The Best-Kept Secret
Aisha’s teenage son and daughter had typical childhood dreams. A dog. Their own rooms. A backyard. A comfortable, stable place to invite friends over to hang out.
And Aisha’s dream was to give her youngest kids all of it, while also living closer to her eldest son, daughter-in-law, and grandson.
Fed up with an apartment lacking air conditioning and far too small for her family, Aisha decided to see if she was ready for homeownership. She enrolled in our public Homebuyer University program and learned about the steps to purchase a house, the financial position needed to secure a mortgage, and what to expect during the closing process.
During Homebuyer University, Aisha learned about our Affordable Homeownership Program (AHP) and that she could purchase a home in West Pullman, a 10-minute drive from her eldest son and his family. It was a perfect fit for her situation. She applied for a home through AHP, was accepted, and began the process of becoming a homeowner. Although balancing the requirements and her full-time job was difficult at times, she trusted the process and leaned into the wrap-around support given by Habitat Chicago staff members.
“They're not just trying to get an interest rate,” Aisha noted. “They're trying to build you as a person, to make you a powerful homeowner.”
The best part? She kept her entire homeownership journey a secret from her children!
For months, Aisha was sneaking off to take homeownership classes and to volunteer on the construction site until she officially closed on her home. Once the papers were signed, she took her kids on a car ride to West Pullman and, unbeknownst to them, parked in front of their new home. She gave them a set of keys and watched their emotions turn from confusion to disbelief to pure joy. All her hard work and time spent working toward this goal was worth it because she was finally providing her kids with a home they could call their own. Five months later, another family member moved in.
“It was the best feeling in the world [to get our dog], because it was something that I promised them,” Aisha said through a smile. “And now that we're in our own home, we did it. We got the dog.”
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Almost a year in, homeownership has already provided everything Aisha and her kids wanted and more: a next-door neighbor who became family, the opportunity to teach her children responsibility through home upkeep and caring for their dog, Zeus, a convenient place to gather her entire family together, and a house beautiful enough to be her daughter’s prom photo backdrop.
Aisha never liked keeping secrets from her children, but the surprise and pure glee that her family shared walking into their own house for the first time made all the secrecy and hard work worth it.
