James remembers fondly his youth in Florida, his neighborhood and friendships \u2014 a childhood he would like for his future children. He grew up in a Habitat home, and someday his kids may grow up in a Habitat home, too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The home is nearly complete, one of 31 underway at Habitat\u2019s Cherry Blossom community in Southeast Portland. At only 28, James has been preparing for his role as a homeowner for years, with plans to create a stable, affordable place for a future family.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI knew that eventually I’d buy a house and settle down and have a family and adopt kids. That’s always been my prerogative. But the main tenet of that is owning a home, right?
I think that kids need stability and some grass and other kids in the neighborhood to play with, like my childhood had.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As a child, James’ mom, a schoolteacher and a single mother of two, bought a Habitat home and James grew up in a stable community full of friends \u2014 the \u201ccul-de-sac kids,\u201d he called them. That all changed 10 years ago when he moved to Portland and entered the competitive rental market. He estimates he\u2019s changed apartments eight times in just the past eight years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Stability started when he jumped at the opportunity to enroll in Habitat\u2019s homeownership program. He had been looking for a home for years: His credit was good, and he was employed with multiple jobs, but his resources couldn\u2019t cover the down payment he needed to get into the housing market. He figured he could continue renting and move from place to place when rent got too high. But, he said. \u201cI wanted to create a home.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He had applied to Habitat before but just missed getting on the wait list. When Habitat\u2019s enrollment opened again at the end of 2021, \u201cI quite literally dropped everything and filled out that application,\u201d James said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
James\u2019 sense of urgency stems from what he\u2019s witnessed in Portland\u2019s housing market. Since coming to Portland at 19 on an internship, he has watched the city\u2019s population, and its housing prices, swell with arrivals escaping even higher prices along the West Coast, and the effects of climate change. If he was going to become a homeowner, he decided, it needed to happen before prices soared permanently beyond his reach.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cMy grandfather has a saying: \u2018God isn’t making any more land.\u2019 And regardless of your religious beliefs, I think that sentiment still holds true,\u201d James says with a smile.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Currently, James works about 60 hours a week at two jobs \u2014 the public library during the day and running concert equipment in the evening. When he\u2019s not working, he puts in his sweat equity hours on the build site at Cherry Blossom in Southeast Portland, helping construct his future home alongside other new homebuyers. On break at the build site, he reflected on what he was looking forward to when he moves in this spring \u2014 an in-unit washer and dryer, a dishwasher that works, friendly neighbors, a quiet night\u2019s sleep.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThings that folks take for granted,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019m incredibly excited to just be able to not worry about (those things). And that\u2019s going to free me up to live life.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He also looks forward to not having to move year after year \u2013 because of poor management, or rising rents or because the property is being sold.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Habitat\u2019s homeownership program secures affordable mortgages for homebuyers, along with resources to help them maintain their homes well into the future. The future is where James\u2019 sights are set. It has been a year since James started his Habitat journey, and from under his hard hat, he smiles when he thinks ahead to getting the keys to his new home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI\u2019ll be happy to start moving in,\u201d James said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
James remembers fondly his youth in Florida, his neighborhood and friendships \u2014 a childhood he would like for his future children. He grew up in a Habitat home, and someday his kids may grow up in a Habitat home, too. The home is nearly complete, one of 31 underway at Habitat\u2019s Cherry Blossom community in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":29233,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-29232","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-homeowner-story"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n