Rockford Area Habitat for Humanity’s final construction project of 2020 is rehabbing an existing home on Belden Street, and we are honored to feature our wonderful partner in this project, Sharonda.
Sharonda grew up in Rockford and graduated from Auburn High School. She has been in the medical field in Rockford for 13 years, and she currently works as a Medical Assistant for Mercy Health System. Sharonda has a teenage daughter who has been helping her rehab their house, and she has two vibrant little boys who are 5 and 7. On top of her already full plate, Sharonda finds room to direct the youth program at her church, Christ the Carpenter.
A couple of years ago, Sharonda’s friend bought a home through Habitat for Humanity, but Sharonda did not apply at that time because she was still working on her credit. When another friend purchased a home a couple of years later, Sharonda decided it was her own time to seriously start working toward homeownership.
“It’s important to me for my babies,” Sharonda reflects. “I want to be able to leave them something. I want them to see how important this is, and I want them to see me work hard to buy this house while they’re still little.”
Sharonda is looking forward to the big things, like letting her kids safely play in the yard, and the little things, like trying her hand at installing a backsplash. She is also looking forward to not asking a landlord permission for things anymore. “I constantly tell my kids: we’re not just renting this house; we’re buying it! My daughter is starting to understand the significance of the fact that we are going to have our own place, and it is creating a real change in her and her attitude.”
When Sharonda imagines her life five years from now, she believes that this house is going to give her the stability to accomplish another long term goal of hers: to go back to school to become an ultrasound tech. She says when she thinks about moving into this house, she is full of gratitude, and she knows there are all kinds of good things coming down the line for her family.
But for now, as she barrels towards her moving day, Sharonda says that she is just overjoyed living in the beauty of the moment.
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