Natessa happily celebrates in front of her new Habitat home, smiling big after her home dedication.
Before partnering with Habitat, Natessa and her two children lived with her mother, sharing bedrooms in a home that supported them but lacked the long-term stability Natessa hoped for her family.
“It was three bedrooms, but with all of us in there it felt crowded,” Natessa shared. “When we first moved in my little brother was also living there. So, at one point my kids and I were all in one room.”
Now, Natessa and her family have the space they need to grow and thrive. A place they can call their forever home. “I’m experiencing so much joy and gratitude,” Natessa said at her home dedication. “It’s overwhelming to go from being in a room with my son at the top bunk, to being here right now.”
Natessa’s home was sponsored by the Habitat for Humanity ReStores in Lee County. The ReStore is a nonprofit thrift store and donation center that directs 100% of its profits to Habitat’s mission of building homes, communities, and hope.
“It was such a great experience today,” Bonita Springs ReStore Manager Annette Sipala said. “We don’t always get to see what we do every day to help make this dream come true for somebody.”
The ReStore sold 18,811 items to fully fund one Habitat home, and this year, that home was Natessa’s.
Natessa celebrates her home dedication alongside ReStore and Habitat staff.
“All of the profits from the ReStore goes into helping fund the mission to get people into affordable housing,” Annete said. “It was very emotional to listen to Natessa’s journey today. She had a lot of obstacles to overcome while working on her sweat equity hours and working a full-time job.”
For Natessa, her home dedication with Habitat was a full-circle moment. When she was just 9 years old, she remembers going on repeated drives with her mom through a neighborhood where the homes looked similar yet were still under construction.
“I wasn’t sure why we were there,” Natessa recalled. “But we started visiting this place several days a week. Then one day, we pulled up to the same neighborhood, the same home that we’ve been visiting, only to learn that this was going to be our forever home.”
Natessa’s journey to affordable homeownership builds on a 30-year partnership between Habitat and her family. Her mother purchased their home through the Collier County Habitat affiliate decades ago, giving Natessa and her siblings a safe and stable place to grow up.
“We had neighbors; we had a mailbox,” Natessa said. “This is a job well done for me. As long as I have a place where my kids can be safe, where they can go outside and ride their bikes, that’s what it’s about. Habitat did that for my mother and did it for me.”
Natessa looks back at her journey through our Affordable Homeownership Program with gratitude. “It’s hard work but it puts a lot of things into perspective for you,” she shared. “It teaches you to have restraint and discipline. It’s sacrifice but if you really want it, it’s well worth it in the end.”
The ReStore is proud to be the sponsor of Natassa’s home. “Knowing we really work hard at the store, and she worked very hard to get where she needed to be to have a stable environment to raise her children; it makes what we do every day so worth it,” Annette said.
“I’m so grateful to the ReStore,” Natessa said. “You’re making dreams come true.”
