Her eviction was the best thing that happened to Jennifer, a single parent of two, and it started 2022 with an increase in her rent. She was to begin paying an additional $75.00 per month. After receiving notice of her rent increase, she came home one day to find a note on her door stating she had 30 days to vacate the apartment (basically an eviction notice). Her landlord had sold the property, providing no prior notice to Jennifer.
At the time, Jennifer was working part-time at the DoubleTree in Reading. She shared her situation with Craig Poole, who had Jennifer move into the hotel with her children. She took on a full-time night shift job to supplement her part-time income. Her focus was to find another place to live. Jennifer did make an offer on a house; however, the homeowner sold the house to someone else. Craig Poole shared her story with Tim Daley, Executive Director of Habitat for Humanity of Berks County. Jennifer met with Eneida Powell, Director of Family Services at Habitat, to see whether Jennifer would qualify for the Habitat program. Unfortunately, at that time, her income did not meet the guidelines for the First Time Homeowner program. Hearing about this, Craig Poole changed Jennifer’s employment status from part-time to full time and, by doing that, she was now eligible for the Habitat program.
During Jennifer’s journey, a Habitat homeowner was in the process of wanting to sell his house. Having gone through the Habitat program, and having lived in his home for three years, he was able to have discretionary income and equity in his Habitat home. His family had grown since first moving in, and he was able to find a larger home for his family. The family made a settlement in their new home, and Jennifer moved into this Habitat home in May. Jennifer is completing her requirements of the Habitat program, is going through the mortgage process, has taken the 8-hour Neighborhood Housing Services class, and will be obtained her second mortgage through Neighborhood Housing Services. Steve Gieringer, CEO of Neighborhood Housing Services, knowing of Jennifer’s story, and working with Habitat for Humanity, has told Jennifer that NHS will be providing $2500 to be applied toward her closing costs. Congratulations to Jennifer, this is an example of a story of truly turning lemons into lemonade.
Daniel Sansary, Executive Director
Neighborhood Housing Services of Greater Berks, Inc
213 N. 5th Street
Reading, Pa 19601
610-372-8433×122
Email: Dsansary.nhsgb.org
Thank you to all of the volunteers, donors and sponsors who made this home possible.
