Habitat accepting applications for homes

Until this past week, Shakeda Williams, her two sons, and the family dog shared a two-bedroom house. Now, however, Williams is preparing to move into her own tidy new home in Pompano Beach, a house she built herself — almost literally — with the help of Habitat for Humanity of Broward’s volunteers.

“My kids think I’m ‘Super Woman,’” she said. “They are so excited.”

For four years, Williams spent weekends building her home with other Habitat for Humanity volunteers. She helped with securing roof trusses, stapling insulation to joists, selecting slate-blue asphalt tile for the roof, and planting foliage and grass. The work is one of Habitat for Humanity’s qualification requirements.

The homeownership selection program reopened on Nov. 1 and the open enrollment period ends Nov. 17. Families interested in applying for an affordable home, with interest free mortgage, can start the process by completing a preapplication questionnaire online at HabitatBroward.org.

Williams said she remembers the pool of applicants seemed enormous: 3,000 people alone who had studied Habitat for Humanity’s screening process. Hers was one of 30 names chosen at random – and that was just the beginning.

Habitat for Humanity also requires she work with a financial coach to learn to save money on her $25,000 salary.

She cut back her cell phone service, clipped coupons, then doubled and tripled their value by using in-store coupons.

In 2016, when her company closed, she threw herself into volunteering at her son’s school and, every Saturday, got a babysitter and went to volunteer with Habitat for Humanity.

One day, she says, “I got a letter from my dream job and, three to five minutes later, got an offer of land from Habitat.” Today, she works with the Broward County School Board documenting demographic data and is preparing to move into her new home.

“I want to spread the word to as many people as possible. If you put your mind to it, you can do it,” she said. “I did.”