Clicking into Place: Derrick’s Homeownership Journey 

Clicking into Place: Derrick’s Homeownership Journey 

Last year, Derrick experienced a turning point where his life began to click into place. After spending time and energy learning about himself, he began to understand what was truly important to him. 

Derrick became interested in homeownership when he moved back to Milwaukee after briefly living in Madison, Wisconsin. He realized that he wanted to build his career and live in Milwaukee. 

Derrick is 21 and recently started a new job as an instructional aid at an alternative school, where he feels he found his passion.

“This [school] is a last resort for those kids,” Derrick said. “I think I just came to a realization a couple weeks ago that I’ve been [working with kids] for a while and dare I say I’m good at my job. It’s been surprisingly great. I’ve never felt this way about a job…It’s so exciting to see kids growing and going back to a district school. I love seeing those successes.” 

With a new sense of purpose in his career, a piece of his life fell into place.

Derrick has been saving money for a long time and currently lives with his parents while continuing to build his savings. One day, his parents encouraged him to consider homeownership, an idea that set Derrick on a path few pursue at his age.

“I’ve been saving money for a long time,” Derrick said. “I’m not a huge spender. I have all of these savings but nothing to put them in. I was thinking about getting an apartment, but I think I will be in Milwaukee long term. I was brainstorming with my parents and then thought about a condo. Then my parents told me about Habitat. It had been something they wanted to do and they said they think I’d love it. I ended up applying. I was biting my nails hoping to get into [the program].”

Derrick had applied for Milwaukee Habitat’s Affordable Homeownership program which helps first-time homebuyers build a brand new home with little-to-no down payment and an average mortgage payment of less than $950/month. He was accepted into the program and is now building a brand new three-bedroom home alongside Milwaukee Habitat. This was a defining moment where another part of his life clicked into place.

Although he is excited, Derrick admits he feels nervous about owning a home and living on his own at his young age. Despite this, he is determined to create lifelong stability through this opportunity.

“It took me a while to get into the headspace to get out on my own,” Derrick said. “Since [last year], I’ve been in a different headspace, working on self improvement, and getting stuff together…I’m super young. It’s a crazy time to get committed to a house. It’s definitely a milestone…I want to set roots down. Ten years from now, I still have so much life to go. I have time to figure life out. I’m not going anywhere.”

Employees from MGIC, the sponsor of Derrick’s home, volunteering on site

This past year has been a time of growth and discovery for Derrick, and he is now finding confidence in himself.

“I didn’t think I would ever be in a spot to get a house,” Derrick said. “I think it was around the time I was really getting into my job and figuring out other aspects of my life [that I thought I could become a homeowner]. It was a maturing moment. One day it just kind of clicked and it was like, you can do this. A lot of times in my head, I kind of lower my expectations of what I think I can do. It took me a good while. You can put yourself out there.”

And that’s exactly what Derrick did. He put himself out there, embraced new opportunities, and is watching his life click into place.