{"id":1993,"date":"2021-01-14T14:11:59","date_gmt":"2021-01-14T20:11:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/rockfordhabitat.org\/?p=1993"},"modified":"2021-01-14T14:11:59","modified_gmt":"2021-01-14T20:11:59","slug":"impact-story-deborah","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rockfordhabitat.org\/es\/2021\/01\/14\/impact-story-deborah\/","title":{"rendered":"Impact Story: Deborah"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Deborah used to put her baby girl and her three boys\u2014 16, 13, and 4\u2014 in the car and drive around Rockford looking at houses. They were imagining what it would be like to live in one of them. They were imagining having a little house of their own.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But that, thought Deborah, was just a pipe dream.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In reality, the family of five was living in a deteriorating, two-bedroom rental with a single closet. The basement was full of water, and the boys had chronic asthma from the dampness and mold. Deborah was a single parent, and on her sole income, she thought it would be impossible to make a change. But when a shooting next door forced her and her children to hit the floor one night, it was the last straw.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Deborah applied for Habitat\u2019s program on a prayer\u2014 she still did not imagine that buying her own home was something she could afford. When she got the call that she had been selected for the home buying program, she was blown away that it was really happening for her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She was buying that little home she had always dreamed of.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTo finally have a stable place to call ours meant the world,\u201d remembers Deborah. \u201cWe were safe. We had a sense of pride and responsibility. We were able to create a space of love and warmth. We were able to know that our home was ours and no one else\u2019s.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And finances started getting easier too, Deborah recalls. \u201cWe could afford our mortgage, and I finally lost that feeling of always struggling.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That was the year 2000. In 2018, Deborah paid her mortgage off in full.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Deborah says she now lives with a deep, engrained faith that what may seem impossible can always be achieved, and she has instilled this same faith in her kids. Today, that oldest boy, who used to drive around town dreaming with his mom, is a homeowner himself. He bought the house directly across from his childhood home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even with her home completely paid off, Deborah says that the way she cares for her house, the way she and her kids live, and the love and concern they show to their neighbors is all about honoring and continuing the legacy that Habitat started all those years ago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI was humbled and grateful then,\u201d Deborah says, \u201cand I am humbled and grateful today.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first name in this story is a pseudonym at the request of the subject.<\/em><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Deborah used to put her baby girl and her three boys\u2014 16, 13, and 4\u2014 in the car and drive around Rockford looking at houses. They were imagining what it would be like to live in one of them. They were imagining having a little house of their own. But that, thought Deborah, was just […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":161727633,"featured_media":2001,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"_wpas_customize_per_network":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1993","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/rockfordhabitat.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/To-finally-have-a-stable-place-to-call-ours-meant-the-world.-1.png?fit=1080%2C1080&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pb8kyv-w9","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1362,"url":"https:\/\/rockfordhabitat.org\/es\/2020\/09\/10\/impact-story-constance\/","url_meta":{"origin":1993,"position":0},"title":"Impact Story: Constance","author":"Community Engagement","date":"septiembre 10, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Constance and her family The twins were 10, Jamal was 11, Xavier was 13, Joseph was 15, and Shawn was 18. Six boys. It was 2007 and Constance and her sons were living in a Housing Authority property in Rockford. Nobody in Constance\u2019s family had ever owned a home, and,\u2026","rel":"","context":"Entrada similar ","block_context":{"text":"Entrada similar ","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/rockfordhabitat.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/The-Gulley-Family.jpg?fit=1200%2C924&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/rockfordhabitat.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/The-Gulley-Family.jpg?fit=1200%2C924&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/rockfordhabitat.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/The-Gulley-Family.jpg?fit=1200%2C924&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/rockfordhabitat.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/The-Gulley-Family.jpg?fit=1200%2C924&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/rockfordhabitat.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/The-Gulley-Family.jpg?fit=1200%2C924&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1088,"url":"https:\/\/rockfordhabitat.org\/es\/2020\/08\/14\/homeowner-story-spotlight-jackie\/","url_meta":{"origin":1993,"position":1},"title":"Homeowner Story Spotlight: Jackie","author":"Community Engagement","date":"agosto 14, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Jackie and her family. On a snowy day in January, Jackie and her five kids walk into our office and look at the scroll of paper laid flat on the table that will one day be their home. It is a surreal moment. It makes their future house more real\u2026","rel":"","context":"Entrada similar ","block_context":{"text":"Entrada similar ","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/rockfordhabitat.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Jackies-family-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/rockfordhabitat.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Jackies-family-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/rockfordhabitat.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Jackies-family-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/rockfordhabitat.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Jackies-family-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/rockfordhabitat.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Jackies-family-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1757,"url":"https:\/\/rockfordhabitat.org\/es\/2020\/11\/20\/homeowner-spotlight-sharonda\/","url_meta":{"origin":1993,"position":2},"title":"Homeowner Spotlight: Sharonda","author":"Community Engagement","date":"noviembre 20, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Rockford Area Habitat for Humanity\u2019s 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\u2026","rel":"","context":"Entrada similar ","block_context":{"text":"Entrada similar ","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/rockfordhabitat.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/Sharonda-Quote-1.png?fit=1080%2C1080&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/rockfordhabitat.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/Sharonda-Quote-1.png?fit=1080%2C1080&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/rockfordhabitat.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/Sharonda-Quote-1.png?fit=1080%2C1080&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/rockfordhabitat.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/Sharonda-Quote-1.png?fit=1080%2C1080&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/rockfordhabitat.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/Sharonda-Quote-1.png?fit=1080%2C1080&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1007,"url":"https:\/\/rockfordhabitat.org\/es\/2020\/07\/31\/homeowner-story-spotlight-charae\/","url_meta":{"origin":1993,"position":3},"title":"Homeowner Story Spotlight: Charae","author":"Community Engagement","date":"julio 31, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"We first met Charae in her low-rise apartment building on a hot August morning in 2019. We were immediately struck by the vibrant, hopeful woman and the four beautiful children in whose living room we found ourselves. We were visiting Charae to get a feel for where she currently lives.\u2026","rel":"","context":"Entrada similar ","block_context":{"text":"Entrada similar ","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/rockfordhabitat.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Charae-family.jpg?fit=1200%2C896&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/rockfordhabitat.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Charae-family.jpg?fit=1200%2C896&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/rockfordhabitat.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Charae-family.jpg?fit=1200%2C896&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/rockfordhabitat.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Charae-family.jpg?fit=1200%2C896&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/rockfordhabitat.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Charae-family.jpg?fit=1200%2C896&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":2145,"url":"https:\/\/rockfordhabitat.org\/es\/2021\/02\/19\/homeowner-spotlight-tenisha\/","url_meta":{"origin":1993,"position":4},"title":"Homeowner Spotlight: Tenisha","author":"Community Engagement","date":"febrero 19, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Tenisha, who works for a health insurance company, and her husband Tervern have been incredibly busy raising five kids over the last 18 years. Their boys are 18, 16, and 14. Their girls are 12 and 10. 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