The Volunteering Page of Chance Jones

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.

Ray Family and Current Housing

Keyona can’t wait to have her own yard and front porch. Currently, she and daughters live in a government housing apartment that has high rent and numerous structural issues. When it rains, water floods in through the kitchen door. A leak in the tub ruined both the ceiling and floor in the family’s laundry room. And because the sink in the family’s bathroom never was repaired, it fell off the wall and broke Keyona’s daughter’s toe. The family also frequently sees mice in the apartment. In addition to the structural issues, their property has been vandalized, and Keyona and her daughters don’t feel safe in the neighborhood. Keyona previously applied to the Habitat program and since has worked hard to increase her income to qualify for homeownership. After spending more than a decade working as an STNA, she’s finally ready to invest in a home that her family can call their own and where her daughters feel safe and happy.

A Bright Future

Since joining the Habitat partnership, Keyona has taken classes to prepare her for the responsibility of being a first time homeowner, including courses about financial success and homeowner maintenance. When Keyona thinks about her family’s life in their new Habitat home, the word that comes to mind is “warmth.” Since being an adult, she’s never lived in a house – only apartments – and is looking forward to the privacy and comfort her home will provide for her family. She also thinks about the peace that will come from having an affordable mortgage, as she no longer will be paying high rent and feeling stressed about how she will make ends meet. Knowing that any extra money she puts into her home is going toward the principal – and her investment in her family’s future – makes her excited. Keyona knows owning a home will be life-changing for her daughters. She hopes that by watching her work hard to build and purchase a home for their family, her girls will see that there’s more than where they’ve lived and be inspired to eventually become homeowners themselves. “They’ll feel safer, they’ll be happier, and they’ll take the proper steps to accomplish what I did sooner than what I did,” Keyona said.