Many moves in the same building
Ali, Ilknur, and their two children, Sami (13), and Simanur (9), have been living in the same complex for the past eight years, but have moved three times to different units in the same building in that time. They had to vacate their first apartment after a car crashed through the wall of their first-floor unit, destroying many of their possessions and forcing them to move a couple floors up. They lived on the third floor for five years before the owner sold the unit. Causing them to move to their current home, a unit on the first floor, creating anxiety for their children. “They were very scared. They asked me will we have to move again? We lost so many of our items and had to start over.”
Sami and Simanur can’t wait to have their own bedrooms and bathrooms and have their own space to play. Their current accommodations are a two-bedroom, one-bathroom suite, which causes long waits in the mornings when everybody has to get ready.
Learning useful skills
The family is learning construction skills while they volunteer on the build site and are looking forward to putting those skills to use when they take possession next year. “I already know when we move into our house what I’m going to build inside and out, including a garden.”
They are also using their time at the ReStore to visualize how they want to furnish and decorate the first house they can truly call “home”.
Home will bring the family together
The affordability of their Habitat mortgage will provide stability for the family to let their children explore their hobbies and play with their friends more. Simanur will be able to attend gymnastics regularly with her friends and Sami will tend to his vegetable garden, a hobby that began in the kitchen of the family’s current home.
Ali and Ilknur say that this home is more for their children than for themselves.
“They will have their own life, but when they come home we will share our stories: what happened at school? What is happening in your life? When our family is together there is warmth for all of us.”
