The Volunteering Page of Nikki Tipple

Shanae Shackleford 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.

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.”