“I thought it was normal for schools to have bars on the windows, graffiti on the slides and swings that never worked. I thought it was normal to not go trick-or-treating on Halloween because the neighborhood was dangerous at night. And I thought I would live with asthma forever. When I moved into our Habitat home, my whole world transformed. Habitat gave me a place to grow, thrive, and succeed. It wasn’t just a house, it was a home, and most importantly, it was my home.”–Amirah
Amirah’s mother, a municipal employee, couldn’t afford to live where she worked. She commuted over two hours every day. Second-hand smoke would seep through walls in their small apartment aggravating Amirah’s asthma. After building their Somerset County home with the community, Amirah is thriving. Her asthma has cleared. She enrolled in gifted and talented classes at school and participated in enriching extracurricular activities.
She is now a junior in college studying to become a special education teacher.