Ashley grew up in the same family home her entire life\u2014until it was sold. With a limited rental history, finding a new place to live was nearly impossible. \u201cYou have to apply and go through steps, but I kept getting denied,\u201d she said. She eventually moved into the only place she could, but it never felt like her own space. \u201cIt\u2019s not home, it\u2019s just somewhere you lie down every night.\u201d She didn\u2019t feel comfortable inviting people over and struggled to start over after leaving her family home full of memories. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
She heard about Iowa Heartland Habitat for Humanity through friends who had been through the homeownership program. However, she was nervous. \u201cI didn\u2019t think I\u2019d be approved,\u201d she admitted. Ashley patiently waited on the list for years before her name was at the top and she was finally approved. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhen it was my turn, I was in tears,\u201d she said. \u201cI was at ease knowing I could have a home for myself and my kids.\u201d Her children were proud of her for being patient with the process. They knew their mother\u2019s hard work was about to pay off.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ashley jumped into her sweat equity hours\u2014working at the ReStore and on the construction site. Ashley would tell herself, \u201cI got this. I can do it. No matter how tired I am, I need to keep pushing myself.\u201d She learned how to paint, use tools, and even overcame her fear of ladders with the help of encouraging construction site supervisors and volunteers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ashley was most excited for her kids to finally have rooms of their own and space to host friends. Her daughter called her bedroom her \u201chappy space\u201d. Ashley was so proud to be able to provide this amount of joy for her family. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
For Ashley, the dining room was the heart of their new home\u2014a place to share breakfast, dinner, and family moments. \u201cI am now at ease knowing I can come home and be in my own space.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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Ashley grew up in the same family home her entire life\u2014until it was sold. With a limited rental history, finding a new place to live was nearly impossible. \u201cYou have to apply and go through steps, but I kept getting denied,\u201d she said. She eventually moved into the only place she could, but it never […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":1725,"template":"","page-location":[196],"story-type":[209],"class_list":["post-1724","featured-story","type-featured-story","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","page-location-stories-of-impact","story-type-homeownership"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.webuildhabitat.org\/bs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/featured-story\/1724","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.webuildhabitat.org\/bs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/featured-story"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.webuildhabitat.org\/bs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/featured-story"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.webuildhabitat.org\/bs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1725"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.webuildhabitat.org\/bs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1724"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"page-location","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.webuildhabitat.org\/bs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/page-location?post=1724"},{"taxonomy":"story-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.webuildhabitat.org\/bs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/story-type?post=1724"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}