INDIANAPOLIS — Mother-of-two Latrina Jones’ wish for a home of her own is finally coming true.
“Homeownership. Oh my god. I’m tired of renting. I’m tired of dealing with landlords. I’m tired," Jones said. "To give my children stability and homeownership is like one of the greatest feelings ever.”
This summer, she’ll move into the three-bedroom ranch of her dreams on Indy’s far east side.
“The most beautiful thing about it is it has two full bathrooms. I’m tired of sharing a bathroom with my daughters," she said.
The Jones Family is one of two benefitting from the Greater Indy Habitat for Humanity Women Build program this year.
Throughout this multi-month initiative, more than 500 women will build two homes.
Their fundraising goal for 2023 is $350,000, the largest amount to date.
“Women Build is all about women empowering women. This will be our 13th and 14th home in the community. We’ve had thousands of women come together to address the need for affordable home ownership in our community," VP of Development & Communications Abri Hochstetler said.
When Women Build started in 2014, Habitat’s cost of building a new home was around $70,000.
Today, Abri Hochstetler says that cost is closer to $180,000.
“As many of us experienced through the pandemic, a stable safe affordable home is just really imperative to do many things in our life. When we think about our health, our education, and all of those other outcomes that we’re seeking, a stable home is often at the foundation of that. And it’s getting harder and harder to provide," Hochstetler said.
Indy’s homeownership rate is 54 percent — lower than both the state at 69 percent and national at 64 percent.
Co-chair Ceceily Brickley says this may have to do with rising construction costs, housing prices, and interest rates over the past few years.
“I think there’s a lot of challenges. Affordability is a challenge. Interest rates are a challenge. And honestly, personal education. I find it’s a confidence thing. I was the first person in my family to buy a home. If you don’t have a model for that, it’s really important that spaces like this exist," Brickley said.
With the stress of finding a home out of the way, Jones plans to finish her bachelor’s degree to become a juvenile corrections counselor.
“Being able to have an affordable mortgage will allow me to be able to save for my youngest daughter’s college and be able to put myself back through school to get the education I wanna further," Jones said.
Building for the Jones family will begin on April 15 and will continue through the summer.
