What Owning A Home Would Mean To My Family

By Jamie Campbell

Born into a family with parents who have little education, struggling to take care of four children and trying to give us the best life they could afford was very depressing. I lived in the projects where everything that was scary, existed. I saw people murdered, overdosed on drugs, and I saw the drug dealers in action.

My mother dropped out of school in the eleventh grade, earned minimum wage, and was dependent on government assistance. Additionally, my father dropped out of school in the twelfth grade and that led him to do some illegal things to take care of his family which eventually got him behind bars, leaving us to struggle even more.

When I was old enough to know and understand what was going on in my home, I made a promise to myself, that no matter what I did, I would stay in school to make enough money to take care of my family. Since I understand a lot of things, my mom depends on me to handle her business. It makes me sad a little bit but I'm not ashamed and firmly believe that we will overcome those obstacles, coming out on top in the end.

Owning a home in my family seems almost impossible. When we talk of homeownership, the first thing that comes to mind is, "WE CAN'T AFFORD IT". With my mother being the head of the household, and having to do everything on her own, she sometimes has dreamed about owning a home but hasn't started to work towards it.

Owning a home is a huge accomplishment that takes hard work and makes you feel worthwhile. Being a homeowner signifies something that belongs to you and gives you a sense of pride and importance. Most of all, you know that you have something to leave behind in remembrance of you. It also demonstrates self-independence and freedom to embellish your home the way it suits you. You are able to be creative and experiment whenever you want and however you would like.

Owning a home means showing my family something different than what they are used to. Being able to reveal to them that owning a home is possible and that they are capable of being homeowners is very important. Owning a home means giving my children a stable neighborhood environment. There is also a feeling of security, value, and respect. After thinking that buying a house is impossible and then actually purchasing a home, my family would feel as if we were sitting on top of the world. We would know that we could accomplish anything after purchasing a home.

Furthermore, owning a home means investing our money into something that is actually ours and can in fact make a difference for the better.