Families

For many children in Detroit, the idea of a safe and secure home is a foreign concept. This was true for Gabby Flores, who moved around a lot during her own childhood. While she faced many challenges in this experience, never having a “family home” also instilled dreams in her of planting her roots and finding financial stability so that she could be the best mom possible for her own young girls.

Gabby took it upon herself to make these dreams a reality. While keeping her eyes on the prize of attaining financial stability, she was able to work her way up to management roles in her professional life. Next, she set her sights on homeownership, and found hope in Habitat Detroit.

Since joining our program in 2022, the entire Flores family have been active participants in our programming: They were always eager and willing to build up sweat equity hours at volunteer builds, participate in events and classes, and develop their own buying power. In just a short time, Gabby was standing in front of their new home with tears in her eyes, imagining where she would put her plants, which rooms her girls would stay in, and how they would continue to build a beautiful and fruitful life in a place they could call their own.

“Habitat Detroit has changed my life by helping me become a homeowner and allowing me to play a role in the homeownership journey for other Habitat families,” says Flores. “Most importantly my daughters see that with hard work and dedication they too can become homeowners.”

Grayson Wilson, along with his mother, Anne migrated to the US from Guyana South America in search of a better life. They faced many challenges and setbacks as they learned a new culture and way of life but thrived, nonetheless. In his younger days, Grayson was extremely active in sports and loved being on a team. His love for teamwork, leadership, and connectedness lead Grayson to a successful 7-year career in the Army.

In 2022, Grayson connected with Habitat Detroit and joined the Weekend Warriors, knowing he very much wanted to be a homeowner himself.  Understanding he needed to get a few financial ducks in a row first, he began to attend webinars and continued learning everything he needed from this new community. Over the next year, he helped in several home builds and attended webinars all in order to gain the skills needed to be a successful homeowner. During this time he discovered that the Habitat Detroit culture at its core is “genuine care”.

“I have an innate desire to serve others and to see their lives fulfilled. Volunteering with Habitat Detroit for over a year and a half, I’ve seen other’s homeownership dreams come true. I’ve learned new skills relating to home renovation and home maintenance,” said Wilson.

In February 2023, his hard work had paid off — Grayson officially applied for and was approved to be a Habitat Detroit Homeowner. That same week he viewed a house and made his choice shortly after.
Wilson continued, “Now that homeownership is a reality for me, I am grateful to have this experience. Working with Habitat Detroit offers me peace – They continue to equip me with the knowledge, skills, and access to resources to make my homeownership lifecycle sustainable.”