Habitat for Humanity – Home is the Key

I shared my Spring home tour with you yesterday and today I am letting you in on just how much this home means to me. Also helping a great cause with Habitat for Humanity – Home is the Key all April long!

**This is a sponsored post on behalf of Habitat for Humanity’s Home is the Key campaign and its corporate partners**

I was contacted by Habitat for Humanity to help get the word out on their Home is the Key campaign. All month long they are raising awareness on the nation’s rising affordable housing crisis. They have teamed up with a ton of brands including O-Cedar to build homes for families, raising money to bring about positive change along the way. O-Cedar is proud to support Habitat for Humanity to help families build strength, stability and self-reliance through shelter. Over the past 40 years Habitat has helped more than 22 million people build strength and stability since 1976. More than 1.4 million people volunteered with Habitat last year. Through their advocacy efforts, more than 2 million people have gained the potential to improve their housing conditions in 2018.

QUICK FACTS from Habitat for Humanity –

• Habitat does not give away houses.

• Future homeowners put in a significant amount of sweat equity and then pay an affordable mortgage.

• Future homeowners also receive financial education and training to help them succeed.

• Habitat builds in local communities across all 50 states and 70+ countries around the world.

• With all of us helping together, Habitat helps another family improve their living conditions somewhere around the world every 17 seconds.

 Working hand-in-hand with sponsors is a great way that allows this organization to run, Habitat will receive a $1 donation for every ProMist® MAX spray mop sold by O-Cedar from April 1 – June 15.  Even more information on ways you can get involved and other brand information can be found at the bottom of this post.

I was so excited to help get the word out for Habitat! You all see my home on the daily, with it’s styled pictures and light streaming in. My home is the place all three of my kids have been brought home from the hospital, they have all taken their first steps on these floors, played in the same back yard. This home of ours is what dreams are made of, not because it is a dream home but it was my dream home growing up. Our house is not grandiose, no big mansion here. We have an average house with three bedrooms and 2 bathrooms, with a big enough yard. While it may be run-of-the-mill-average on paper, it is so much bigger than that to us. When we purchased our home, signing a pile of paperwork it all felt very surreal. Being a home owner has always meant so much to me and is something I will never take for granted.

Growing up I was raised by my teenage Mom, Grandma, and extended family. I was very loved and have great childhood memories, I am also blessed to be close to my extended family because they all had a help in raising me. We moved a lot due to various reasons, moving from one rental to another, and everything was always tight financially. My family provided for me the best they could, but I remember squishing my face up to the window in our car when we drove down neighborhoods with nice houses, big yards… it all seemed so magical to me and very safe. Having a “forever home” felt safe, it felt like people in those homes would always be secure. Today, 1 in 6 families pay half or more of their income on their rent or mortgage, often choosing between paying for housing or nutritious food, reliable transportation or even life-saving medicine. 

When I was a little girl I made a promise to myself that one day I would have one of those houses I saw while in the car, with a dog running in the back yard and cute holiday decorations on the front porch. We all have an idea of what we want to be when we grow up, I am being very honest when I say that I wanted a house, a home. Not an apartment, not a house to live in for one year; when I grew up I wanted a forever home.

Home is the Key to happiness and security, it represents so much more than just pretty things. This is the place my kids make their memories, will grow up, our family and friends walk in this door. We have filled these walls with laughter, love and so many special moments. My home also signifies how far I have come, from struggling to pay rent as a young adult, seeing every adult in my life struggle financially growing up, to where I am now fills me with pride.

I can only imagine what an opportunity like this would have been to my family when I was growing up. To have a home to call ours, to own and be able to afford it would have been a complete game changer.

My mom, Aunts and Grandma all pooled their finances together to provide me and my cousins a place to live. Affordable housing can improve health outcomes by freeing up family resources for nutritious food and health care expenditures. I know if there was more options that did not take so much of the combined income of the strong women in my life things would have been much different (and better) during my childhood.

The idea of purchasing a home was so foreign to me, and very scary even though I desperately wanted it. Walking into our home, knowing it was ours was the biggest deep breath of fresh air. I knew that my kids would feel settled, secure and always have home to come back to regardless of where life takes them.

