A chance to build and chance to learn
For Grace, there’s no question about how she feels about her mother.
“I look up to her a lot. She’s my hero.”
It’s easy to see why.
As a single mom, Grace’s mother did everything she could to give Grace and her four siblings what they needed while trying to make the most out of her single income. This often meant making tough choices when it came to food, clothing and utilities. It also meant taking it upon herself to make needed home repairs.
“My mom did everything on her own,” Grace said. “Do lights need to be replaced? She’d do that. Did the circuits go out? She’d go down there and fix them. When things needed to get done at the house, she did it.”
From her mom’s example, Grace says she learned to have courage and confidence and that while nothing is easy, it is possible if you keep working hard and moving forward.
Now a single mom herself, Grace says she relies on these values as she partners with Habitat for Humanity of Kansas City to build a home for her family during Women Build 2019.
Living in a rented home in need of repairs, Grace said she worried that her children did not have the space they needed to grow and that she felt a lack of stability in their lives.
“I was tired of worrying about where we would live each year after the contract ran out,” Grace said. “We are always moving or packing and unpacking.”
Grace found the courage she needed to apply for a home through Habitat KC when remembering all that her mother did to give her and her siblings a safe place to live.
“When I was accepted, I was so excited,” Grace said. “I called my mom and told her and she called all my aunts and cousins to tell them. Everyone is excited. They all say, ‘We’re so proud of you’.”
Excited for a home of her own and what that will mean for her children, Grace is almost as equally excited to learn the skills she’ll need to build it and maintain it.
“I want to learn how to fix things,” Grace said. “I only know a little bit because whenever something breaks, I call my mom and ask what do I do. I want to learn to fix it like her.”
As Grace starts her partnership with Habitat KC and begins to build her own home, she hopes to teach her son and daughter the same lessons of hard work, persistence and courage that she learned from her mother.
“I hope they see me the same way I see my mom. My mom is my hero and I owe a lot to her.”
Women Build
Grace’s home will be built as part of Habitat KC’s Women Build, an annual build that works to empower women by giving them the tools and skills they need to change their community.