Takeska is the dedicated mother of two sons ages thirteen and fifteen. Her goals center around her two sons and her desire to give them the stability that home ownership offers. Putting money towards a mortgage rather than thousands of dollars into paying rent is her goal.
She had been calculating the thousands of dollars she had been paying towards rent, and it was discouraging to see that she was not moving towards her goal of financial stability for her sons. When she shared her stress and worry with her mother, her mother suggested that she look into Habitat. She didn’t think that she would be approved, but she was, and the journey began. She was “surprised but excited.”
Achieving the required 300 hours of sweat equity, along with a full-time job and being the single parent to two young teen-agers has, at times, been overwhelming. There have been moments when she doubted whether she could achieve this. She says that God keeps her going. She also keeps her eyes on the end result: knowing that her boys will soon have a home of their own. The toughest part has been that she cannot spend as much time with them right now because she is volunteering on the construction site on the weekends.
Takeska has loved getting to know some of the other Habitat homeowners and future homeowners through the required classes and the time spent on the construction sites. She says that getting to know people who truly understand what this process is like has been very helpful and encouraging. She has become friends with one future Habitat homeowner who will be her next door neighbor, and she is very excited about that.
She looks forward to having a more stable financial situation, which will allow her to take her sons on a trip, something she hasn’t been able to do. She wants to widen their world view. The boys are looking forward to having a space that is theirs, which they can paint and decorate the way they want. All three are excited about having a backyard of their own, where they can have cookouts.
Takeska wants her sponsor and the volunteers to know how much she appreciates them. She says, “I am so grateful for everyone’s patience with me and for their help.” Being on the construction site was all new territory for her, and the Core Crew helped her learn so much.