My Habitat Story - The beginning...

Once upon a time... my story has been anything but a fairy tale.

I joined Hartford Habitat as the Office Manager in April 2001.  Initially, it was just a 'job' and it was helping pay the bills.  I never understood why people would want to volunteer (in my mind, construction was dirty work), but in 2002 we held our first "Habitat Staff Build Day" where all of the staff volunteered on Brookfield Street in Hartford and my perspective changed.

I met the homeowners, a Bosnian couple who worked side by side with us throughout the day building the framing in their house.  By the end of our build day, they thanked us so many times that the whole experience truly humbled me.  I went home all achy, but really, really inspired.

Later that same year (2002), I applied for a Habitat house and was rejected because I did not meet the financial requirements.  My debt-to-income ratio was higher than the 40-41% guideline.  In all reality, I was getting paid to pay rent, car payment, car insurance and try to stay afloat!

I took a part-time job at night working with the Hartford Public Library at nights - yes, in addition to my day job!  I'd pick up my girls from the after-school program or from my Mom's house and take them to my job to make sure they did their homework and I did mine while teaching classes and serving 'library patrons'.  I had also enrolled at Capitol Community College and was taking 3 courses per semester.  I managed to call all my creditors and cleaned up my credit little by little, one account at a time.

168 Bond Street, Hartford

By May of 2003, I was informed by my "new" landlord that he was increasing my rent from $675 to $750 per month.  He had bought the building after we moved in and had to make extensive repairs in most of the apartments for which now the tenants were being charged by increasing our rents.  This apartment was in one of the worse areas in Hartford. My girls had to walk through a drug-infested, prostitute-ridden block just to get to their elementary school.  Drug dealers were either selling drugs or doing drugs either in our hallway or right in front of my bedroom window - (first floor to the left) almost on a daily basis. 

Either way, I knew I had to do something about my situation.  My girls were just finishing elementary school and if I wanted them to have a chance at a better future, I HAD to get us out of there...