MAYPORT, Fla. – After years of commuting from Orange Park and struggling with housing costs, Andrea Donbach is helping build a townhome where she and her 10-year-old son can put down roots.
With the average Northeast Florida home priced at about $399,000 and 30-year mortgage rates near 7%, homeownership can feel out of reach for many working families.
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Donbach knows that challenge.
She works full time at a veterinarian’s office in Jacksonville Beach, but for the previous seven years she has commuted from Orange Park because she couldn’t afford to live at the beach.
Now, she’s helping build a home of her own in Coastal Haven, a Beaches Habitat for Humanity community.
“I’ve been doing a lot of the framing and strapping,” Donbach said as she showed off the townhome she’s helping construct. “It’s been pretty amazing to be able to work on the actual structure itself.”
Habitat homebuyers are required to contribute 300 hours of “sweat equity” as part of the process.
They must also meet credit requirements and take classes in money management and budgeting.
For Donbach, the opportunity came at a difficult time.
Her son, Xander, is on the autism spectrum, and she said major changes can be hard for him.
But he’s excited to have a place they can call home.
“On my salary, I can’t even afford to qualify for a one-bedroom apartment the way rent is,” she said. “This has just been a blessing.”
Donbach said she found Beaches Habitat while searching online for a safe, affordable place for her family after Xander’s father went to prison.
Rising costs for gas and groceries have added to the strain of supporting a family on one income.
The move will make a huge difference in the mother and son’s daily lives, too.
Donbach said the new home will cut her commute from more than an hour to about 10 minutes, giving her more time with her son after work.
“I will be eternally grateful,” she said. “My hope is to continue to work to help other people out, because without volunteers, without Habitat, I don’t know where I’d be.”
Donbach hopes to move into the new townhome next year.
Beaches Habitat for Humanity
The organization is building a 44-home community off Mayport Road in Atlantic Beach.
The homes are being built in stages.
Habitat always needs donations and volunteers. Learn more about homeownership, volunteering and donations by clicking here or searching: beacheshabitat.org.
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