As moving day approaches

What was the best day of your life?

That’s a tough question that Elaine Sekajipo used to answer easily. It was the day in 2007 when she became a U.S. citizen.

But now there’s another big day ahead for Elaine, her husband Jeremiah, their teenage daughters Lisa and Anthonette and nine-month old baby Jeremiah, Jr. In partnership with Paterson Habitat for Humanity, they are about to leave their tiny one-bedroom apartment and move into a decent, spacious new home of their own.

We introduced you to the Sekajipos in our fall mailing. They are the hard-working family from Liberia who came to America one by one, starting with Elaine in 2002 and ending with Jeremiah last year.  Little Jeremiah, Jr. arrived in the USA on his own. He was born here last year.

This expanded family is now looking towards a July move-in date for the three bedroom, 1-1/2 bath condo that they helped to build.

“My girls are so excited, every day they ask me, ‘Mommy, when will our house be finished?'” Elaine said. “We can't wait to move into a place where the girls will have their own rooms and we won’t be all boxed on top of each other.”

Like all Paterson Habitat homeowner families, the Sekajipos have invested 400 hours of volunteer labor or “sweat equity” into their new home. They worked side by side with our construction volunteers at the building site,  just a short walk from their current apartment.

Again like so many other Habitat families, they are moving up but not moving out of the inner city. Their new home and the Sekajipos themselves contribute to the continued revitalization of the neighborhood. By sinking roots as homeowners, they provide the neighborhood with still another family committed to the long-term future of the community.

Jeremiah was an electrical engineer in Liberia. He spent a year retraining as an electronic technician after arriving in the United States and just started a new job as a technician for Cablevision. Elaine continues to work six days a week as a home health care worker. Despite their employment records and solid credit history, the family did not have the income to qualify for a conventional, for-profit mortgage. Zero-interest mortgages from Paterson Habitat make it possible for families like the Sekajipos to become homeowners.

“I always wanted us to have a home we could call our own," Elaine said. “But as the economy got worse it looked like an impossible dream --- until we went and talked with Habitat.”

To learn more about our homeownership opportunities visit Criteria & Applying.

To make a contribution to help Paterson Habitat continue building homes for families like the Sekajipo's visit our Donate form.