“Safety, Stability, and Being Able to Breathe.”
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Vera and Andrew (pictured left) were living in a housing development in Chinatown with their son, Shaun, their dog, Ice, and their cat, Baby. Vera recalls, “The situation was kind of tense and I felt I had to walk on eggshells. There were several different property managers, and the last one wasn’t so kind. Every time I came home, I had to prepare myself for what might happen when I exited the car. I didn’t feel safe.”
Then she learned about Habitat Greater San Francisco and filled out the application. While she was at a women’s retreat, she received the call she was desperately hoping for. She was number three on the list! Asked whether she wanted to move forward with the process, Vera responded with an overjoyed “YES.”
For Vera, a Habitat Greater San Francisco home felt like a light at the end of the tunnel. For the first time, she felt in control of her life and able to create long-term goals for her son.
Gaining that long-term stability had proved elusive, though. As a community manager, she currently builds relationships with a lot of at-risk individuals and folks experiencing homelessness. Before that, she worked as a medical care manager and also facilitated cooking and nutrition for women coming out of jail. None of these jobs were high paying.
“It’s hard when you have a job and want to go for this raise or something different, but knowing my housing could be in jeopardy if it doesn’t work out. Now my mindset is, ‘Hey, I can do something for my child and set it up for him to have a place that’s safe.’ I want to get that stability for him.”
Vera looks most forward to safety, stability, and finally being able to relax. “I can go in and out and not have somebody else governing me or my emotions,” she says. “I’m the one controlling how I go in and out.” Partnering with her future neighbors in building their homes with the Habitat Greater San Francisco team has been among the most rewarding parts of her journey. “Knowing we’ll be neighbors and moving in together is special,” she said. “The relationship building, whether it’s been through the support classes or onsite has been great. It’s insightful because we’re all new and all striving for the same goal as future homeowners. It was well worth the wait and well worth the sweat equity.”
When you support Habitat for Humanity Greater San Francisco, you invest in your community. You invest in stability for working families. You invest in the next generation in your communities.
You help your neighbors build a home of their own.