"I'm Living in the Miracle I Prayed For"

You might meet Michelle running karaoke on Friday nights at the Wayzata American Legion. Or if you are lucky enough, you will get to taste her amazing cooking—like the flan her friends rave over. She has a job she loves; she is becoming healthier than she has ever been, and she makes you feel right at home when you visit. And if you ask what has made it possible for Michelle to build this beautiful life for herself, a key ingredient is her home. Her safe, stable, affordable Habitat home.

Born to a working-class family in Queens, New York, Michelle grew up in tight spaces.

"We had what they call 'railroad apartments' in New York, where everything is connected end-to-end. My parents had to walk through my bedroom just to get to the kitchen and bathroom."

Michelle always loved singing and found solace in music. She attended the High School for Performing Arts in Manhattan and has performed at Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center. She dreamed of becoming famous, but the next part of her life felt like it happened fast.

“I was eighteen when I met the man who would become my husband, nineteen when I got married, and twenty when I had my son. I had not even figured out who I was yet,” Michelle remembers. The couple moved to Minnesota right before finding out Michelle was pregnant. After ten years, they got divorced.

Over the coming years, she moved numerous times while pursuing music and trying to find meaningful work. She raised her son in Hastings, Minnesota, until she moved to Chicago. “Not all places were 'livable.'"

There was the studio apartment with a yellow jacket infestation and black mold. There was the small room she rented from a couple who were in a toxic relationship. Other times, the rent got too high, so she had to move again.

Michelle was living on her own in Chicago, trying to make it as a singer, when a family reunion back in Minnesota changed her life. While Michelle was in town, her cousin let Michelle live with her family while she got back on her feet.

“I already liked this area, and I realized I can’t keep doing this alone,” Michelle says. “I had no real support in Chicago. Sometimes when we have setbacks, it feels like the end. But sometimes that setback is a setup.”

As Michelle moved into her cousin’s home in North Minneapolis, she became determined to find more stability for herself.

After working with a contract agency, Michelle landed at the Educational Credit Management Corporation (ECMC), a nonprofit providing student loan counseling to students in repayment. As someone who experienced predatory lending and loves talking with people, the job was a perfect fit. She has been there for six years.

“I’m very blessed to have a job that I love,” Michelle says with a smile.

Next, she focused on housing. But it did not go as smoothly as her job search.

“I started looking at houses, and as we were approaching 2020, I had not found anything that would be affordable. During the quarantine, a drunk driver hit my car and totaled it.”

Not long after her car accident, Michelle’s cousin asked her to move out. Another instance of setbacks that Michelle would try to turn into setups.

“When things like that come my way and I fight it, I can become overwhelmed with stress. But, when I accept it and go ‘OK, let’s figure it out,’ a solution will come along so much quicker.”

Just in time, Michelle found someone who needed a long-term house sitter. She also connected with Twin Cities Habitat for Humanity and realized this could be her path to homeownership and to peace.

Michelle worked with a Habitat Homeownership Advisor, she took Home Stretch classes, and she even got two raises at work to increase her buying power. And eventually, she found a Habitat home that would be built just a block and a half from where she was living with her cousin.

Michelle visited her future home often. She saw walls going up and rooms taking shape. Before she knew it, Michelle was at the closing table and receiving her keys.

Michelle visited often while her Habitat home was being built and took photos. On the left is her garage being framed, and on the right is the interior of her home being finished.

“When I first moved in, it felt like I was house sitting!” Michelle laughs. “It felt very surreal.” For Michelle, it was not signing her closing papers, receiving her keys, or even unpacking her house that made it feel real. Instead, it was the small things that can turn a house into a home.

“Handing out Halloween candy on my decked-out porch for the first time, throwing a Friendsgiving, and decorating my house for Christmas. Something about celebrating those first few holidays just made it so much more real—being in a place where I can have people over.”

Another thing that made Michelle’s home feel more real was when she got sick. Michelle has dealt with health challenges throughout her life, from asthma to sustaining a concussion. It felt impossible for her to feel fully rested while living in someone’s cold, clammy basement or while living with someone who played loud video games late into the night.

Now, at her own home, Michelle can have the peace and quiet she needs to fully recover and take care of herself in a way she hadn’t been able to before. She is living out a quote she loves: “Don’t be a thermometer. Be a thermostat. Don’t let everyone around you set the temp. You set the temp.”

Having a stable, affordable Habitat home allows Michelle to set the temp—to set her own standard of living. And it makes all the difference.

“I’m living in the miracle I prayed for,” Michelle remembers, emotion creeping into her voice. “How many people get to say that?”

“My life is forever changed because of Habitat for Humanity, and I’m happy to tell my story because people need to know.”

To people who are considering Habitat homeownership but are on the fence, Michelle says this: “Get off the fence and start imagining the fence around your future home.”

And to all the Habitat volunteers and donors, Michelle says this: “Please keep giving and please keep volunteering your time. Your generosity is what moves us from stressful households into peaceful homes.”