A Home For Grandma’s Rose Bushes

A Home For Grandma’s Rose Bushes

When Angela was just five years old her family home caught fire. The damage forced them to move out and stay with Angela’s grandmother. It’s at that time when Angela recalls beginning to learn the joys, comfort and responsibilities of home.

“She showed me how to cook and clean,” says Angela.

But what really piqued Angela’s interest was growing in the backyard. Angela’s grandmother grew a beautiful garden with vibrant rose bushes.

“She never let anyone in her garden, but she let me in,” says Angela. “Every week she’d let me clip one pink rose. She told me ‘When you get your own house, you can grow as many roses as you want.’”

And that’s exactly what Angela intends to do. 

For the past several years, Angela has been raising her daughter in rental properties in the area. At her last apartment they dealt with a leaking sink. After notifying the landlord of the issue, he said they’d come out the following week some time to take a look. Without setting an appointment or even knocking on the door, Angela was shocked to hear her door unlock and the landlord waltz in unannounced. 

It wasn’t the last time her privacy was invaded. Months later she arrived home, only to find her landlord inside her apartment, again unannounced, working to fix a light. As a single mother with a seven year old daughter in the house, Angela was rightfully alarmed about her landlord coming and going as he pleased. She had had enough and was ready to have the security of her own home. That’s when Angela came to Milwaukee Habitat.

Through our affordable homeownership program, Angela will become a first-time homebuyer, building a brand new home in Milwaukee’s Midtown neighborhood. She’s looking forward to providing her seven year old daughter, Lianna, with a safe, stable place to grow up.

“I know that this is something I can pass down,” says Angela. “If she goes to college, she’ll have a place to come back to.”

By locking in an affordable mortgage rate on her home, not only will Angela be able to control her housing expenses, but she’ll build equity in an asset that’s often foundational for generational wealth creation. In fact, U.S. homeowners have an average net wealth that is 400% higher than that of renters with similar demographics and earnings.

Angela will also have the space to fulfill her passion for gardening, passed down from her grandmother. She intends to plant a pink rose bush and a white rose bush, one in the front and one in the back. They’ll bloom in homage of her grandmother, a symbol of family, comfort and Angela achieving her goal of becoming a homeowner.