The American dream came true on Thursday for two families as Erie’s Habitat for Humanity dedicated brand new homes to two deserving families.
Organizers said that they selected the Brown and Copland families because of their passion, faith and drive to be homeowners.
Each Habitat family is required to dedicate 300 hours to development and both families worked even more than that, making these homes some of the fastest built homes in the history of Erie’s Habitat for Humanity’s 36 years. Both families helped out by laying the foundation, sanding, mudding and more.
They told us that although it was hard physical work that their newly developed skills would help them to maintain their homes for years to come. Both organizers and the Habitat home owners mentioned that this opportunity will benefit their families for years to come.
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“Every month you pay your mortgage, it’s your money – it goes into your account, so when they sell the house, it’s their money, it doesn’t belong to someone else. We are making the American dream of home ownership and financial equity and growth possible. Most families in Habitat homes do not sell their houses. In fact, they stay in it for the 25 years and after they’ve paid off their mortgage, they give their house to their children or to their grandchildren,” said Dr. Roché Vermaak, the executive director of Erie Habitat for Humanity.
The Copelands are high school sweethearts who share one baby girl and are looking forward to creating memories in their new home. “More family time basically and plus barbecue to have fun, do whatever we want and plus a safe environment for our daughter,” Denaysha Copeland said. Their five-year-old, Telana, said that she looks forward to painting her bedroom pink and purple.
Desheia Brown is a single mother of two teenage boys and said that her family is originally from Flint, Michigan and moved to Erie to take care of her mother while she was also pursuing her bachelor’s degree. Alongside her fiancé and 18-year-old son, she dedicated over 400 hours in between other responsibilities to help build her family’s new home.
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“This is gonna be a big legacy for my family. My children are gonna know what it’s like to be a part of being a homeowner. Whenever I leave this Earth, they’ll become the homeowners. I wanted to show my kids something different, you know, I wanted them to see that their mom can make it regardless of the struggles in life,” she said. She said that she walks by faith and not by sight and that she can achieve anything that God has planned for her.
If you would like to volunteer with Habitat for Humanity or apply to become a homeowner, you are invited to visit their website. Applications for home ownership open on January 10.