My Habitat Story - The selection process

I got back to the office after speaking to my landlord about the rent and the conditions of the new contract he proposed.  Katy, who at the time was volunteering at the Hartford Habitat as an office volunteer and with the Family Services coordinator, suggested that I applied for a Habitat house.  I thought I wasn't ready, but we ran a preliminary "what if" report to see if I qualified.  I believe I was off by a couple of "percentage" points because of my car payments of $374 a month (I can't even explain that one...!), which would not end until December 2004 but I could potentially qualify for a Habitat house...

I decided to apply and attended the next applicant information meeting which was sometime in August 2003.  I did everything by the book: brought all my paperwork in, sat with the Family Services Coordinator, and answer many questions.  A few weeks later, I received notification that I qualified for the financial portion and that the "Needs Assessment Team" would need to come visit me to see if I really 'needed' a Habitat house.

I was cautiously happy, anxious, excited and almost shocked... so, I waited for my appointment to welcome them to my apartment.  By that time, other tenants and I had gotten into a big dispute over our rents with the landlord and I was almost ready to go to a shelter with my girls.  I knew I couldn't afford the rent plus my bills and I was not willing to sleep in the street with them.  Luckily, I was visited by the "Needs Assessment Team" and on that Indian Summer day in October, all the drug dealers, prostitutes and roaches were out parading as if it was Mardi Gras!

Within a few weeks, I received notification that I passed Hartford Habitat's second criteria, which is the need for simple, decent housing.  They confirmed what I already knew:  my girls and I lived in an overcrowded apartment situated in a neighborhood that was not fit for none of us to be in.  So, I got invited to the third step: my willingness to partner day.

During "willingness to partner", many families who had met the first two requirements (be financially able to afford the mortgage plus the bills and have the need for a simple, decent home) were invited to build -- or do whatever we were asked to do. I remember that day being one very tough day as my bad back was put to the test filling wheelbarrows with mud that slid down a hill and then hauling it up to back-fill the erosion caused by the rain.  Aida, Jenny and Dan, Jami, LaShawn and myself spent half-day hauling mud.  It killed us!

Steve Z. - my good friend!

In December 2003, all of us signed our "Partnering Letter" and were assigned to a partner.  I was really humbled as I had already been working with the Affiliate for over two years and had met so many people that they all wanted to be my Family Partner!  I think, looking back, any of those people would have been as great to me as my partner was...  Steve, the Family Services Coordinator at that time be my father-figure, my mentor, my friend - and a great partner to harass when I needed answers.  Steve not only pushed me with my "Habitat" homework, but he also pushed me on those days when felt I did not want to do homework, write papers, or do research.  I found in Steve - and in other people I met through Hartford Habitat - the support I felt I should have gotten had my family lived here... I had Uncles, Aunts, Cousins, Sisters, Brothers and those are people I don't just consider friends, they are my "Habitat Family".

That December, I also moved with my girls to my Mom's basement in Hartford... that was the most depressing situation I had ever (EVER) been in and making my daughters go through that was probably one of the hardest things I ever did.