From years of renting to becoming Habitat homeowners, a journey that started with a single flyer.
After serving the United States for six years as a Marine, Josh’s attention has turned to serving his family, raising a two-year-old daughter with his partner, Bailey. Josh now works as a delivery driver, and Bailey works at Tulsa’s historic Circle Cinema. While balancing parenthood and work, the couple also wanted to improve their living situation, a third-floor apartment next to a busy highway. Homeownership was always a goal, but not one with a clear path.
“Having my own home really felt almost impossible with how things are economically,” said Josh.
Then one day, while Bailey was at work, she came across something that would change their outlook on the future.
“There were some fliers dropped off at Circle Cinema where I work, and I was reading through the fliers and tossed anything that's not current,” she said. “And I read the one from Habitat, and I was like, wait, I think I qualify for this!”
With a path forward now visible, Josh and Bailey signed up for a Homebuyer Information Session, applied, and were accepted to the Homebuyer Program. From there, they completed their homebuyer classes and sweat equity.
Welcome Home, Josh and Bailey!
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“It’s been super educational and also kind of like a wake up to really look at your money and see how you’re spending it and what the plans are for the future,” said Bailey.
She also noted how they completed some of the sweat equity hours by attending a class held by the Northside Neighbors Association.
“Because of the Northside Neighbors Association hosting that class, we were able to get plugged in with our neighborhood and now I get all the emails, and I sign up for everything.”
Now moved in, they’re able to reflect on how far they’ve come and their favorite things about their new home. For Josh, it’s not having to climb three flights of stairs to get to his front door. For Bailey, it’s the backyard, a chance to garden, and the neighbors she’s already befriended.
Their advice for future homeowners:
“Just to stick with it, we had some minor bumps and slowdowns and speed ups. Push past the adversity of any issues that come up.”
Congratulations, Josh and Bailey, on becoming Habitat homeowners. Special thanks go to Tulsa Teachers Federal Credit Union for providing an affordable mortgage.