![\"Newly](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/REG-L-HabitatMiltimore448.jpg\")
Newly constructed and occupied Habitat for Humanity of Berks County homes line the 400 block of Miltimore Street. (BILL UHRICH\/READING EAGLE)<\/p>\nFor years, Jackie Kull said, it felt impossible to get ahead. Rent kept climbing, housing situations kept changing and stability for her family always seemed just out of reach.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was paying high rent, a lot of high rent,\u201d she said. \u201cI couldn\u2019t maintain a stable environment for the kids. Landlords would either sell or up the rent.\u201d<\/p>\n
After hearing about Habitat for Humanity of Berks County, in 2024 Kull took the first step toward homeownership by setting up an appointment. But in her meeting with Eneida Powell, Habitat Berks\u2019 director of family services and volunteer coordinator, Kull learned she wasn\u2019t quite ready to buy a home.<\/p>\n
Instead of turning her away, Kull said, Powell helped map out a path forward, from credit counseling to financial classes and budgeting help.<\/p>\n
After years of struggling under rents as high as $1,800 a month, Kull owns a house in Reading and pays a less than $1,000 monthly mortgage.<\/p>\n
Newly constructed and occupied Habitat for Humanity of Berks County homes line the 400 block of Miltimore Street. (BILL UHRICH\/READING EAGLE)<\/p>\n
She credits Powell not only with helping her navigate Habitat\u2019s requirements but with changing how she thinks about money and responsibility.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor like six months, I didn\u2019t even buy a piece of gum,\u201d Kull said, laughing. \u201cEneida taught me to think, \u2018Do I need it, or do I want it?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
That mindset, she said, stuck.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you start applying that to yourself,\u201d Kull said, \u201cit can push you a lot further toward your goals.\u201d<\/p>\n
Powell said such lessons are central to preparing families for homeownership. Even before applying, she said, prospective homeowners attend classes on budgeting, credit, debt management and self-care.<\/p>\n
Her approach, she said, is rooted in honesty and accountability. She emphasizes the importance of creating what she calls a true budget, one that includes every expense, and sticking to it.<\/p>\n
From application to closing, Powell helps clients overcome barriers that could derail the process, Habitat Berks Executive Director Timothy J. Daley said.<\/p>\n
But her manner is not soft-handed.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou can tell in the faces of our families just how respected and, in some cases, feared she is because she\u2019s all about business and getting it done right,\u201d Daley said of what he calls Powell\u2019s tough\u2011love approach. \u201cWhat she really is doing is showing clients the ultimate respect by not pitying them. She tells them and teaches them that they\u2019re capable of doing this.\u201d<\/p>\n
Her work has been transformative in guiding generational renters to the self-sufficiency needed for homeownership, he said.<\/p>\n
Like Kull, many Habitat homebuyers face rising rents, unstable housing, credit challenges and limited savings while trying to balance work and parenting, Powell said. Habitat teaches them how to break long-standing financial habits and build stability, she said.<\/p>\n
Kull said her journey included periods of housing insecurity, long work hours and moments of self-doubt.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou go through these trials, these tribulations, and it just tests you in life,\u201d she said. \u201cBut if you really want something, you will go get it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Despite her heavy workload, Kull completed the 200 hours of \u201csweat equity\u201d Habitat requires of its prospective homeowners.<\/p>\n
Those hours can include helping at Habitat projects and volunteering at the organization\u2019s Re-Store in Muhlenberg Township. About 40 to 50 hours are devoted to financial education, including budgeting and the responsibilities of homeownership.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s no excuse,\u201d she said. \u201cI was working 50 hours a week, and I still did it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kull said that when she received the keys to her new home nearly a year ago, she collapsed on the floor crying.<\/p>\n
A delayed dedication of the home on Miltimore Street is scheduled for June.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m very grateful,\u201d she said. \u201cI\u2019m a very hard worker all my life. It\u2019s just I never got that opportunity.\u201d<\/p>\n
Homeownership, she said, has changed more than her housing situation. It has changed the future she sees for her family.<\/p>\n
The lower monthly housing costs allowed her to leave a job she held for nearly 25 years and open a business, a long-cherished dream.<\/p>\n
She is doing well and working fewer hours, Kull said, and that gives her more time to devote to family.<\/p>\n
The changes also had a positive effect on her two school-aged children, she noted.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs soon as we got that foundation of stability, it showed,\u201d she said, noting the improvement in their outlooks and grades.<\/p>\n
The family is even planning a long-delayed vacation to Disney World, Kull said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI wanted to take them for the last 10 years, and it never could happen,\u201d she said. \u201cIt is only possible now because I\u2019m a homeowner.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"For years, Jackie Kull said, it felt impossible to get ahead. Rent kept climbing, housing situations kept changing…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":195448,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[349,857,4736,182,139,28,736,128,130,129,706],"class_list":["post-195447","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-reading","tag-berks-county","tag-essential-reading","tag-housing","tag-local-news","tag-news","tag-pennsylvania","tag-reading","tag-reading-city","tag-reading-city-headlines","tag-reading-city-news","tag-top-stories-reg"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/195447","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=195447"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/195447\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/195448"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=195447"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=195447"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=195447"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}