Molding Her Own Piece of Clay: Jitanna’s Dream of Homeownership

Molding Her Own Piece of Clay: Jitanna’s Dream of Homeownership

2026 is the year that Jitanna invests in herself. After a lifetime of prioritizing the needs of others, Jitanna is choosing to focus on her own future. 

“I put everyone in front of me,” Jitanna said. “Now is the time for me to take care of myself, taking care of myself and my daughter. That’s what this year is about.”

Jitanna comes from a large family and has often found herself caring for nieces, sick relatives, and especially her mother.

“My mom is sick. She has cancer between stages three and four,” Jitanna said. “She’s in great spirits and is really funny. Her spirits are high and her cancer cells are going down. We’ve got to keep that energy.”

Jitanna and her daughter currently live with her mother to help take care of her. Although her mother knows Jitanna wants a place of her own, Jitanna never felt like it was the right time to pursue homeownership.

Jitanna has been interested in purchasing a home through Milwaukee Habitat for Humanity’s Affordable Homeownership Program for some time. Twice, she began the process and twice she stepped away to focus on her mother’s care. Now that her mother’s condition is improving, Jitanna feels confident that investing in her family’s future is what is best for everyone.

“I applied two times and pulled out,” Jitanna said. “I’m going with my gut now. Now that she is in a place where she’s on her feet and everything and her spirits are high, I can start going this way. And I am just a phone call away.

Now I think it is the perfect time. My mindset is better; I have realistic goals. It’s here in arm’s reach. Before, it was climb this mountain, swim in this sea, trench this forest. In a few months, everything I’ve worked so hard for will come to fruition. I have to take care of me.”

Now that Jitanna is officially building and purchasing a home in partnership with Milwaukee Habitat, she is even more certain she is on the right path.

“[I knew Milwaukee Habitat was] the right fit based on the community aspect,” Jitanna said. “I knew in the back of my mind that I couldn’t do this on my own. I need as much help as I can get. This is the place I need to work with in order to accomplish this.”

When Jitanna comes to the end of her homeownership journey, she will finally be able to make her house her own. As a self-proclaimed nerd, she already knows a few things that will define her decor. 

“As I say, I’m a nerd,” Jitanna said. “There will be a lot of nerd stuff in our house. You will walk into our house and see a Mario lamp.”

Her 17-year-old daughter has loved reading since she was two years old and, as Jitanna says, she “lives in the library.” It is important to Jitanna to help her daughter create a space that she feels comfortable in.

“She can read seven books at a time,” Jitanna said. “She loves her some books. As a 17-year-old, she is going through her own personal journey, who she is, what she wants to do. The last thing I want her to worry about is her environment.”

Before Jitanna and her daughter are able to decorate their space, Jitanna will walk into her house for the first time. 

“First, I’m going to take off my shoes. There will be no shoes in my house. I’m not even going to explore the house. I think I’m just going to stand there and just breathe it all in. I’ll meditate, pray, thank God. Then I’ll cry. I might yell out of excitement. I will literally just take it all in.

I might just lay in the middle of the floor. Today’s the day. This is my house. Those words burn in my head. It’s going to be the best day of my life. I’m picturing how my daughter is going to perceive it. It will be worth it in the end. I’m just grateful to be here.

It will be everything I’ve imagined or could ever imagine. It’s just having this little piece of clay that I can just mold into whatever I want. It will be the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.”

Jitanna’s story has always been one of resilience. Born prematurely, Jitanna required life-saving support to survive. The tools she needed were anonymously donated to her family. Because of that generosity, Jitanna is here today, working toward this dream.

“I wasn’t supposed to live. Then I wasn’t supposed to live after 11. I’m 36 now, a college graduate. Now I have the clarity of it all. If I give up now, what was it all for?

If I could tell everyone, keep going. You’ve been through something for a reason. You have to keep going. Believe in yourself.”

As she steps into homeownership, Jitanna is not just building a house, she is building the future she has always fought for.