Meet our Homeowners

Read about a few of our homeowners.

Meet Montez

Montez works at Goodwill of Central & Southern Indiana as a facilitator in their New Beginnings program. He also volunteers with Trusted Mentors and is a board member with Constructing Our Future, a reintegration program for previously incarcerated women.

I desire to own my own home for so many reasons. Habitat for Humanity does work that aligns with my core values, which is helping others who may not be as fortunate while building their skill level.

Growing up, I moved a lot, so I have always dreamed of owning my own home. I want a place where my future grandchildren can spend time and where they can call home. Very few people in my immediate family own their homes. My daughter moves from apartment to apartment struggling. I hope to have a home that she can call her own, even if it is just her father’s.

As a young man, I made mistakes. As a result of multiple crimes, I ended up in federal prison where I spent 20 years of my life. During this time, I transformed my life and realized my calling – which is helping and teaching people. I have chosen to better myself, help others, and build a life that I can be proud of. At present, I am blessed to be living with my aunt whom I dearly love. She is allowing me to live with her to save money as I rebuild my life.

Today, I am filled with optimism and continue to contribute to the community that I have joined. I am goal oriented. I’m now working on my life post rehabilitation and gaining a college degree. I have re-entered society with a drive and passion to help others. This new example that I am becoming, can be a model for young men and women who grow up in poverty, violence, and who have negative thinking patterns.

I love my career and I plan to share what I have learned over the last three years with others who are re-entering society, struggling to stay out of the justice system, overcoming homelessness, and working towards a better future for their families. A home is a safe place and I want a safe place where I can recharge to prepare to continue my work in the community. In closing, I am not afraid of challenges, I am not afraid of work, and I am not afraid of change. No, my journey has not been easy, but I have realized that nothing I have done has been in vain. I am the man I am, and do the work I do, because of my journey.

“I am not afraid of challenges, I am not afraid of work, and I am not afraid of change. No, my journey has not been easy, but I have realized that nothing I have done has been in vain. I am the man I am and do the work I do because of my journey.”

Meet Sarah

“Being a homeowner will bring so much joy in knowing I have it to call mine and can focus on career building and achievements for my children.”

Sarah and her daughter are so excited to finally be homeowners. Sarah works at Indiana Eye Clinic as a medical assistant.

Becoming a Habitat homeowner would complete the next step in growing and accomplishing stability and comfort for myself and my family. As a child we moved around a lot, so I never felt comfortable to call a place “home.” My goal has always been to give my adult self and children something different.

Being a homeowner will bring so much joy in knowing I have it to call mine and can focus on career building and achievements for my children. I have previously tried to become a homeowner, but being a single mother, I found that it was more difficult than I expected. Though I never planned to give up and would complete all the necessary steps to succeed, I just need help reaching that last step.

The home we currently live in was a potential buy. Unbeknownst to me, the house is in much worse shape than expected. Although I am thankful for the roof over my head the opportunity to rent this property at a lower price, I am unable to buy it due to the issues of the home. Our furnace needs to be replaced, mold removal, insulation issues and more. It turned into a bigger situation than I could afford.
I am honored to receive a helping hand in homeownership. It is the jump start to the next level of my life, to be able to shift my complete focus on my family, my new home and moving up in my medical field career dreams.

Meet the Ruhara Family

Sebastien and his wife are proud parents to six children and moved to the U.S. from the Democratic Republic of the Congo. He works for Washington Township School Corporation.

Due to my family financial limitations, my family and I approached Habitat for Humanity to request help to buy a house that will meet my family’s needs.

My family is made of eight (8) members and I, as the head of the family, am the only person with an income that supports the needs of the whole family. For this
reason, we find it hard to sustain our daily needs which makes it even harder to have enough income that can get us approved for a mortgage, which is needed for the size for the house that can accommodate the
whole family.

We initially came to the U.S. under the refugee status. This contributes a lot to the language barrier since English is not our first language. It makes it difficult to
find a better paying job that can bring a solution to our financial limitations, and we fall short when it comes to acquiring what we need, like the suitable size of the
house that can fit each one of us.

My wife has been having medical issues that limited her ability to work and she is still pursuing medical assistance to see if she will eventually get better and be able to work. This has been one of the primary factors to the limited income my family has been securing. We are helpless when it comes to thinking about buying the house, but we feel Habitat for Humanity is the solution and the only way that will get us to acquiring the type of the house my family dreams about.

“… we find it hard to sustain our daily needs which makes it even harder to have enough income that can get us approved for a mortgage…”

Meet Jalynnka

Besides being a major Colts fan, a hardworking mother, sister, and daughter, I am a woman with dreams. I have a dream of building a home that Ican call mine; a home where my family can come and celebrate a success that I built with my own hands. This is an opportunity to show my son and daughter the rewards of perseverance and drive to complete goals in this lifetime.

I did not grow up with elite luxuries in my life, but I am grateful for the things that do fulfill me. Family, lifelong friends, unconditional love from my children, and a healthy sense of self. Those closest to me will say that humility is who I am, and I do not ask for much as I rather give. I confidently say that I will work hard for those I love, and I will find infinite ways to make ends meet. I love to do hair for my loved ones, make snack packs for the neighborhood, even give a cup of sugar to the lovely lady next door. Acts of service are my love language and I thought that it was time to use that love language on myself: Homeownership would be an act of love to myself; it would reflect me and what I represent.

