A home they can count on
Give Kelsey and Jayden a free weekend and there is a good chance they are heading somewhere on an adventure.
They are big into camping, road trips, swimming, and paddleboarding. Jayden has played competitive soccer since he was two and recently found a passion for basketball. At school last year, his classmates voted for him both Funniest and Most Athletic.
He also loves video games and, according to his mom, would play all day if she let him.
A new puppy named Gilbert has added even more activity to their home. He is a French bulldog and miniature pinscher mix who already takes up plenty of the family’s time.
When they are not camping or chasing Gilbert, Kelsey and Jayden usually spend time with family. Many of their relatives live nearby, and big family dinners happen often.
“Lots of food. We love lots of food,” Kelsey said. “That’s honestly one of our hobbies.”
Kelsey has built a full life for Jayden in Cochrane. He has lived in their current neighbourhood since he was born and attended the same school since kindergarten. His friends, sports, family, and routines are all here.
That consistency is something Kelsey has worked hard to protect. It is also why the unpredictability of renting has weighed so heavily on her.
A beautiful home without the certainty
For the past five years, Kelsey, Jayden, and Kelsey’s dad have shared a rental home. Kelsey is quick to say that it is a beautiful house. She has put time and care into making it feel like home.
But after the first three years, their landlord stopped signing annual leases. They’ve been living on a month-to-month agreement ever since.
“He can pretty much tell us that we have to leave at any point,” Kelsey said. “Every time I’ve asked him to sign another lease, he has just ignored me.”
Not knowing how long they will be able to stay sometimes keeps her awake at night. Moving would mean packing up everything they own and finding another rental that works for their family.
“Sometimes I lose sleep over it,” she said. “Finding another house that will work for us and our situation, and being in the right school district, has been hard for sure.”
Kelsey does not take their current home for granted. The problem is not the house itself; it’s knowing that their ability to stay will always depend on someone else.
“I’m not going to sit here and say that I don’t have a beautiful house. I’ve made it into a beautiful home, and I have,” she said. “But it’s not mine, and the stability isn’t there. That’s really important to me because I’ve always tried to be as stable as I possibly can for him.”
Homeownership was never on the list
Kelsey has looked into buying a home more than once over the years.
She went to the bank with her mom to find out what she might qualify for. Even with a co-signer, the amount she could borrow was not enough to find a suitable home. Borrowing more would leave her with mortgage payments she could not afford.
Eventually, she stopped thinking of homeownership as something that could happen for her.
“I didn’t think that I would own a house,” she said. “I guess I didn’t really think too far into the future about where I was going to live. Owning a home wasn’t even on the list for me.”
Then she saw an ad for Habitat for Humanity Southern Alberta’s affordable homeownership program on Facebook.
“What are the chances of me actually getting it?” she thought.
She applied and when an email came back, Kelsey began to wonder if she might actually have a chance. As she moved through the application process, she kept her family updated.
When she learned that she and Jayden had been approved to partner with Habitat, she started calling everyone.
“I was calling all my family members and letting them know because they knew about the whole process,” she said.
Her family has continued to follow every step. Her grandparents call to ask how many partnership hours she has completed and which days she will be volunteering. Jayden keeps track too.
“What are you volunteering today? From what time to what time? What are your hours at?” he asks.
Kelsey is proud to be partnering with Habitat, but she admits it may take some time before becoming a homeowner feels real.
“I’m a very ‘don’t count your chickens until they hatch’ kind of person,” she said. “Until I’m in the house, I think that’s going to be the ‘aha’ moment for me.”
Making room for the change
For Jayden, moving means leaving the only neighbourhood he has ever really known.
He understands what will change immediately: a different home, a different neighbourhood, and more distance from some of the people and places that are familiar to him. The long-term difference between renting and owning is harder to see at 13.
“I’m not going to say that he’s thrilled for us to move. He’s not,” Kelsey said. “It’s a really scary thing to transition into another neighbourhood and another home, especially since we’ve been in this area since he was born.”
His first visit to their future home helped.
“I think he liked it a lot more than he thought he would,” she said.
He has even started thinking about what he could do with the unfinished basement. His current plan is to turn it into a man cave, with a little help from the construction skills his mom has been learning while completing her partnership hours.
“Would you be able to put some of that drywall stuff on the walls?” he asked her.
Kelsey knows the move will be an adjustment, but she also knows it will give them something she has never been able to promise Jayden before: a home where their future is not determined by a landlord or the next lease renewal.
She hopes he will understand the significance of that as he gets older.
“I want him to understand the opportunity,” she said. “There are so many other people, even in my close circle, who would love to have the opportunity we have.”
Housing uncertainty does not always mean living in poor conditions. Sometimes it looks like a beautiful rental, a child settled into his school, and a mom still losing sleep because none of it is guaranteed.
