ROANOKE, Va. – On Wednesday, 10 News will raise the walls on a home we're building in Roanoke, in partnership with Habitat for Humanity in the Roanoke Valley and generous community sponsors. Teyauna Hayes, a 25-year-old Roanoke native, is excited to move into the home this summer when construction is complete.
"Us just being able to say, 'This is our home, this is something I worked for and put my time into and made sure it was ours,' and I'm happy about that," Hayes said.
Hayes said a desire to provide more for her two children motivated her to reach out to Habitat about becoming a homeowner.
"I feel like that was the reason I reached out to Habitat, because I wanted somewhere safe and clean and nice for me and my children to live."
Hayes said she was overjoyed when she found out Habitat approved her for a new house.
"I just wanted to scream, just scream, scream, scream," Hayes said with a laugh and big smile on her face.
Habitat looks at three things before it approves families for its homes: need, ability to pay and willingness to partner.
"If you're going to come with Habitat, you have to help build houses, other people's houses and then your own house, " said Jean Darby, Habitat's family services director. "You have to come to classes."
Those classes include sessions on money management, predatory lending, insurance and writing a will.
"It's not just they're going to give you a free home, it's, 'I'm going to work for this,'" Hayes said. "These are the things I have to do to prepare myself for this."
The 10 News 'Home for Good' campaign is expected to wrap up in July, when Habitat turns the keys over to Hayes.
"Teyauna is going to be one of our rock stars in this," said the Rev. Paul Henrickson, Habitat president and affiliate chaplain. "She's going to blossom and flourish with her two children."