Homeowner

Wide doors and hallways, low cabinets, railings in the bathroom, a ramp on the front porch. For Aretha, the accessibility features in her Habitat for Humanity Detroit home “make a big difference” for her and her two children, 21-year-old Devin and 20-year-old Zacaya.

Aretha has cerebral palsy and uses a walker, and Devin and Zacaya both have a rare degenerative muscular condition that requires them to use wheelchairs. Their four-bedroom home gives the family the space and independence to thrive, but it wasn’t always that way.

Before partnering with Habitat Detroit, they were renting a small two-bedroom apartment unfit for a family with mobility challenges. Though Devin and Zacaya used walkers then, frequent elevator outages forced the family to climb several flights of stairs to reach their third-story apartment. Aretha feared the day when Devin and Zacava would need to use wheelchairs and be unable to access the apartment.

“I was able to show my children that they can do anything. Just because you’re disabled doesn’t mean you can’t get it done.”
— Aretha, Habitat homeowner

Aretha was searching for a larger, ground-level apartment to rent when a friend suggested she explore homeownership opportunities with Habitat Detroit. Soon after she was accepted into the program, she began building her house alongside volunteers who traveled from as far as Texas and Florida to support her dream of homeownership.

Aretha says she was overcome with emotion and pride when she and her kids first opened the door to their very own home in 2011. “It was the best feeling in the world. “I was able to show my children that they can do anything. Just because you’re disabled doesn’t mean you can’t get it done.”

The family’s Habitat home was designed with accessibility top of mind. The kitchen is spacious and has low, easy-to-reach cabinets. The bathroom is wide and equipped with hand railings near the toilet and shower. Each family member has their own bedroom. A smooth ramp leads up to their front door. The home also has no carpet, allowing Aretha, Devin and Zacaya to freely maneuver their wheelchairs and walkers from room to room.

The home’s adaptability and space offer the family more independence. Aretha says from the day they moved in Devin and Zacaya have loved having their rooms. It’s their own space for Zacaya to paint and Devin to play video games — hobbies they’re passionate about that also improve their motor functions.

If she hadn’t partnered with Habitat Detroit, Aretha says they likely would have moved in with family members and potentially sacrificed accessibility for affordability. Instead, Aretha pays an affordable mortgage for a comfortable, accessible home in a Morningside neighborhood she adores.

“Here, they can be independent,” Aretha says. “They can be more mobile. They can go outside. They can use the restroom on their own. This home is the key to independence and freedom for my children and me.”

For Jessica, there has never been anything more important than providing a safe and secure home for her children, 15-year-old Amiyah and 1-year-old Noa. But the single mom struggled to find decent and affordable housing in her native Detroit.

The family’s rental had a leaking roof, an unstable foundation and mice. “We were living in a house that was basically uninhabitable,” Jessica says. Their street had dilapidated homes, empty lots, few neighbors and crime.

It was after Noa was born that Jessica decided to make a change. “I think that was a pivotal moment for me, when I thought about this baby crawling in these conditions and putting things in his mouth,” Jessica says. “That was my breaking point where I said, ‘I need to make a move,’ and Habitat was that move.”

Once Jessica was accepted into Habitat for Humanity Detroit’s homeownership program, she and her children temporarily moved into her mother’s apartment so they could be in a safer environment.

While preparing to become a homeowner, Jessica enjoyed meeting future neighbors while working on the build site and found great value in Habitat’s homebuyer education classes. She can’t wait to apply what she learned in her new home. “I’ve had classes on budgeting, and I’ve had classes on home repairs and learning how to maintain your home,” she says. “I just feel like all those things are useful for someone like me who’s never owned a home before. I’m going to need those resources.”

A loving community

When she first walked through the front door of her Habitat home with Amiyah by her side, it felt like a whole new beginning. “I’m overwhelmed with joy,” Jessica says. “To see such happiness on my daughter’s face. She deserves it all.”

Amiyah is excited to finally have space to spread out and to be able to invite friends over. “To have my own room, my own privacy. Somewhere I can relax, just vibe and get stuff off my mind. Have friends come and sleep over. Everything a teenager usually would do,” she says.

Jessica is looking forward to having space to continue studying for her nursing degree, decorating her home, and hosting friends and family. Her new neighbors have already started reaching out and welcoming her into the community. “We’ve never had neighborhood gatherings and get-togethers,” she says. “I can definitely foresee those things happening here in this community.”

A safe place to grow

The stability and security that their new home provides means the world to Jessica.“This house, it’s everything to my family,” she says. “It’s the glue.”

Jessica hopes her experience with Habitat helps her children understand the importance of building generational wealth through homeownership and inspires them to reach toward their dreams, too. “To be able to show my daughter that it’s possible and to make her proud of me, that’s the biggest thing for me,” Jessica says. “The baby doesn’t have many memories, but this is what he’ll know. He’ll always know that mom was a homeowner. That’s all he’ll know, and that’s a good thing, too.”