New to the Neighborhood
If you’ve ever worked in the Williams Building in downtown Tulsa, there’s a pretty good chance you’ve met Adriaune McIntosh. She’s worked in the building’s cafeteria and coffee shop since 1999, so her bright smile and cheery personality are familiar to the many regulars who know her by name.
After years of renting, she developed a strong desire to own a home a few years ago. “I wanted stability; a say so in my own life,” she says, “and I wanted something to leave to my kids.” This desire became all the more urgent when her landlord put the house that she was renting on the market. Adriaune looked into traditional mortgage programs, paid off all her debt and even found a few homes that would suit her family, but the financing never worked out. Then one day she saw a video about Tulsa Habitat’s recent 24-Hour Build Home, and she remembered a couple of friends who are Habitat clients. She says Habitat was initially a financial means to an end, but the program has turned out to be so much more. “I appreciate the journey,” she says. “I believe you work and you’re rewarded.”
Adriaune realized her dream in September of 2017 when she received the keys to her beautiful new home in the Kendall-Whittier neighborhood. “Owning my first home is like the greatest accomplishment I’ve done in my life. It was a long journey, I had some ups and downs along the way. Habitat was very supportive,” she said.
Adriaune, now almost a year into being a homeowner, sees her home as a source of empowerment. "Being a first-time homeowner," she says, "has definitely empowered me: raising four kids mostly on my own and still achieving homeownership at the age of 40; seeing family and friends so proud of me; putting my trust in God, never doubting the steps that he has ordered in my favor throughout this process. All of this has brought me to where I am now, in a new home that was built by the love of so many people. I truly know now that with determination I can do anything!"