As a single mother, I strive to give the best to my children regardless of our situation. Their upbringing and growth are important to me, and I want to continue this in a space that is ours. Through our eyes, we are constantly told that we cannot have or own anything; nothing belongs to us but what we are given. Building a safe space for my children to thrive, learn, relax from the stressors of the world, is one of the best things I can give them. More importantly, having something I can leave with them is a feeling of joy I cannot describe into words. This home will be a landmark for my family, the beginning of a legacy.

Once I complete the building of this house, there is nothing that would stop me from obtaining anything I deem as a goal. I can imagine how I will beautify the space, perhaps start a small garden with my children. The gatherings I would have with my friends and family would bring me pure joy. Every payment made towards this house will be given with gratefulness and a reminder of this act of service I did for myself. Thank you!

Jalynnka (“Jay”) has two teenagers. Jay works at 3M as a machine operator and cannot wait to purchase her first home!

Meet the Vanzika & Tluangi Family

Isaac and Linda are parents to two beautiful children. Isaac works at Walmart, and they attend Mizo Christian Church.

Foxes have their own hole and birds have their own nest. Possessing a home of our own has been a desire and dream that we feel will never come into reality.
Home is the real shelter and shade for us in which our family will share our happiness and sorrow with each other. It is like the mighty sheltering hands of God. Since I came to America I’ve been living in an apartment, but I never had a place to call home. Living in an apartment was fine before we had kids, but now that God has blessed us with two beautiful children, we want our children to live in a place where they can enjoy their childhood. We pay rent every month but
knowing that the place that we pay rent every month will never become our home, which is another reason we are partnering with Habitat. To buy a house with my monthly salary, I would never afford it.

I work every day, but I can never have enough money to save for future need. Through Habitat partnership my wife and I will be able to build our own home and help build others’ houses and learn lots of things we haven’t known before with all the volunteer opportunities that Habitat has. Since I am not educated, I work hard every day but use all the monthly salary I get on bills, so to be able to learn budgeting and how to use money from Habitat will help me a lot when it comes to money. Also, a low mortgage will allow us to save money for our children’s education in the near future. I want my wife to be able to take care of our kids until they are grown and stay at home with the kids. I am afraid that my children will be uneducated like me, so without the help from Habitat it is impossible for us to buy a house.

We are like a family of foxes that rent others’ holes. We have to pay a large amount of money for rent, monthly. It’s a non-stop very heavy burden for us. When we can live in our new Habitat house, we’ll have a prayer of thanks to God who gives us His generous people at Habitat to lend money for us to be able to buy a Habitat home without any penny interest.

When we have a house to call our own, we may not need to pay a great amount of money for rent anymore except paying a monthly mortgage. We may feel that Jesus’ promise “my yoke is easy, and my burden is light” has been fulfilled to us through his sincere followers. And we will have extra money to save for our children’s school fees when they get to the age, they can attend school. Finally, this situation reminds us of Christ’s word “Say to him, ‘Go eat fully and clothe warmly.’ Without giving anything, it shall be meaningless.” But the grace and richness of God has been flowing to us through His generous people at Habitat.

We are sure that we will happily live in our new home as it is God’s gift. May the ministry of Habitat be blessed as the great deeds you bring upon others.

“Possessing a home of our own has been a desire and dream that we feel will never come into reality. Home is the real shelter and shade for us in which our family will share our happiness and sorrow with each other. It is like the mighty sheltering hands of God.”

Meet Shennea

“I want the security of knowing that no matter what obstacles my health or life may bring, I know I have a place of my own that I can take refuge and always call home.”

Shennea has used her health challenges as a catalyst to a greater life. After completing a business degree from IU, she started a non-medical home care company.

In 2008, I graduated high school, deferred a full-ride admission to Indiana University and moved to North Alabama to attend a ministry program. During the first year of this program, I started experiencing significant abdominal pain. This was soon discovered to be caused by 2 massive tumors on my right kidney and adrenal gland. Within days of finding these tumors, I flew back home to Indiana and had surgery within a week. No biopsy was done; they were certain I had cancer. Turns out I didn’t have cancer. They were baffled to find that the type of tumor I had was extremely rare (of rare tumors this tumor was rare and it could have killed me at any moment). Determined not to let this new discovery sway me, I recovered from the surgery and moved back to Alabama to start my “adult life.”

As I began establishing my life in Alabama – enrolling in school, finding a job, buying a car and finding my first apartment – I was also traveling back and forth to Indiana to undergo testing to figure out why I developed such a rare tumor.
After thorough research, it had been determined that I have von HippelLindau disease – a rare disease that causes me to develop tumors throughout my body including in my brain and spinal cord. After the diagnosis, I had some MRI scans completed and carried on with my normal life.

To me, having a place of my own, my own home, would mean I would have truly conquered my new life and my new level of ability. Considering that my health journey is far from over and I am currently facing having another surgery to remove another tumor from my spinal cord, the thought of moving out is accompanied by anxiety. Anxiety not caused by my ability, but by the lack of affordable and accessible options. I need a home that is suitable for me on my best day but also at my worst. A home that is suitable to my needs whether I am feeling well physically and able to walk, or whether I am in my chair. A home that needs minimal accommodation when I am recovering from surgeries and that I can maintain with my limited income. I strive to have a home that can have a space for me to do physical therapy. A home that lacks trip hazards, pesky
thresholds, an uneven yard and a laundry room that is up 14 steps. I want a home that has sidewalks for me to safely take my service dogs for walks through the neighborhood. I want the security of knowing that no matter what obstacles my health or life may bring, I know I have a place of my own that I can take refuge and always call home.