{"id":21058,"date":"2020-03-02T16:34:37","date_gmt":"2020-03-03T00:34:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/habitatportlandmetro.org\/?p=21058"},"modified":"2020-03-02T16:34:37","modified_gmt":"2020-03-03T00:34:37","slug":"empowerment-in-homeownership-mollys-story","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/habitatportlandregion.org\/empowerment-in-homeownership-mollys-story\/","title":{"rendered":"Empowerment in Homeownership: Molly’s Story"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/em>
\nBy Monicia Warner, Volunteer Storyteller<\/em>
\nBy the time Molly O\u2019Donnell got involved with Habitat for Humanity, she had already been working with Habitat as a volunteer alongside friends and family. Molly and her four sons had relocated to Portland from the east coast and were residing with her parents in their home in NE Portland.
\n\u201cI was a single mom, I raised four kids and left a domestic violence situation,\u201d Molly said. \u201cI lived with my mom and dad, I lived with my sister for a while, with the kids. You can only do that for so long.\u201d
\nMolly was working towards financial independence post-divorce and assisting families with low-incomes in her role as Director of Save First at Catholic Charities. Despite her busy schedule, she often made time to volunteer with Habitat. One day on the build site, a friend recommended she apply to Habitat\u2019s affordable homeownership program. Despite thinking that she wouldn\u2019t qualify, Molly submitted an application and spent some time working on her finances. She began paying down her debt, setting budgets, and saving. By the time she got the call from Habitat, she was ready to start a new chapter.
\n\u201cIt was a dream come true for us,\u201d she said. \u201cIt was overwhelmingly exciting. I could still cry about it.\u201d
\n\"\"Molly had plenty of help accruing the hours she needed to make homeownership a reality for herself and her sons. All four of her kids pitched in with \u201csweat equity\u201d hours, regularly volunteering at the Habitat office and building their own home alongside one another, picking up skills that would later help them perform maintenance on the property.
\n\u201cAll of them felt a very vested interest in the house,\u201d Molly said. \u201cFor me it was character-building, for them, it helped them provide a home for their family. It was very cool.\u201d
\nMolly credits Habitat for helping change her family\u2019s trajectory. Since moving into her new home, she\u2019s hosted several family gatherings including college graduation parties for her sons. With an affordable mortgage, she was able to save even more and invest in her home; making improvements that have turned heads in the neighborhood.
\n\u201cWe landscaped the yard and put in a patio and added a roof over the patio,\u201d she said. \u201cI had a neighbor say to me \u2018I landscape my yard because yours looks so nice.\u2019\u201d
\nAlthough Molly has experienced a few challenges as a first-time homeowner, she\u2019s grateful for the stability it provided for her family. She even recommends it to families in the course of her work.
\n\u201cIt\u2019s a program that empowers people \u2013 to me, it\u2019s one of the best programs around,\u201d she said. \u201cI\u2019m in social services, so I know what\u2019s out there and I highly recommend it.\u201d
\n<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Habitat homeowner Molly credits Habitat for helping change her family\u2019s trajectory. Since moving into her new home, she\u2019s been able to invest in their future. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":21065,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[10,5],"tags":[23,24,37,57,25,42],"class_list":["post-21058","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-homeowner-story","category-news","tag-affordable-housing","tag-habitat-for-humanity","tag-habitat-for-humanity-portland-metro-east","tag-habitat-homeowner","tag-homeownership","tag-portland-housing"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nEmpowerment in Homeownership: Molly's Story - Habitat Portland Region<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/habitatportlandregion.org\/empowerment-in-homeownership-mollys-story\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Empowerment in Homeownership: Molly's Story - Habitat Portland Region\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Habitat homeowner Molly credits Habitat for helping change her family\u2019s trajectory. Since moving into her new home, she\u2019s been able to invest in their future.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/habitatportlandregion.org\/empowerment-in-homeownership-mollys-story\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Habitat Portland Region\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/habitatportland\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-03-03T00:34:37+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Taryn Sauer\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@habitatportland\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@habitatportland\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Taryn Sauer\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/habitatportlandregion.org\/empowerment-in-homeownership-mollys-story\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/habitatportlandregion.org\/empowerment-in-homeownership-mollys-story\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Taryn Sauer\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/habitatportlandregion.org\/#\/schema\/person\/3ce34ce5cca02b9a31fea75a961c387a\"},\"headline\":\"Empowerment in Homeownership: Molly’s Story\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-03-03T00:34:37+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/habitatportlandregion.org\/empowerment-in-homeownership-mollys-story\/\"},\"wordCount\":475,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/habitatportlandregion.org\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/habitatportlandregion.org\/empowerment-in-homeownership-mollys-story\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"\",\"keywords\":[\"affordable housing\",\"habitat for humanity\",\"habitat for humanity portland\/metro east\",\"habitat homeowner\",\"homeownership\",\"portland housing\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Homeowner Story\",\"News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/habitatportlandregion.org\/empowerment-in-homeownership-mollys-story\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/habitatportlandregion.org\/empowerment-in-homeownership-mollys-story\/\",\"name\":\"Empowerment in Homeownership: Molly's Story - 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