Amara's inspiring journey to a Habitat home in Juniper Bend, Apopka

From Penny Seater, CEO, Habitat for Humanity of Seminole County and Greater Apopka

Every journey to purchasing a Habitat home is different. Still, it is always a path to new beginnings, opening up a wealth of possibilities when a Habitat partner family can envision stability through homeownership.

With these unprecedented times that are challenging for all of us, with your support, we are continuing to create possibilities for our families and get them into stable shelter.

Here is Amara's personal journey into her forever home!

Special message from Amara.

Amara, who has recently closed on her home, is now able to confidently and comfortably shelter safely with her three children, kids who now have a yard to enjoy and get some much needed time outdoors.

However, this has not always been the case. Amara and her family previously lived in a small apartment that was not safe enough for her kids to reside in, let alone go outside to play on their own.

The apartment Amara was living in with her three children was affordable, but the rent continued to creep up year after year and, by year five, became unaffordable.

After hearing about Habitat, Amara decided to apply and started her homebuying journey last year!

Once accepted into the program, she began working on her sweat equity.

Sweat equity consists of building alongside volunteers and other future homeowners who shared her dream of a new home and, more than that, a new beginning. The program also includes a robust series of educational classes to ensure her success as a homeowner.

Amara spent her weekends fully embracing the habitat process, swinging hammers, painting, and building relationships with the invaluable volunteers and staff working alongside her.Her hard work and perseverance meant she was well on her way to completing the first step of the Habitat homebuyer process of accumulating 150 sweat equity hours required before working on her own home.

By January of this year, Amara completed her first 150 hours, which meant...

She was able to choose the lot where her house would stand and would now be able to take part in the construction of her very own home!

Her lot selection was for a house located in Apopka in our Juniper Bend subdivision where she and her family would be surrounded by a community of over 50 other homebuyers who had all embarked on the same journey.

These same neighbors that have worked alongside her while completing their own sweat equity hours.

Now, Amara and her three kids are in their forever home and we couldn't do it without you.