We are excited to welcome new homeowners to the Habitat family! Originally from Ethiopia, Mesfin came to the United States in 2005 to seek better education and lifestyle opportunities. He first arrived in Washington DC and stayed there for seven months. Not comfortable with the extreme weather fluctuations of the east coast, he decided to move from one Washington to the other, settling in Seattle. One of the first things he did was enrolling in college. He also filed a petition through USCIS to bring his wife, Helen, to the U.S.
The whole process took over 3 years, but Helen was finally able to join Mesfin at the end of 2008. Mesfin graduated Shoreline Community College with a degree in accounting in 2008. He got a job as an accountant shortly after and has worked his way up to become a financial analyst within the same company.
Helen is currently enrolled in a few classes and is an active stay at home mom with their two sons, Naol and Nathan. Mesfin’s younger sister, Emebet, joined the family a few years ago from Ethiopia and is currently enrolled in college. The family of 5 currently rents a 2 bedroom apartment in Shoreline. They have been interested in buying a home for a while now, but quickly realized they couldn’t afford it in the Seattle area.
They first heard about Habitat for Humanity at a community meeting talking about the unhealthy housing prices in the state. After doing some research, Mesfin attended an information meeting and decided to apply. “I was about to conclude that it is impossible to have a house in this state until I heard about your program. I would like thank the staff and community who is engaged in the program to support us.”