Quotation from an adult who grew up in a Habitat home:

“We are at my parents’ house—our Habitat home—all the time—me, my sisters, our children. This is our home place; this is our safe place; this is where we gather. This home is important to all of us, and we won’t let it go, ever.”

The Impact of Our Work

We at Habitat see the impact of our work on the next generation in what we hear from our homeowners and in what we see – in the invitations to high school and college graduations, in the reports from proud parents about the many successes of their children in academics, sports, jobs, and more. Even when Habitat homeowners continue to struggle with low income and the health and career setbacks that can accompany it, we see the next generation, the one that grows up in a stable household, thriving.

I visited in the home of a Habitat homeowner who is a grandmother, and I just happened to be there when her teenage grandson stopped by with his friend to have a snack and to check on her. I visited with a great-grandmother who was caring for her three- and six- year-old great-grandchildren in her Habitat home until her granddaughter could get off from a second shift job to pick them up. Times like these are happening in Habitat houses throughout Catawba County where younger generations of Habitat families continue to have a safe place to grow.

A striking similarity in what we hear from our homeowners is the fervency in their voices as they tell us how important their house is to them. They want us to understand how grateful they are, not only for the opportunity of homeownership for themselves, but more than that, for what their Habitat house is doing for their children, and their children’s children.

Click here to make an impact with Habitat Catawba Valley.