Homeowner Stories

Kelly has devoted well over the last decade of her professional life to conducting research that helps seniors and their loved ones access needed resources. Yet, Kelly and her young daughter have been unable to access safe, affordable housing in Kittitas County themselves…until they applied to Kittitas County Habitat for Humanity for a Stuart Meadows home.

It was a Facebook ad that led Kelly to apply for a Habitat home. “I applied and heard back a while later that I had made the interview round. I interviewed and got word a month or two later that I was chosen!”

As housing prices in Ellensburg skyrocketed, along with the rest of the region, Kelly feared she might be stuck in her current ‘chaotic’ living situation. Though she’s aware there are less expensive places to live outside Ellensburg, Kelly must remain in the area to comply with her daughter’s custody agreement. As a single mother, her income just cannot accommodate soaring mortgage prices in the region’s traditional real estate market.

“I’ll be excited to be in a permanent living situation and to be able to bring my three cats with me. The first thing I will do when I move in is help my daughter set up her very own room.”

Moving into her own Stuart Meadows home will give Kelly the security she needs to continue developing her career in marketing, writing and research on behalf of seniors. And it will provide the freedom she needs to hike, walk and just ‘chill’ more often with her growing daughter.

Cheri’s back straightens with pride when she lists her accomplishments as a single mother. “My goal when I got clean,” she says, “was to own my own home before I turned 40.” With incredible determination and help from Kittitas County Habitat for Humanity, Cheri will add that goal to her many other achievements when she moves into her Stuart Meadows home. Cheri is currently living in a tiny, moldy, subsidized apartment with her disabled mother and two children, a 16-year-old boy and a five-year-old girl.

Like many in her generation, Cheri struggled with drug addiction from age 17. But when she had to give up her infant daughter because she was using, Cheri decided she was done with that lifestyle and went immediately into treatment. “I went from being homeless, with no car, no job, and no license to getting my own apartment, a car, and my license. Now, with a decent job my credit score has improved significantly. I have my daughter and I’m doing pretty good.”

Cheri has earned her new status the hard way, working nights as a health care housekeeper from 5 p.m. to 1:30 a.m. Then she goes home to sleep a bit and takes her daughter to school.

With encouragement from her mom and a high school friend, Cheri applied to Habitat, though her first application was denied, because it used her mother’s poor credit rating. Undaunted, Cheri tried again using her own credit rating. “When they called me to say I’d been chosen for a home I was so excited. Words can’t describe how I felt.” She says the process was simple; she encourages anyone in need to apply.

Cheri acknowledges that her previous lifestyle was hard on her children, especially her son. And she hopes that having a home of their own will provide stability and confidence to the whole family. Her son, who suffers severe social anxiety, is excited about helping to build their new home during the family’s “sweat equity” hours.

How will life be different for Cheri in Stuart Meadows? “I’ll feel more like an adult having my own home. I’m just hoping that getting this home will help me accept how far I’ve come, and that I never have to go back to the lifestyle I was living.”

In today’s real estate market, Paige and her husband Manny saw no path for them to home ownership. And, after renting for nearly eight years, they longed for their own place.  “We want some freedom to make a home our own, make changes, have a yard and build equity,” says Paige. That’s what Habitat is all about.

In her job at the Kitsap County Housing Authority, Paige was aware of the Habitat opportunity at Stuart Meadows, but she and Manny took their time to explore options. And the more they searched, the more they realized Habitat was a good fit for their family.  Manny works seasonally in landscaping and that makes them less desirable in the eyes of traditional mortgage lenders. But for Habitat, this is less important. “The market is so terrible that we’re happier every day we won the Habitat home.”

They were delighted to learn that the Stuart Meadows home mortgage would be even less than their current monthly rent.  “We get a home, we get equity, and we spend less every month,” says Paige. Their hopes for the future will be realized, they believe, because they can build wealth for themselves and their children.

Other than the freedom of home ownership, not much will change for Paige and family.  “Nowhere is too far in Ellensburg,” says Paige.  So, their children will remain in the same school district and day care for their 8-month-old daughter is even closer to Stuart Meadows than their current rental. “We’re getting really excited,” she adds.  “We want to go out and buy all the furniture now, but we’re holding back until the right time.” She’s excited to participate in the build as part of Habitat’s required “sweat equity” hours, as well.  “I’m into learning new skills.”