LaTangie was only 16 years old when her mother had to sell their family\u2019s house in northeast Portland. Her life, and her family, were never the same after that. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI don\u2019t remember where we all went,\u201d she recalled, thinking back to those days decades ago when she and her three brothers lost their home and moved apart. \u201cWe all were scattered.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Years passed, and LaTangie had three children of her own, went to college, and received degrees in special education and early education. For 21 years, she\u2019s worked as an education assistant at the Reynolds School District. It is a career she loves, working with children, but starting out in entry level positions didn\u2019t pay enough to cover housing costs for herself and her two youngest children. By 2011, she was just barely getting by, juggling credit cards to pay bills. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
She wanted her boys to have what she had in her early youth. A stable home, close to school, in a good community, with a park nearby where her sons, Jeremy and Kwaku, could play basketball. It was a dream compared to where they were living at the time: sharing a house with another family, living out of one bedroom, and keeping their personal belongings in their car. In such a crowded living environment, that car became LaTangie\u2019s refuge, a quiet place, and the only place she could call her own. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI used to sit in my car after work, and I would just sit there and cry, thinking I wish I had a house. I wish I had somewhere to go,\u201d she said. \u201cThat was my safe place. That car was mine. It didn\u2019t belong to anybody else. I didn\u2019t have to share it.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Habitat for Humanity provided the family a pathway to their own home in southeast Portland. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Partnering with Habitat meant contributing time to the building of the home, and LaTangie remembers some good times working on her home, despite some challenging days. She worked every Saturday, she said, and documented her shifts in a coupon book. She has held on to the book as a fond keepsake to remember that transformative time in her life. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI remember having 15, 20 people from my staff on one Saturday — they all came to help me. They were so happy to give back, and we had us a big old party!\u201d she said. \u201cAnd then I had one co-worker who worked with me every other Saturday.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
She still remembers the day she moved into her Habitat home with her family. It was April, and the home smelled brand new. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt was exciting! It was ours!\u201d she said. They had two bathrooms, two bedrooms, and a big kitchen. \u201cWe loved our front porch. It’s big. We felt stable, and we could take our stuff out of the car.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Her sons, ages 12 and 20 when they moved in, made friends with the other kids in the community. They were in the Reynolds School District, where her youngest son was already going to school, and she was close to her work. And there was even a park to play basketball nearby. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAnd the house still smells brand new,\u201d LaTangie said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Her sons have grown up and moved out, but several years ago her daughter, the oldest of the LaTangie\u2019s three children, moved in along with LaTangie\u2019s grandchildren. They had been struggling to pay rent, she said, and LaTangie\u2019s home provided the stability they needed. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI said, \u2018you guys will not suffer,\u2019\u201d she said. \u201cAnd they’re happy, they’re comfortable, they don’t struggle.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
LaTangie says she\u2019s thankful for her home. \u201cThat’s one thing I’ll never let go in my heart.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIf I didn’t have this house and I had to pay regular rent, it wouldn\u2019t happen,\u201d she said. \u201cThere would be no food, no nothing, because everything is so expensive out here in the real world. It’s a blessing to have this house because the mortgage is affordable.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
That mortgage is just 2 years away from being paid off, and LaTangie can\u2019t wait. When that day comes, she\u2019s not sure what she will do, but for the time being, the house is there for her children, and her children\u2019s children. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt\u2019s their house, no matter what,\u201d she said. \u201cAnd if something would happen to me, they can come home. They all still have their keys.\u201d <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
LaTangie was only 16 years old when her mother had to sell their family\u2019s house in northeast Portland. Her life, and her family, were never the same after that. \u201cI don\u2019t remember where we all went,\u201d she recalled, thinking back to those days decades ago when she and her three brothers lost their home and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":33648,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-33647","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-homeowner-story"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n