Tuakau family’s journey to security

James and Claudine recently finished their journey to home ownership with Habitat for Humanity Northern. They moved into their Habitat for Humanity Tuakau home in June 2009, with their two small children.

Claudine said, “Before we moved in here we had been going between our families then moved into multiple private rentals after having our children. We could see we were paying for someone else’s house, it didn’t quite make sense – we thought, why not pay for our own.”

James describes the feeling of finishing their partnership with Habitat. “It’s a relief, now the house is truly ours. If it wasn’t for this opportunity, we never would have been able to afford it. It was amazing to be involved in the building process, it really became ours. One of our most cherished parts is the kids’ handprints set in the concrete outside, they seem so small now.”

Claudine said, “We really appreciated the open communication with everyone at Habitat, they worked with us on budgeting and taught us how to look after our own home through the workshops. At first it felt strange to have other people involved in our finances, but we learned to be open with everything.”

“We met some lovely people along the way, the people at Habitat were amazing and really made it easy for us. Now with this home of our own, we have options for our children. It is a legacy.” said Claudine.