“He always has a place to call home.”

“He always has a place to call home.”

This summer, Raven became a homeowner. Every time a Milwaukee Habitat homeowner moves into their home, we host a home dedication celebration. Together with family, friends, coworkers, Habitat staff, volunteers, and sponsors, we celebrate the tremendous milestone of becoming a first-time homebuyer. Last week, we celebrated with Raven!

During the dedication, Raven reflected on her journey that led to this moment.

Raven became a mom at a young age and has heard the assumptions people make about young mothers. Instead of letting them define her, she is building a future rooted in stability, growth, and opportunity for herself and her son. 

Raven is a personal banker at US Bank and a junior at UWM, where she is pursuing her degree in psychology. 

After working hard in both her career and education to build a better life for herself and her son, Raven decided it was time to take the next step. She built a home. 

She partnered with Milwaukee Habitat for Humanity to build and purchase an affordable home for her and her son. Her son motivated her throughout the process. At her dedication, she shared:

I just wanted to make it my goal and my mission to stay committed. I really treated getting this house like my second job.

Being able to stay so determined and actually accomplish something so big and so fast was crazy.

I really, really enjoy my friends being here everyday. And my sister being here every day. And all the kids being here. I enjoy everybody being at my house every day. 

I feel like I’m just making sure I could make a stable life for my son. I want to make sure he always has a place to call home. He always has something for himself. And starting now instead of waiting so long. For me it felt like the right thing to do and like I said, it’s really all for my baby. 

He always has a place to call home.