Before You Volunteer: Please scroll down to learn more about what to expect when you volunteer with Habitat. Please also know that Habitat will monitor local and federal health and safety guidelines and implement any applicable restrictions that may be in place on the day you volunteer.
Shackleford Family and Current Housing
Shanae Shackleford (top photo) can’t wait to open the door to her Habitat home and have that “cozy home feeling” – where she and her children feel safe and happy and know that no one can take that away from them. Shanae and her daughter and son have spent the past decade living in an income-based apartment that isn’t safe for their family. Inside the apartment, the outlets don’t work, fuses blow frequently, the front door doesn’t seal properly, the bathtub leaks, and there are routine sightings of mice and red spiders. Outside the apartment, the biggest issue is the other residents and the commotion they cause. Houses in the neighborhood have been broken into, and there have been several violent incidents during the past few years. When Shanae thinks about owning her own home after years of renting, she gets chills. She wants her children to feel stable and secure and to be able to ride their bikes in the neighborhood and play outside whenever they want. For her son, she dreams of him waking up in the morning and just being excited to watch cartoons, not worried about who’s outside their apartment. And for her daughter, whom Shanae calls her “mini me,” she hopes the Habitat program is teaching her that whatever you want in life is possible – even if it feels like it isn’t, or even if it takes longer to achieve.
A Bright Future
Since joining the Habitat partnership, Shanae has completed her financial literacy classes and her homeowner maintenance education classes, which means she’s gained the knowledge she needs to be able to maintain her home and pay for it for years to come. Her favorite part of the process so far has been watching other families who are at different stages of the Habitat program and seeing how all the hard work comes together. “The outcome of it all is a beautiful thing,” she said. “What you’re able to give your children, what you’re able to gain out of the whole process, something that’s going to be yours in the end that you can pass down to your family, so that’s the bonus of it all, too.”
Palm Family and Current Housing
Courtney Palm (bottom photo) will be the first person in her family to own a home. Courtney and her daughters live with Courtney’s mother in an apartment in Louisville. Since Courtney had her baby, Ne’Cari, the home has become overcrowded. Because there aren’t enough bedrooms for everyone, Courtney and Ne’Cari sleep downstairs in a portion of the finished basement. The apartment also has some issues with leaking pipes and mold in the bathroom, and cars frequently get broken into because the parking area for the complex is not near the units. While Courtney loves her mom, she’s excited to finally be out on her own with her daughters and to give them a better place to live. Getting the keys to her own home will provide Courtney with a huge feeling of independence. She won’t have to rely on anyone else to do something for her – she will know she can do it herself. Courtney said she hopes that by watching her, her girls are learning that same independence and developing the same motivation to work hard. When Courtney thinks about what her new home will mean to her, she thinks about her family: “I get to be with my family and spend time with them and just have a place for my kids to grow up and to be happy,” she said.
Since joining the Habitat partnership, Courtney has enjoyed taking homeowner maintenance education classes and learning how to take care of the home she soon will own. She’s looking forward to getting to build with other Habitat families, not only because she knows it will teach her skills that will be helpful for her as a future homeowner, but also because she’ll be helping somebody else at the same time. Courtney is most excited to have space in her new Habitat home for her family to be able to sit down and eat together at the same time. Right now, with so many people living in the apartment with such a tiny kitchen, that’s not possible. But once Courtney purchases her Habitat home, she knows she’ll be able to set up a table and invite her family over for the holidays. Courtney said her Habitat home will be special because love will go into building it. “You just feel it,” she said. “You really feel like you did this.”
