Hope from a Home

For Habitat homeowner Stella, it has been a year of firsts. “When I first got the news that I was definitely going to have a new home, I was so happy I cried. Then, I laughed. I was overcome with emotion,” says Stella.

Before becoming a Habitat homeowner, Stella spent three years on the Dublin City Council Housing List. She was working hard to secure a deposit for a home of her own. But with the lack of affordable homes in Dublin, she was at a standstill. “If it wasn’t for the hand-up from Habitat for Humanity, I’d still be living with my parents, hoping that one day I’d be able to afford my own home,” says Stella.

Stella became a Habitat homeowner at a Home Dedication Ceremony last September. After the ceremony, she spent the first night in her new home. “I felt very safe and at ease, and great sense of independence and achievement from buying my new home,” says Stella.

While settling in, Stella focused on adding personal touches, making the place her own. “It’s like my little project. I love decorating and creating new things to make the house more homely, and to put my own style in it.”

Christmas in her new home was a peaceful one, spent with family and friends. “It was fun having people around, putting up my first Christmas tree, and then starting the New Year, planning what I’d like to do next in the house.”

Stella entered the New Year with a new-found sense of security and, more importantly, hope. “I feel really happy in my new home. I have lovely neighbours and feel like I’ve been here forever.”

She can look back at the first year and look forward to more firsts, seconds and countless other moments in the house, her first home.