay an affordable mortgage on their own home. A home where the couple can raise their children with the stability of place Cassandra always dreamed of!