Okogn’s Story

A Home That’s Finally His

When Habitat for Humanity of Kansas City asked Okogn to describe what he hoped a home would give him, he wrote down two things:

1. Freedom.
2. End to the fear of eviction.

It’s simple, but it carries the weight of decades. For as long as he’s lived in Kansas City, home has meant renting, and renting, for Okogn, has always come with a quiet undercurrent of fear. The knowledge that a landlord could decide, for almost any reason, that it was time for him to leave. 

A History of Resilience 

That fear traces back to 1993, when Okogn fled civil war in Sudan and arrived in Kansas City at 19 years old, alone. A cousin already living in Kansas City sponsored his move and took him in when he first arrived. He worked his way through college, earning a bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, all while working full time, with no family nearby to lean on.

“Being young and responsible for your own life in a foreign country is not easy. No uncle, no grandpa, no backup. You have to adapt,” Okogn said.

Along the way, he raised three children largely on his own: a daughter, now 19 and away at college; a son, 18; and his youngest, 11, who’s currently basketball-obsessed.

“It was not easy, especially when I became a single dad. I had to do the mother’s work and the father’s work all together,” Okogn said.

Through all of it, a home of their own stayed just out of reach, with years of touring houses, only to lose out again and again to buyers who could move faster.

A Safe and Stable Future 

Okogn’s home is taking shape in the Pathway at Heritage Park neighborhood in Olathe, KS, and he’s already logged his own partner hours on the build site, watching his home become more complete each week. He’s been close to homeownership before and watched it slip away, so even now, some part of the experience still hasn’t fully sunk in. 

We’d look for houses, and never get them because there was another buyer who could buy it quicker than me. And now, when I told my son about our Habitat home, he does not believe it.

I showed him our new home and told him ‘It’s not going to be like what happened last time.’

My kid does not believe it. Even me, deep down, I don’t really believe it’s going be my home.

Soon, his family will move into a house that’s entirely their own. One with a driveway where his youngest can shoot hoops, and a kitchen where Okogn can finally cook dinner for his kids without wondering how much longer the lease will last.

Reflecting on everything it took to get here, he offered one closing thought about the organization that helped make it possible: that Habitat, in his words, is full of humanity. For a family that has spent more than three decades building a life from scratch, it’s hard to imagine a better way to put it.