Jozlynn & Jamethin

Established October 31, 2025

As a child, I moved around a lot. My mom was a single parent raising my sister and me, and by the age of 12, I had moved 24 times. Everything changed when we moved into our Habitat for Humanity home. For the first time, we had stability, a safe and decent place to live, and a home we could truly afford.

When I became an adult, history seemed to repeat itself. After moving out on my own, I relocated three times before having my first son, Braxton. When we found out we were expecting, we moved into a larger house, hoping it would better suit our growing family. Unfortunately, it turned out to be much worse than we anticipated. The house had mold, mice, a room without heat, another without a window, poor insulation, and pipes that frequently froze. It became clear that we needed to do better for Braxton, but we also knew that securing a traditional bank loan was out of reach.

I decided to apply for a Habitat for Humanity home, and shortly afterward, we discovered we were expecting our second son, Oliver. Once we were approved, we quickly began working on our required sweat equity hours. Balancing these hours while pregnant, working full-time jobs, and caring for a young child was challenging, but we persevered and contributed as much as my body allowed. Shortly after Oliver was born, we proudly reached the 125-hour milestone.

We began planning our house as soon as possible, celebrated our groundbreaking, and finally started construction on our new home. While construction hours were sometimes difficult to secure, they were never impossible. We spent most weekends at the build site, visited after work when we could, and even took time off from work occasionally to reach our 300-hour goal.

Watching the building process was truly amazing. Every day brought something new to see—the slab being poured, walls going up, the roof taking shape, flooring being installed, and cabinets set into place. It felt like both the fastest and the slowest time of my life.

During our home dedication ceremony, I remember my boys running around the house, full of excitement and joy, not yet realizing that in just a few weeks, it would be ours. Then came moving day—one of the best days of my life. It happened to be Halloween, so we postponed trick-or-treating and focused on moving in after work. While we were at work, my grandpa and stepdad helped move many of our belongings, making the transition much easier.

The transformation in my boys’ attitudes, smiles, and overall happiness was incredible. They didn’t want to leave the house anymore—in fact, they would cry when we had to go somewhere. The feeling of being in our own home, having financial stability, providing safety and security for our children, and finally being able to breathe is truly indescribable.