Family Story

Habitat’s Capitol View Community Houses Women-Led Families

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For 16 years, women from all walks of life, corporate and independent businesses and organizations have worked with Habitat for Humanity Seattle-King & Kittitas Counties to fund projects, build homes, and revitalize neighborhoods via the Women Build program.  Over the course of three weeks this year, from April 29 through May 13, working side-by-side with our homeowners and volunteers, women will once again empower one another and help to address the affordable housing crisis.  

Habitat’s recently dedicated community in Capitol Hill – Capitol View – is another in the growing list of examples of how women are supporting women to obtain safe, affordable housing in the region. Nine of the 13 new homes in the Capitol View development are now owned by women-led families.  For a virtual tour of the Capitol View development, follow this link: Capitol View Virtual Tour

Meet the Vo Family

When Willa Vo and her family accepted the keys to their Capitol View home on March 4, it was the reward for six years of hard work.  Willa and her family landed in Seattle from Vietnam, when housing prices were two-thirds below today’s.  Willa, her mother Truc, and sister Thalia worked hard and saved. Still, area home prices outpaced their efforts, making a market home purchase impossible. But Habitat’s Capitol View development revived their hopes for homeownership. “Habitat for Humanity helped me have a home with an affordable price,” says Willa. Today, she and her Mom have shorter commutes to their work in an Amazon fulfillment warehouse.  Thalia is a full time UW student, and they all pursue their love of exploring the region with the free time they’ve gained.  “We have our own completely-new-home, and the affordable mortgage allows us to save for our next dream – opening a restaurant.”

Veronica Fleming Helps Others with Housing

Veronica Fleming moved from Atlanta to Seattle in summer 2021 with a freshly earned bachelor’s degree in psychology and a new job as a Housing Social Worker. She quickly fell in love with the city, especially Capitol Hill. However, when she arrived in Seattle, she learned homeownership was beyond her financial reach…until she found Habitat. Today, Veronica enjoys her own home in the Capitol View development. From her work with housing, she’s keenly aware of the important role housing stability plays in the stability of life overall. She already enjoys the reduction in anxiety that comes with permanent, stable, affordable housing and the welcome impact it’s having on her mental health. “Owning my own home brings me stability, not just rent stability but consistency and lack of fear of leases ending.” And Veronica now has easy access to all there is to discover in and around the city from her Capitol Hill home.

Resilience is Becauley Elsie’s Super Power

Becaley Elsie could be a poster child for resilience.  She came to Seattle from Phoenix, AZ  to work with a theater group. When that opportunity evaporated, she found herself homeless and jobless for a short time, but she was already in love with the city and determined to stay. She found a job as a commercial bus driver while completing her sweat equity hours and preparing to move into her new Capitol View home.  Becauley and her four ‘cat daughters’ accepted the keys to their new home on March 4, delighted for the space to “chase anything that moves,” and the room to host her beloved nephew when he visits. Today she’s concentrating her efforts on a career in podcasting, art, stand-up, and running workshops to heal trauma, while pursuing her passion for small theater. She specializes in the healing process and hopes to expand her reach to help more people. She’s happy to be living in the city where she’s close to the arts and diversity. With her Habitat home, Becauley happily declares, “I am breaking a generational cycle of never owning a home.”

These women and the others currently housed in the Capitol View community have benefited directly from the efforts of other women through Women Build.  This year’s two-week event culminates with a Women of Impact Build on May 6, where volunteers come together to build new affordable homes for hardworking, low-income families at a local project.

It’s not too late to sign up for a spot at Women Build – click here for more information: Habitat for Humaniity SKKC Women Build

Habitat Repairs Support The Spirit of Giving

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“The world would be so much better if we all would just take care of one another, and you folks have taken care of me.” That’s what Alesia Cannady has to say about the repairs Habitat for Humanity SKKC volunteers completed on her Skyway home last year. 

Alesia practices what she preaches. She is the founder and Executive Director of Women United Seattle, a group that supports grandmothers who are raising their grandchildren. The organization’s multiple programs reflect Alesia’s creative approach to helping others. Alesia started her work nearly 30 years ago when she discovered a neighbor in need: a mother of two recently abandoned by her husband. “She didn’t have anything,” Alesia recalls, “so I took my boys’ bunk beds to her, an extra mattress I had, so she’d have a bed, and a little TV, so her kids would have something to do.” That was what she calls her first ‘woman in crisis,’ and the ad-hoc beginning of Women United Seattle.

At first, she used her own money to help women pay rent in emergencies. She took in and raised her sister’s newborn daughter and seven-year-old sister. From that experience she learned the challenges of single parenting for a second time after raising her two sons. When her youngest son and his drug addicted girlfriend got pregnant, Alesia was called upon again to raise a child, her granddaughter,Aleiyah. “That opened a door for me,” says Alesia, “though I didn’t realize it at the time.” Aleiyah became the inspiration for the Angel of Hope Engagement Center, hosted in Alesia’s home, where grandmothers now come for personal, and spiritual support, programs and events. Alesia continues to expand the program with help from King County, Seattle Foundation, Champions of change and generous donors. 

When a friend learned that Alesia’s railings and entrance were unsafe for the mobility-impaired women visiting the Engagement Center, she contacted Habitat, and, “They called me right away,” Alesia says with glee. She is delighted at the quality of the improvements Habitat volunteers made to her front and back entrances and the access areas up to a gathering cottage in her backyard. Of course, she befriended the volunteers. “They smelled the catfish I was cooking one day and came inside to share it. After that they came back to help me set up the Winter Wonderland event in my backyard … and they stayed.” She now claims those Habitat volunteers as part of her family.

