Veronica maintains a full-time job and works hard to pay the bills, including the expensive cost of daycare for three children. But as a single mom, finding a decent and affordable place to live has been difficult.
“The economy right now is hard.” Veronica shares. “My current landlord sees I am a single mom and tries not to raise my rent that much, but it’s cutting it close with my income.”
Right now, Veronica and her children live in a small rental. Her sons have to share a room, and the whole family has to share one functioning bathroom due to drainage issues with one of the bathtubs. She knows her children deserve better, and her desire to provide them with the space and stability they deserve motivated her to come to Habitat for a permanent solution. Through her partnership with Habitat, she is working toward homeownership and learning much more than anticipated through one-on-one housing counseling and financial education.
“With Habitat showing me how to manage money the ways they have shown me, it’s giving me ways to learn how to stretch money across the board,” Veronica says. “By the grace of God, Habitat changed my life in more ways than just getting a home. It changed my perspective on spending and credit. I’m even able to save a little teeny bit now.”
Volunteers worked alongside Veronica in February to raise the walls on her future home.
Soon, Veronica will work shoulder-to-shoulder with Women Build volunteers to put in the sweat equity needed to finish what will eventually become her first home. Once the build is complete, Veronica, like the many other families that came before her, will pay two-thousand dollars in closing costs, get the key to the front door, and start paying off her affordable mortgage.
“I’m looking forward to the sense of stability, the peace, the smiles on my children’s faces when they kick each other out and say, ‘go to your own room!'” Veronica laughs.
She admits it’s a lot of work but feels proud that building her home is something she gets to do rather than something she has to do. Plus, the Women Build Campaign resonates with Veronica as a mom to a nine-year-old daughter.
“It’s an amazing feeling to show my daughter that as a woman, you can do anything,” she says.
Now that Women Build 2023 is officially underway, our fundraising teams and supporters are working hard to raise the $400,000 needed to turn raw materials into homes for two women, Sarah and Veronica! You can help these female-led families achieve their dream of homeownership by donating to Women Build today.
About Women Build
The mission of Women Build is to engage women in the effort to provide safe and decent homes for families in need of affordable housing. Women Build in Lee and Hendry Counties has partnered with 27 female-headed families to build strength and stability for their children through local fundraising and volunteer efforts. Click here to learn more.
