On the first day of May, homebuyer Stephanie took a moment to reflect as she stood alongside three of her four future neighbors on the site of their future Habitat homes.
Then Stephanie and her future neighbors pushed their ceremonial shovels into the dirt and officially kicked off construction on the Linden Street Build in Columbia.
“It’s becoming real,” says Stephanie. “I’m in the program, I’ve selected my house, but to actually see (construction) start, it’s an overwhelming feeling of joy.”
The site of the Linden Street Build – a new five-unit Habitat construction project – is only about a 20-minute drive from the Lancaster City apartment where Stephanie and three of her four children currently live, but her journey to get to this point took much longer.
Just two-and-a-half years ago, Stephanie was homeless.
At that point, she’d recently gotten out of a toxic relationship, which was followed by prolonged mental and physical struggles. She experienced paralyzing anxiety at the thought of returning to her nursing job where she’d worked for the previous 13 years, moving her way up from personal caretaker to nursing assistant. (She eventually took on a part time job as a security guard and landed a position at Valvoline Instant Oil Change.)
She and three of her daughters, who were 9, 10 and 14 at the time, spent two restless nights living in their 2007 Dodge Caliber in Lancaster’s Reservoir Park parking lot.
“It was stressful,” says Stephanie. “I couldn’t sleep. I would fall asleep and wake back up and check on my girls.”
After the initial two nights of living out of their car, Stephanie and her daughters slept on friends’ couches and, eventually, they were able to stay with her niece for two months.
“It was definitely rough going house to house, couch to couch, not knowing where I’m going to sleep at night,” says Stephanie. “It’s stressful. It’s not a position I’d want anyone to ever experience. But, we’re all human, so my journey might not be yours.”
After two months, Stephanie decided to connect with Tenfold’s TLC shelter, which provides temporary housing and supportive services to individuals and families in a 52-room building on King Street in Lancaster.
“I was hesitant. You know, pride and stuff like that,” says Stephanie about her decision to move into the shelter. “I had never in my life been in a situation like this. And to put my kids through it? It’s a tough decision, but it was actually the best decision I made.”
While living at TLC, Stephanie spoke with a counselor about her goals.
“One of my goals to was to purchase a home. I had always wanted to be a homeowner, and years before, I was working off my credit score to be able to purchase a home,” says Stephanie.
Stephanie’s counselor at TLC recommended the Habitat for Humanity homeownership program. Her counselor also helped her get into an apartment, which Stephanie was able to secure after she and her future landlord bonded over being women in male-dominated fields.
Stephanie, who is now a store manager at Valvoline Instant Oil Change, says she learned how to fix cars from her father.
“I was like his little son — I was the fifth daughter and he always wanted a son, so he raised me fixing up cars,” says Stephanie. “I was passing him the wrenches and the sockets and doing work on cars and doing work in our house, remodeling the kitchen and bathroom.”
Stephanie was not only moving up the housing ladder, but the corporate ladder too.
“In the next five-ten years, I’ll be fine becoming a district manager and moving my way up the ladder,” says Stephanie. “I really love the company. Valvoline is a family.”
With a stable job in place, Stephanie focused on her dream of becoming a homeowner. She was accepted into Habitat’s homeownership program in August of 2023 and, in April of 2024, she completed the required 100 hours of sweat equity she needed to match with her future home in Columbia.
Stephanie says to be able to go from living out of her car with her daughters to being able to partner with Habitat to help build a stable and safe home for her and her daughters makes her feel like she’s doing her job as a mother.
“The opportunity that Habitat has given me, is like, saying it’s a blessing doesn’t even explain how I feel,” says Stephanie. “There are no words to explain how I feel given this opportunity. It’s a lot of emotions. So much joy.”
To read more about the Linden Street Build that will become Stephanie’s future home, you can read LNP’s article here. [Note: access requires an LNP account.]
