Elnaz can hardly hold back the tears when she thinks about the impact donors have had on her family’s life, and she hasn’t even moved into her Habitat home yet.
“Since we were approved in December, I can sleep at night,” she says. “I don’t wake up with stress.”
That sense of relief, that peace of mind, is the priceless gift your support has given to this mother of 11-year-old Gilda. Keep reading to discover how their lives are about to be transformed.
An unconventional journey
Elnaz’s journey has been anything but conventional. She has embraced a variety of careers, from teaching to midwifery and then into sales.
Now she’s an assistant manager at a local fair trade retailer. Her work sometimes requires long hours and overtime, but she loves knowing that what she does makes a direct difference in the world.
“If we sell a pair of socks, I know that money goes toward the schooling of children in Guatemala,” she says smiling. “That motivates me to do more. It’s not just a job to make a living, but a job to make me happy.”
Her husband, Ramin, has multiple degrees in engineering and a PhD in mechanical engineering. He volunteers to teach physics, chemistry and math to high school students in need. The couple’s daughter, Gilda, inherited her dad’s love of math and it’s her favourite subject at school right now.
“I don’t know how to describe it,” Gilda says. “But it’s just fun!”
Struggle under the surface
Beneath the surface, their story has been one of constant struggle – the strain of not having a safe, permanent home. For the last decade, they’ve lived in a cramped and mouldy one-bedroom basement suite that Elnaz describes as “shelter,” but it never truly felt like a home.
“It’s so cold – it’s twelve degrees inside,” she explains. The family sometimes ventures to a nearby recreation centre just to take a warm shower. The upstairs of the house they rent is occupied by short-term tenants. It makes them feel uneasy and unsafe with so many strangers coming and going.
The couple has tried to build stability in other ways, even attempting to buy a home through a traditional mortgage, but were never able to get approved.
“There is no future in the basement of someone else’s home,” Elnaz says simply.
It’s serendipitous then, that a different basement is where Elnaz received life-changing news.
A new dream
“I was in the basement of my work, merchandising, and it was Christmas time. Habitat called and said, ‘You are approved.’ I couldn't believe it! I had gotten so many ‘no’s’ and I thought this would be a no as well,” she explains. “I couldn't believe it with my soul. I was crying a lot.”
With a home of their own that they can truly afford, the family can start planning for the years to come. “All of our savings will be for Gilda. We are going to save for her university and for her future.”
Gilda has big goals. She dreams of becoming a space scientist, investigating the mysteries of comets, planets, and stars.
In the meantime, the family drives by their future home in Airdrie every week and imagines their new life together.
The family drives by the site of their home in Airdrie each week and dreams about their new future.
They are thrilled about the amount of activities in the neighbourhood that will give Gilda a childhood full of adventurous memories, from winter skating to summer canoeing.
“Thank you for contributing to this organization,” Elnaz says, her voice thick with gratitude. “I can’t describe it, but this is something that is changing our future.
