Deeper Than Just a Home: Crystal’s Habitat Journey

Deeper Than Just a Home: Crystal’s Habitat Journey

Crystal is purchasing a brand-new home through Milwaukee Habitat’s Affordable Homeownership program. After applying and being accepted, Crystal came to the Milwaukee Habitat office to sign paperwork and officially start her journey. The night before she came in, the anticipation kept Crystal awake.

“I couldn’t sleep last night,” Crystal said. “I was so excited to talk to you all. I woke up every hour. I was ready. Habitat has been changing lives for years, making things possible that we felt like never could be or would take a lot longer. I’m overwhelmed with joy honestly. It’s meant to be.”

For Crystal, “meant to be” has multiple meanings. Crystal had just started exploring the idea of purchasing a condo when she heard back from Habitat about the program.

“It was like a redirection,” Crystal said. “Maybe this is what I’m supposed to be doing. Now that I’m doing it, everything falls in line.”

As more pieces fall into place, Crystal reflects on what Habitat for Humanity has already meant to her life.

When she was six years old, Crystal moved into a Habitat house with her mom and three siblings. 

“Growing up in a Habitat house, that was our first house,” Crystal said. “It’s a house I will forever remember.

To be able to be part of that experience when you’re a kid and then get to experience it for yourself. Habitat gave my mom that foundation to give me support. That’s our family house. We do holidays there. It’s going to be so nice to now be able to do that. We’re doing Christmas at my house this year.”

Crystal remembers decorating her room when they first moved in. Years after Crystal had moved out, she asked her mom if she could use that space for something new.

“I actually started doing nails in my mom’s Habitat house,” Crystal said. “I dreamed of having a nail room. After we all moved out, my mom said I could start there. I saved money, went to school, and opened up a salon suite.” 

Because Crystal’s mom purchased a Habitat home, Crystal had a foundation to build her business. The home gave her and her siblings space to pursue their dreams and helped create a sense of community in the neighborhood.

“The Habitat house allowed my mom to give us things she never thought she could give us,” Crystal said. “My mom had a room. We all had our own. We were always big on holidays and I think that it spread more to community. It was about community. Like my mom became the icy cup person. Kool aid and water in cups. People would come and get them from her. 

To me, it changed our lives also because we became less about us and more about community. When we rented places, it wasn’t like that. When we got into that house, her energy changed. Her mindset changed. Her hustle changed. It changed a lot for us.

Everybody would ride past and say ‘hey Miss Teresa.’ My mom has been there for years. Growing up in that house – it’s a landmark. It’s more than just a house to me. It’s a safe place. 

What Habitat is doing is bigger than putting up walls. It’s changing our neighborhoods. My mom, her home is a safe place for a lot of people. Her doors are open. I hope to do that with my Habitat house. 

It’s a lot deeper than just a home.” 

A few years ago, Crystal’s mom paid off her mortgage. She joined Milwaukee Habitat for a mortgage burning ceremony and shared what Habitat homeownership has meant to her and her family. Watch the moment Crystal’s mom celebrated this accomplishment:

Soon, Crystal will be moving into her own Habitat home, right around the corner from her mom.

“I started wanting to look for more stability, as well as investing in the future,” Crystal said. “ You get something out of homeownership vs renting. If I come back to the place I was raised in, it gives me stability.”

Through Milwaukee Habitat’s Affordable Homeownership program, Crystal is working to make this dream a reality and achieve her vision of homeownership, which includes stability and community. As a spiritual person, Crystal believes she has not been on this journey alone. 

“This will show the glory,” Crystal said. “It will show that God has hands in my life. It’ll show something for my family. I think about family, friends, and wanting to have a space for people that I’ve connected to. For them to either have a safe place, a meal, a warm bed. It’ll be something for me and the people connected to me.”

As Crystal continues her Habitat homeownership journey, she thinks about the day she receives her keys.

“It will be life changing,” Crystal said. “I’ll be overwhelmed with several emotions. It’s going to feel unreal. I’ll probably just sit. I’ll probably just sit and soak it all in. I might cry a little. I’ll be very thankful, grateful for all the people that helped me get there that don’t even know me.”

Recently, Crystal was able to visit her almost completed house. As she walked through the front door and explored the place she will soon call home, she took it all in quietly and intentionally. She moved through each room, imagining how she would use the space, and video called her mom so they could experience it together. Her excitement quickly grew and could be felt throughout the house.

As Crystal said goodbye to her house that day, she knew she would be back soon, this time with her own set of keys. She was able to see the home and the walls that hold it up, but she also saw the deeper meaning: stability, community, and the future she has been working towards.  

“It’s a lot deeper than just a home.”