Habitat Homeowner Luis smiles proudly as he stands outside his newly built home at Partnership Place in Bonita with his two teenage sons and key. The single father held down two jobs while completing his 300 hours of sweat equity and 20+ hours of financial classes.
Shadow Wood resident Clark Bell, representing the Shadow Wood Charitable Foundation, hands Luis a key during his home dedication ceremony. Residents of Shadow Wood, Bonita Bay, along with Pelican Landing and The Colony, joined together donating money and time to build the homes in Partnership Place.
In the heart of the Rosemary Park neighborhood of Bonita Springs, a 14-home community dedicated to providing affordable, safe, and stable housing for families, is coming to life. That community is called Partnership Place and on Friday, June 17, the first family who will call the Habitat neighborhood home, received a welcome they won’t likely forget.
On that balmy Friday morning, Habitat staff, sponsors, and donors gathered inside Luis’ newly built home for a dedication ceremony. They were all there to honor and celebrate the hard work and dedication of the single father of two teenage boys. That hard work included 300 hours of sweat equity building his home and his neighbors’ homes, taking more than 20 hours of financial classes, and saving $2,000 in closing costs. On top of that, Luis continued to work two jobs to support his family.
“I want to build a better future for [my boys],” Luis explained. “So, they can have a place in a stable home. [They won’t have to think] where are we going to live? Are we going to have a place to sleep? Are we going to have a roof? That’s my goal for them.”
One of Luis’ two jobs includes working fulltime for the community of Bonita Bay, one of the three gated communities who partnered with Habitat to make Partnership Place a reality. Residents there, along with residents from Pelican Landing and The Colony, and Shadow Wood (as the Shadow Wood Charitable Foundation), donated not only money for Partnership Place, but volunteered their time to help with construction as well. A group from the Shadow Wood Foundation came out multiple times a week to help get Luis’ home move-in ready.
“I want to thank Habitat,” said an elated Luis. “I want to thank the program—all the volunteers, everybody, everybody at Habitat.”
As Luis and his sons talk about settling into their new home, he had a piece of advice for anyone who like him, got discouraged about ever becoming a homeowner.
“Always hope to be a homeowner and have faith in God,” exclaimed Luis. “He will provide because that happened to me.”
Thank you to home sponsor Bentley Village Habitat Alums for helping make Luis’ dream of homeownership a reality.