The repairs Habitat made to Alesia’s house were finished quickly and, she adds, the volunteers took extra care to assure the paint matched her house, so the entry is beautiful as well as strong. The work Habitat did on Alesia Cannady’s home isn’t confined to that place. The benefits will radiate throughout her community as her work impacts multiple families. “We must keep sharing our knowledge with others who’ll be caregivers, even after our grandchildren are grown, so there will always be people here to help one another.” To learn more about Habitat SKKC’s Repairs program or if you know someone who is in need of critical home repairs, please visit: https://www.habitatskc.org/what-we-do/home-repairs/

The Seattle Times: WA considers new way to address legacy of racist property covenants

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Habitat SKKC homeowner LeChelle Lucas was featured prominently in a Seattle Times article about Washington state lawmakers who are considering a new approach to boosting Black homeownership through financial assistance for people once excluded by racial covenants.

“West Seattle renter LeChelle Lucas hopes the proposal would help people like her.

Lucas, who is Black, always wanted to own a home, but “I just didn’t think homeownership, honestly, was on my horizon,” she said.

She didn’t have the funds for a down payment and couldn’t turn to her family for help. 

A down payment felt like the way to “get in the game,” she said. “Not being able to put money down immediately takes me out.”

Click here to read the full article.

Home Means Comfort and Safety for the Ibrahims

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When he was a boy in Ethiopia, Ana Ibrahim prayed for three things — a bike, to reunite with his parents, and to move to America. When he was very young, Ana’s mother died in Ethiopia and his Aunt cared for him while his father and stepmother moved to the U.S. in 2001 for a better life. He was able to reunite with them in 2009, but when his father and stepmother divorced, Ana chose to live with his stepmother and half-sister Hajo in the Seattle area. “I’m a grown up now and I want to take care of my mother and sister,” Ana says.

The Ibrahim family, Mother Habiba, sister Hajo and Ana have moved four times since 2015 from rental housing either because rents continually increased beyond their budget, or the neighborhood was dangerous … or both. Says Ana, “Any time we bought furniture, we had to make sure it wasn’t heavy, because we knew we’d be moving it soon.” In September, they’ll move into their own three-bedroom home in Highland Terrace, West Seattle, thanks to Habitat. And they won’t have to move again.

As Muslims, they originally chose the Seattle area because, “it celebrates diversity and provides you with many opportunities you won’t easily find anywhere else,” says Ana.  They have made the most of those opportunities. Habiba works nights as a custodian, Hajo is a full-time student and, after completing his education in 2020, Ana landed his current job as an IT support professional for a Seattle law firm. The Ibrahims applied for a Habitat home once before being accepted; it was the addition of Ana’s income that made them eligible for a home this time.

After working a full five days each week, the family spends Saturdays helping to build their new home. It’s worth the effort, they declare. They are grateful to Habitat for giving them a place they can finally call home, where they don’t have to worry about the unpredictable rent increases and the regular struggle to find a safe place within their budget. “The comfort of knowing you finally own a home is something indescribable,” says Ana. “It will definitely be a new chapter in our life where we can find the relief of knowing we never have to move again.”

The mortgage for their Habitat home will be slightly less than their current rent, and they’re excited about building some wealth for the future.

Ana has already found his favorite restaurant in their new neighborhood and he’s looking forward to exploring more. Habiba is enthusiastic about cooking more in her new kitchen and Hajo will continue her henna hobby in the safety of their own home. 

Persistence has paid off for the Ibrahims.  “Try to do better than yesterday,” is their motto, and it’s already promising better tomorrows for them thanks to Habitat.

Habitat Critical Repairs Lighten the Load In Every Way

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Chris Grant, a 74-year-old Renton native, was worried about how he would pay for needed repairs on the home he’s occupied since 2006. His 40-year-old carpet was causing him breathing problems and some of the home’s exterior features were dangerously deteriorating.

The steps outside of his house had pulled away allowing rain to pour into his crawl space, and they were treacherously slippery. Rotting wood on the exterior of his home needed replacement to prevent further damage; and he could no longer climb a ladder to clean his gutters. “The prospect of fixing these problems was wearing on me for a couple of years,” he shared.

Procore

This summer, Chris became curious about Habitat for Humanity vans he saw at some of his neighbors’ homes, “Then, somebody left a Habitat flier on my doorknob, and I contacted Ms. Madison.” Madison Vernon, Habitat’sHomebuyer Selection Program Coordinator, walked Chris through the application process. Habitat staff and AmeriCorps volunteers started repairs on his home just a few weeks later. Chris was surprised at the speed of the process, only about six weeks from start to finish. “I was fortunate that my request went in at the same time they were working on my neighbors’ houses,” he said.   

The Habitat/AmeriCorps crew did, indeed, apply efficiency in Chris’ Renton neighborhood.  They worked simultaneously on his home and three others nearby, which allowed them to tackle similar and specialty projects on all four homes at once. Chris was pleased with the work they did on his home, from replacing rotting wood on the outside to closing a leak caused by a gap in his front steps and replacing that old carpet with laminate flooring. They even trimmed an overgrown bush that was encroaching on his house.

“The place looks like a million bucks now…all the way to the sidewalk,” he said. And much of that old worry is relieved. “Thanks be to God Habitat came around and took away a lot of that agony.” All told, the repairs Habitat staff and AmeriCorps volunteers applied to Chris Grant’s home would total nearly $9,500, which he received at a fraction.

Now a ‘lighter,’ Chris Grant can be seen photographing favorite scenes around his hometown… when he’s not cuddling with his beloved 4-year-old rescue pup, Coco.  

To learn more about Habitat SKC’s Repairs program helping low-income individuals address critical home repairs while allowing seniors to “age in place” click here.