Home ownership in America has been nearly everyone's dream. According to the National Association of Builders, families with $50,000 in income are priced out of 91.3% of the active homes for sale. Even with a family income of $100,000 they are priced out of 62.9% of the active listings. There is a shortage of affordable homes.
Every Thanksgiving, families gather around a table.
They pass the turkey, share family recipes, and make room for one more helping.
Children laugh from the next room. Someone tells the same story they tell every year.
For a few hours, the table becomes the center of everything.
For Elizabeth, this Thanksgiving will be different. It will be her first Thanksgiving in a
home of her own.
A single mother and teacher, Elizabeth once shared a one-bedroom apartment with her
son, with little space to spare. Through Habitat for Humanity of Montgomery County’s homeownership program, she worked toward something her family had long needed: a place of their own.
“Owning my home means stability. It means my son finally has his own room and
a place to just be himself,” said Elizabeth.
Now, Elizabeth can cook Thanksgiving dinner in her own kitchen, gather her family in
her own home and begin creating traditions in a place that belongs to them.
Elizabeth is now one of the first homeowners in Marble Creek, Habitat MCTX’s newest
community. Her story marks an exciting new chapter for the organization. After recently
completing Cedar Creek, a 129-home community on 37 acres, Habitat MCTX is
continuing its work in Marble Creek, an 81-acre community where more than 200
homes for local families are planned.
Each home will be more than a place to live. It will be a kitchen where a first
Thanksgiving turkey is prepared. A bedroom where a child can grow and be himself. A
living room where birthdays are celebrated, and stories are shared. A place where
families can put down roots and build traditions of their own.
Because a home is where life happens. It is where meals are shared, homework is
finished, holidays are celebrated, and memories are made. It is the place families return
to, gather in, and call their own.
This Thanksgiving, we are reminded that some of life’s greatest blessings are also the
simplest: a home of your own, a meal shared with loved ones, and a place where
everyone has room to grow.
And those blessings are worth sharing.
If you have achieved your dream of owning your own home good for you. This season, maybe consider passing your blessing on to another family working toward their dream of owning a home of their own. It is becoming increasingly difficult for families with children and limited income to own their first home in an environment with rising home prices and increasing interest rates.
Maybe, you can pay it forward and help another family realize their home ownership dreams.
A gift to Habitat MCTX can open the door to safe, affordable homeownership for local families in need and create more opportunities for families to gather, grow, and make memories in a place they can call their own.
habitatmctx.org