Tired but grateful! Adline arrived at her dedication in Majorca Palms after working the overnight shift. Determination, faith, and support from her teenage son and Habitat staff helped Adline achieve her dream of homeownership.
Working hard to give her family a better life comes naturally to Habitat homebuyer Adline. It’s also a lesson she passed on to her 16-year-old son Justin. If you dropped in on a construction site or at the wall-building warehouse on a day Adline volunteered, you would see Justin sweating alongside her.
“One day, I tell him, ‘I’m going to pay you five dollars an hour because I see you work hard,'” recalled Adline. “[My son] said, ‘Mama, you don’t have to. We have to do it together.'”
True to his word, Justin stuck by Adline’s side, and together they finished the 300 hours of sweat equity required to buy a home through Habitat.
Even when Adline was forced out of her rental home, sleeping in her car during the day and working at night, she never gave up her dream. She used her love for her son and her desire to give him a better, stable life as a catalyst for success.
“I’m the type of person I like to fight for something I want. I don’t give up,” she explained.
Adline never gave up despite the trying circumstances. In the end, her hard work and drive paid off. She will close on her home later this month, and her son Justin will have a safe and stable roof over his head. With affordable mortgage payments set at no more than 30 percent of her income, Adline will no longer struggle to pay rent and bills.
“I know every day I [had] to make sure that all my money has to go toward my rent,” recalled Adline. “Now I don’t have to do it no more.”
