Shavon Jones and her family are celebrating recently moving into their five-bedroom home in Habitat’s Rainier Vista complex following a difficult journey. Just two months ago, Shavon and her five children – ranging in age from 18 to nine months – were sharing a two-bedroom apartment, in which Shavon’s bed was in the living room in order to give the kids more space.
Said Shavon, “Six of us sharing a small space — and just one bathroom! Just imagine that considering that four of my children are teenagers. At a time in their development when they really needed privacy, there was simply none that I, as a single mother, could offer them.
It broke my heart.”
Although she had been working hard to provide them a better life – going back to school and receiving a Bachelor’s degree in Behavioral Science and being hired as a housing case manager for Solid Ground – Shavon was still unable to afford rent closer to the city where she worked and the kids went to school. The family had to move to a rural area with an hour-long commute and even then, all that was affordable was a two-bedroom apartment for the family of six.
“I felt so horrible telling my kids that I couldn’t afford to buy or even rent something larger… as a parent I felt a responsibility to do better by them. So, I went onto the Habitat website and added my name,“ she said with a smile.
Shavon noted that not only did Habitat facilitate the application process, the organization provided all of the training to help her learn how to budget adequately, plan on a monthly basis, and taught the entire family new skills when they were putting in their sweat equity hours.
“Each of us learned so much about using tools, painting, installing light fixtures, and my favorite – wrapping the house in Tyvek – many skills that will help us in the future. All along the way, Habitat stood by my side… encouraging me and building my confidence that I could actually do this – be a homeowner! And it’s true – I could and now I am,” she said.
We were honored to have Shavon share her story at our recent Virtual Experience. Meet her and hear her story in her own words.