Moving frequently and packing up your life time and time again is exhausting. It is difficult to leave behind your neighbors and community, favorite teachers and classmates, saying goodbye and starting over again. Ramadhan and Jazira know these problems quite well.
“Moving in different areas has been very stressful for me and my husband,” Jazira says. “We have moved into different apartments, I don’t know, maybe 7 or 8 times in the past couple of years.”
Ramadhan and Jazira, along with their four children, have been living in overcrowded and unsafe conditions. Skyrocketing rents have forced them to move more times than they can keep track of.
The main challenge Ramadhan and Jazira face is instability—their house is too small, rent is too high, and they’re having to move all the time.
Frequent moves isn’t not easy on their kids either. “They’re forced to move schools, meet new friends and teachers, and restart their lives every time we relocate,” Ramadhan explains. “We applied to Habitat to see if it was possible to one day have a permanent place to stay.”
With Habitat for Humanity, Ramadhan and Jazira look forward to having a permanent home, where their kids will have a stable school and feel part of a community, they can call their own. They are also eager to get off of section 8 assistance and gain independence by owning a home of their own. They know a stable home will make it possible to pursue higher education and move out when they are independent and ready.
“We want our kids to have the opportunity to go to college if they want to. We do not want to force them into the working world and to live a hard life because they do not have a permanent home,” says Ramadhan.
They’re so eager to move into their Habitat home that Ramadhan and Jazira have almost completed all of their sweat equity. Putting their hands on their future house and the homes of their neighbors has allowed them to learn many things a homeowner should know.
Waking up in the morning, teaming up with local community members, and helping build their neighbors’ homes alongside dedicated volunteers has been a life-changing experience for Ramadhan and Jazira.
To Ramadhan and Jazira, a permanent place to call home promises a safe, confident life. By partnering with Habitat Tucson, they will obtain stability and freedom, with hopes of giving their kids stable lives. “We want our children to be with the same friends, with the same teachers, and feel the same as every other child in a big community.”