Eight years ago, I was in a DV situation. Me and my two children had to move in with another family for several months until I could find my own apartment.
The apartment that I could afford at that time was just a two bedroom. So, my kids each got their own bedrooms, we shared their closets, and I slept on the floor in the living room. We did that for almost five full years.
One day a friend of mine goes, “Melissa, fill out a housing voucher. Let’s see if you can get into something you can afford where you can have your own room”.
That was in 2021. a few months later, I was given a voucher. That unit transformed our lives.
I had my own room. We had a dining room and a table to eat at, and we didn’t have to share a closet.
Even with this great opportunity, there was this nagging thought in the back of my head that my children are going to grow up and move out of our home, and when that happens, I’m going to have to move out of the Housing Authority unit.
That started me on the journey of talking to Tenants to Homeowners to see about buying a home through their Homebuyer Program. I started the journey of saving money, but truth be told, I didn’t think it was going to happen until quite a few years down the road.
All of a sudden, I got a call from TTH. “Hey, we’ve got a three-bedroom house available”, I was floored! Everything just worked out. The savings was there, everything just fit.
TTH gave me the opportunity to have a down payment that was within my means.
I’ve now got an incredible backyard. I also have an incredible front yard. I have a dishwasher, which we didn’t have for quite a long while. I have the biggest room. My children each have their own rooms. Being in this house is everything I ever hoped for.
The other piece is, whenever you buy a home, you also purchase whatever repairs are needed. TTH really set me up to where I don’t have to worry about major repairs for quite a while, which gives me the time to save for whenever those major repairs come. I’ve been set up to be a very successful homeowner.
With TTH, I feel like I’m going to have a continued advocate and a continued supporter. Knowing that, hey, this home can be inherited by my kids in the future, it’s just very powerful.
When my kids grow up and move on, I don’t have to worry about losing our home. I don’t have to worry about being forced to move. I don’t have to worry about how I’m going to find housing that’s not going to break my budget.
I feel secure in my housing since buying this house. I can connect to nature and work in the yard and do a lot of things that I haven’t been able to do.
I feel more secure about my future and knowing that when my children grow up, they’ve got a place to come back to, That’s very powerful for us as a family.
