Dana and her five year old daughter, Emma, lived in a small one bedroom apartment in a dangerous section of the community.  The apartment leaked, was cold in the winter and hot in the summer.  Emma wasn’t allowed to go outside because it simply was not safe.  Dana moved from job to job, mostly retail and service, trying to scrape together enough money to get out of the apartment.  Daily life was a struggle to find adequate childcare, pay the rent and utilities, and have at least something that resembled stability in their lives.  She dreamed of a home where Emma could play in the yard and a place for family and friends to come for dinner.  Dana’s dreams were simple, but seemingly out of reach.   

Building strength, stability and self-reliance

A decent and affordable place to live frees families from the physical and mental hardships that plague their lives and places them on a path of new opportunity.  When a family partners with Habitat for Humanity of Catawba Valley, they start down a new path to a better, healthier and more financially stable life.  

Each homeowner works closely with Habitat as they prepare for the various responsibilities of homeownership, including learning about personal finances, mortgage, maintenance and upkeep of homes and much more.  They also perform sweat equity by actively participating in their home build and by helping other partner families with their builds or repairs.   By seizing this opportunity, partner families work towards changing their own futures.  This process prepares them to assume an affordable mortgage once a house is complete. We give those homeowners a path to homeownership that they may have struggled to find through other institutions.

A complete transformation

When a family partners with Habitat, they go through a life-changing process that teaches them new skills, promotes the importance of giving back and prepares them for homeownership.

“Many families are fearful of failure or the loss of a job when they begin the long process.  They are fatigued because they have full-time jobs, children, multiple jobs, school, sweat equity, higher education, etc. When they are able to overcome these issues, the pride that they show is incredible.  Their self-worth, confidence, and dignity is restored. It truly transforms their lives,” says Gail Bowman, Homeowner Services Coordinator at Habitat Catawba Valley.   

Since 1985, Habitat for Humanity of Catawba Valley has partnered with local families to build 168 new homes in Catawba County.