When Kate started looking for a home to purchase for herself and her 13-year-old son, her options were limited.
“I was in despair because all the houses in my budget were so awful,” she said. “And then I found this house and I knew that I would probably stay here the rest of my life, but it needed work.”
Kate’s home, built in the 1920s, sits on a corner lot shaded by 100-year-old trees. Inside, a brick fireplace, dark woodwork, and built-in cabinetry give the home character. Any century-old home, however, will need some TLC. For Kate’s home, the most important priority was replacing the home’s original windows.
“We taped up and and plasticed up, but it just wasn’t enough,” Kate said. “I just didn’t have the resources to do what I needed to do, and that’s why I’m really super grateful to Habitat for Humanity to just give me that little boost that I needed.”
In 2022, Kate partnered with Habitat for Humanity’s home preservation program to replace 10 windows. Kate said that replacing the windows also helped identify and address issues like wood rot that could have caused much larger problems if left unresolved.
“This fall, I can already tell it’s more comfortable, a lot more comfortable, and my electric bill will be less all around,” she said. “Having functional windows is just a must-have and sometimes you forget that you’re worth having things that work.”
Kate said she’s grateful to Habitat for providing this solution. Working as a CNC mill operator at a local manufacturer and caring for her son as a single mom, her income can’t stretch as far as she would like it to.
“I’m making enough money that I don’t have any other resources, but yet I don’t have the money for a major project like that,” Kate said. “Without that little bit of help, I just would have probably stayed settled and in the long run it would have cost me a lot more.”
