family and current housing
Empowerment is one of the bedrocks of the Habitat ministry, and nothing brings greater joy than watching a partner family rise above their past circumstances to achieve their goals. Patti is looking forward to the day she will own her own home. Originally from Dover, Patti and her husband owned a home in the 1990s. When the couple separated, he retained the house and Patti moved to a rental property. For the past three years, Patti and her son, Brendan, have lived in a private rental apartment in Sugarcreek. Of greatest concern to Patti is the deteriorating and often unsafe conditions in the neighborhood and the apartment complex. There is trash, old furniture, and a broken down washer and dryer - that do not belong to her - sitting directly outside her unit. Neighbors in adjoining apartments are known drug offenders, and the police have been called to the complex multiple times for drug, alcohol, and violent behavior violations. Inside her apartment there are also issues, including drywall on the ceiling and walls that is chipping away, and a constant leak from the toilet. The back door will not stay closed unless a table is pushed against it. The AC unit is old, doesn’t work, and is covered with plastic bags in an attempt to keep cold air from leaking in around it. The baseboard heater in the living room has pulled away from the wall and Patti worries about
turning it on. Patti looked into moving but has struggled to find something affordable and decent to rent. When she saw an advertisement for the Habitat program, Patti applied, hoping for more space and a safer environment that will allow her to host family gatherings. Patti is fiercely proud of her two children, Samantha and Brendan. Samantha is a Kent State
University graduate pursuing a career in criminal justice, and Brendan is a straight-A student and successful athlete. Soon, Samantha and Brendan will have one more reason to be proud of their mother... when she becomes a homeowner!
a bright future
During her time in the Habitat program, Patti has worked hard to pursue her dream of homeownership by investing numerous hours of sweat equity on worksites, at ReStore, and in House2Home education classes. Each week she faithfully makes the nearly one and half hour round trip from Sugarcreek to Canton to complete sweat equity because she knows how important this program is to her and Brendan’s future. In addition to completing the weekly Habitat sweat equity hours and raising her son, Patti works full time to provide financially for her family. Although sometimes doing all this can seem like a lot, Patti is committed to making a short term sacrifice for the long term benefit of purchasing her own safe, decent, affordable place call home. "I look forward to stability for myself and my son," Patti said. "It will be something to call my own!”
