Mia S.

Mia Stevenson was determined to become a first-time homeowner.

When the future 200th Habitat homeowner was accepted into the program, she knew she had about two years to complete all the requirements. But several months into the program, she found out she was going to have her second child.

“I knew I was going to have to get all my hours done fast before the new baby came,” she said.

Mia worked hard to complete the hundreds of hours of sweat equity and sustainable homeownership classes required for her to build her home in 2017. She was working construction well into her seventh month of pregnancy. And she even got some of her last sweat equity hours in at the Restore two days before she went into labor.

She said there is something special about owning her own home in the Habitat community that living in an apartment doesn’t provide for her family.

“You build relationships with all the families going through the program with you,” she said. “And watching my children play in our yard…the thought of that makes me really excited.”