Chelsea Benoit

I went from college to “adulting” in a very short period of time. I graduated from Washburn in 2015 and got my job here in Lawrence literally 2 days later. It was a weird transition time and I ended up moving into a rental complex with lots of college students, it wasn’t great, it was parties, loud music and people coming in and out at all hours.  I’m a professional now. I work an 8-5 and have to be up at 7am every day and that living situation wasn’t working for me. A co-worker of mine had gotten a house through Tenants to Homeowners and told me about the program. I had already looked at a couple of houses in town but being young and trying to buy a house, I couldn’t afford the down payment and I didn’t know the buying process.I came from a very small town; I had 37 kids in my graduating class. Affordable housing was for a “certain type of person.” Coming to Lawrence where it’s a bigger town, I realized I could be one of those people and it wasn’t a bad thing. Since my friend had a good experience, I contacted Tenants to Homeowners and their staff took me through the process of getting a loan and doing the budgeting classes. It was super easy. I just turned 27 and I’m ecstatic that I’m able to have a house. It’s a step towards being an adult and that’s really what I’m trying to do. Plus, this place has enough room for my cat.