LaQueena’s First Christmas At Home

We’re back with another edition of Good News Tues to spread a little joy from our Habitat family to yours. We’re all in this together. Here’s hoping this brings a little light to your day. 

LaQueena’s First Christmas At Home

LaQueena’s last rental was nothing short of a nightmare. At the time she moved in, she had high hopes for the duplex. She got new furnishings and moved her four boys (ages 2-14) into what she expected to be a place they could call home for some time. In just a few weeks, that all changed.

“I was waking up with bug bites all up and down my arm,” says LaQueena. 

It turned out, the previous tenant had been dealing with bed bugs and neither they, nor the landlord, ever mitigated the problem before LaQueena and her family moved in. LaQueena was crushed. 

“We got out of that place with nothing but our clothes,” she says. “All of that furniture we just bought, gone.”

With nowhere else to go, LaQueena moved her four children into a two bedroom apartment with her brother. Her kids have been sleeping on air mattresses in the common areas.

When LaQueena got the call that she’d been approved for Habitat’s affordable home ownership program she couldn’t have been happier. She says she’s dreamed of owning her own home ever since she was a teenager. Growing up, LaQueena’s family moved around a lot to different apartments, which meant she bounced around to different schools.

“I want something better for my kids,” she says. “This home is about stability.”

LaQueena’s home is a previously city-owned abandoned foreclosure that Milwaukee Habitat and LaQueena rehabbed into a safe, affordable home. Together, with support from sponsors Friendship House, Wells Fargo, and the City of Milwaukee’s RICH Program, they turned this neighborhood nuisance into a freshly remodeled, owner-occupied home.

Watch LaQueena’s Virtual Home Dedication

LaQueena moved in on October 30th and one of the first things she did was put up her Christmas tree. Watch her virtual home dedication as she shares a glimpse into her beautifully rehabbed home. Thanks to generous supporters like you, she and her four boys will enjoy their very first Christmas in a home they can truly call their own.