Mirella is a single mom with two sons and a daughter.
Family is everything to Mirella.She says, “I’ve been wanting to buy a house for a while now. But I couldn’t afford the conventional mortgage or home loan. So that’s why I decided to apply to Habitat Tucson’s homebuyer program.”Mirella and her children live far out in the desert down an unpaved road. They often have problems with bugs and javelina invading their space. The road causes problems with Mirella’s car. Mirella works at El Rio, so the commute is difficult.
Beyond the location, their house is simply too crowded for their family. The boys are getting too big for the small room that they share. Her daughter, Azul, doesn’t have much privacy, and she will be a teenager soon.
Mirella says, “For me, being a single mom is one of the most difficult things. I’ve been able to manage it on my own with them. I have help from my mom too, so I’m really grateful for that.” Mirella is proud of herself and her family for their resilience. Anyone who meets her family can see how much they love and trust each other.
After Mirella applied to be a Habitat homebuyer, she says, “I was just very anxious to find out if they had selected me or not. But thank God they did.”When Mirella found out that she had been accepted, she says, “My heart was pounding when I saw the e-mail. I was afraid to open it. But I opened it and I was so happy. The first thing I did was I took a screenshot and emailed it to my mom. And I said, ‘I got in!’ So then I couldn’t wait to tell my kids that we had been selected and of course they had a million questions.”
Mirella looks forward to having a real community in her new home.
She says, “We don’t have that where we live. And I’ve met other people that are doing sweat equity too. It’s nice to know that they’re gonna be my neighbors. And I’m gonna be part of a neighborhood. I think that’s gonna be nice. Beause we haven’t had that experience.”
Moving closer to the city and to community will make their commutes to work and school much easier. Mirella won’t need to constantly pay for car damages anymore. And her daughter will be able to have a room of her own!
What does home mean to her boys?
Jared says, “We can just know we’re safe, and we can always go back to it. And it will be ours.”
Adahir says, “Family means love, it means mom’s food. After work and everything, you have a relaxing place to go back to with all your family.” “Make homeownership possible for moms like Mirella