We have been able to provide this home to our kids because of my husbands choices he made as a young adult, and because the help his parents provided to him while he was in the planning stages of adulthood. He lived at home, where he grew up (in the home his parents owned) while he went to college, not having to contribute to the home or having to move out because the house was too small. He paid for each semester of school himself because he did not have to worry about paying rent. When we met I was 19, living on my own and working full time with plans to eventually go to college. How do you find time for school when paying rent, car payment, insurance, and utilities all while working full time? It is a cycle that becomes impossible to get out of. I was working my butt off and barely making it even in a one bedroom apartment and no one but myself to provide for.

I got out of the cycle because of my partner, Dale had a helping hand from his secure parents. So purchasing our home became possible because there was time to save for the down payment, there was time in his day to go to school because of no rent being due. This was a very fortunate break that will have lasting effects to us and now our children. 

In Evansville, Indiana, 97 percent of Habitat home buyers report they are in better financial situations to save for the future. In Minnesota, over half of homeowners with children said their children’s grades improved after moving into their Habitat home. Nearly two-thirds said their study habits improved. Being a Homeowner is a massive positive step with lasting effects.

A home and family need laughter, carefree moments of friends over, too many giggles, music playing, kids running around, good meals on the table, and a place to always call home. That security of a home, and even better; an affordable one provides more opportunities for the adults and then trickling down to the kids with their futures being brighter.  Which is why working with organizations like Habitat for Humanity helps make a small dent in the struggle to bring affordable housing to families, just like mine; just like yours. We all need a home.

I could relate to the stories from the families that are building their homes with Habitat so much, one person working with Habitat and building her home for her and her sons is Krushetta, “The day that we get ready to move into our home,” she says, “I can tell you right now, I’m going to jump up and down and say, ‘I did it! This belongs to us.” You can read more about her and other stories here. Life can become hectic, it will always have struggles and stress. I get caught up in the mess of it all too, but 12 years after owning our home I still have those moments when it hits me that this is mine. This home is the safe and security I craved, knowing I am giving this to my children makes me want to burst with happiness.

I focus on the decorations here on my blog, but the heart of it comes down to what it all really means. Home is the Key to life, happiness, security, memories… Home is the key to everything good. My yard will always be the place my kids created different worlds, fought imaginary pirates, gained the courage to jump off of the swings, conquered the rock wall. We have spent many summer nights chasing fireflies, counting stars, roasting marshmallows by the fire. I think by now you know the pride I have in my home, the work I am always putting into it shows just how cherished this basic structure is. Everyone deserves these same moments, the pride of walking in their front door and knowing they have this home to escape to when the rest of the world feels a little too crazy. We all need that safe haven.

Do you want to help out with Habitat for Humanity?  Here is how you can, visit or Shop to Support: People can support Habitat for Humanity in three simple ways this April: Visit: habitat.org/homeisthekey and make a donation.  Shop to Support: Chico’s FAS: Donate in-store or online at any of the Chico’s FAS brands mentioned here:  Chico’s: Every sale of a signature Slub Tee Shirt from April 1 – May 31 will support Habitat, as well as $5 from the sale of each gift card over $25 in value, up to $100,000. White House Black Market: From April 1 – May 31, White House Black Market will donate $5 from the sale of each gift card over $25 in value, up to $50,000.  Soma Intimates: From April 1 – May 31, Soma will donate $5 from the sale of each gift card over $25 in value, up to $50,000.  At Home: In addition to featuring Habitat as the register fundraising partner throughout April, At Home will donate $4.55 per coaster from the sale of select coaster sets that give back to Habitat, beginning in April until supplies last. O-Cedar: O-Cedar will donate $1 to Habitat for Humanity for every ProMist MAX Microfiber Spray Mop sold by O-Cedar to any U.S. retail channel in the U.S. from April 1 to June 15.  Share: Nissan will donate $5 every time #HomeIsTheKey is shared on social media in April.

This blog is all about sharing my home, how I decorate it and ways I make it work for my growing family. Home is the Key – Habitat for Humanity is working hard to make a home affordable and possible for families everywhere so they can welcome friends, create that safe haven for their little ones; just as I have done for my family. Organizations like Habitat and their partners making this happen have turned a dream into a reality for many families. Getting those keys, walking in and having a home to call their own is just the beginning of the journey. On a side-note, my Mom just purchased her first home last year. After years of work, sacrifice, tears, trials and more hurtles than anyone should ever endure she walked into her forever home! With her name on the mortgage and key in hand she took that much deserved big deep breath knowing she did it. I am happy to help others have this moment of joy, along with Habitat and their partners we can all make it happen!

          

Follow along, share and help spread awareness all month long!

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