What Would You Do With An Extra $400 A Month?

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. 

What Would You Do With An Extra $400 A Month?

Imagine what you could do with an extra $400 per month. Would you save it? Treat yourself to something special? Maybe there’d be a few more presents for the kids this holiday season? For many hard-working Milwaukee families an extra $400 per month would an absolute game-changer. For families earning below Milwaukee’s median income, that extra $400 means groceries. It means affording needed healthcare. It means being able to save for their children’s education.

$400 per month is what future homeowner, Shavonte, expects to save on her brand new Habitat home. Currently, she’s raising her two kids, Camiyan (8) and Christian (4), in a two bedroom apartment in Cudahy for $1200/month. With help from supporters like you, Shavonte is building a brand new three bedroom home in Milwaukee’s Midtown neighborhood. Her anticipated mortgage will be around $800/month.

Shavonte sees homeownership as a gateway for stability and longevity.

“I’m investing in myself,” she says. “The money I put in my house is for me and my family.”

Camiyan, Shavonte’s eight year old daughter, can’t wait to have a room of her own. She says she’s already planning to decorate in her favorite color: pink. Shavonte also is looking forward to having a yard. Right now at their apartment, there’s no place for her kids to go out and play.

As housing prices continue to climb faster than wages, Milwaukee families are left with fewer and fewer resources after paying the rent. Right now 1 in 3 Milwaukee renters spend half or more of their income on housing. For perspective, a single parent earning $15/hr (about $31k/yr), would have to spend half of their family’s income on housing to afford that same apartment Shavonte’s renting right now.

Instead, Shavonte says this home is going to mean ‘freedom, peace, and happiness’ for her two children. Affordable homeownership will give her a path to invest in her future, her family and herself. She’s developed a savings plan with goals for the future.

One of those goals she’s most excited about is replenishing her savings. Like many folks, she unfortunately lost her job at the start of the pandemic. Luckily, she’s back to work, but the temporary unemployment forced her to exhaust the family’s savings. With her savings plan and an affordable home on the horizon, Shavonte is building strength, stability and independence for her family’s future.