Home Sweet Home

Living in a real house is something that most people take for granted. If someone has lived in their house for their whole life it can be hard for them to see the benefits of living there rather than in an apartment. Living in a house can provide a safer environment for a family, a way of financing that has more stability, improved mental and physical health and just simply an overall healthier environment.
One of the many parts of a person’s life that can improve when someone owns their own home is their financial situation. Paying a monthly rent can be difficult especially if the rent is too high for the living space. People also can’t control things like how much heat is used; therefore they can’t control how much they pay for it. “Since the heating was shared between the two apartments we couldn’t control how much heat we got. My utilities bills were way too high for our tiny apartment. But I didn’t have any control over that.” Explained Melissa, a mother of two who used to live in an apartment but was able to get a new home through Habitat for Humanity. Not having control over how much money you make can be hard, and even dangerous. If there was an emergency, not having a financial saftey net could get dangerous. Another benefit of owning a house is that even though there is a mortage payment every month,owners actually get to profit from it. “When you pay rent, you’re giving money to the landlord and you’ll never see that money again. When you have a house, you pay back the mortgage every month, but then you eventually own the house completely.” Owning a house can give a sense of fulfillment and familis can feel like the money you are paying is not a waste.
When someone lives in an apartment with children and is not making enough money to create a financial safety net, the stress of it all can weigh down on someone, especially a single parent. Living in your own home in a relatively safe neighborhood means that the kids in the family can go outside and play without being concerned for their safety, this can lift a lot of stress on a parent. Also having a financial safety net means that if there is an emergency, or a parent looses a job then they do not have to worry about how they would pay for things like emergency room fees. When someone owns their own home they get to control things like how much heat is used, allowing them to create that financial safety net. A house generally means more space as well so children have a place to study and parents have a place to work, allowing that stress to be lifted. Without that stress parents are able to focus more on their jobs, working for promotions. A life with less stress is something that can be extremely beneficial in the long run.
General safety of the family can also be improved if someone owns their own home. Melissa’s family for example lived in an apartment complex that was not very safe. “A lot of fights would break out between people living there. Sometimes the fights would be close to our apartment.” This kind of environment is not very safe, especially for children. Living in an established and safe neighborhood can contribute a great deal towards the overall safety of the family. Living in a house in a good neighborhood means having neighbors that are trustworthy and can look after your home when you leave or can help out if there is an emergency. Kids feel more at ease to play outside, allowing them to make friends that will be good influences on them. It can also save money, if something like what happened to Melissa happens, “Mom’s car got stolen while we lived there (the apartment complex) too.” explained Melissa’s son Trey. “Not just stolen, it also got broken into twice.” added Melissa. Things like fixing or replacing cars can be extremely expensive and stressful. Living in a safe neighborhood can help in many other areas of life as well.
A family owning their own home can be extremely beneficial to the family’s lifestyle. It can provide a safe place for a family like Melissa’s to thrive and grow in a healthy manner. It can lessen stresses like financial burdens and allow the family to be happier. “I don’t think we will ever move away from here (the Habitat house). It’s hard to think of a place as a home if you are always worried that you won’t be able to afford the rent. This place feels much more like home.” Owning a house could mean creating a home, a safer, happier home.