Family Feature: Johnna, Maddie, and Josiah

Flatirons Habitat for Humanity immediately seemed like a perfect fit to Johnna, a social worker in Broomfield, when a coworker left a flyer on her desk last summer. Her colleague knew that Johnna was struggling with rent prices and looking for a permanent place to settle down with her children.

Johnna and her family moved to Broomfield from Fort Lupton, CO about four years ago. Since then, the single mom has tried several times to buy a house, but the competitive housing market in the area worked against her. Each time Johnna put in an offer at asking price, she was outbid by tens of thousands of dollars.

Johnna was left living in a two-bedroom apartment with her three children - MaKayla, Maddie, and Josiah - facing rising rent with each lease renewal. So Johnna applied to partner with Habitat, hoping her family would finally have a permanent place to call home.

“I constantly worry about having to move my family from our apartment,” says Johnna. “It will be so amazing to no longer worry about whether or not we will be able to remain in our home.

Johnna, Maddie, and Josiah will be living in Flatirons Habitat’s King’s Ridge development. For the entire family, owning a home will mean more stability and more space.

MaKayla, 18, is now pursuing her culinary career in Dallas, TX. Though she loves living in Dallas, her mom and siblings miss her. They’re looking forward to having enough space for everyone to be comfortable when MaKayla comes home to visit.

Madison, an 8th-grade student, is most excited to finally have her own room. For the last four years she’s been sharing a room, first with her brother and now with her mom. A room of her own will make space for her to pursue hobbies like acting, photography, and writing. She’ll also have a quiet place to study for math, her favorite subject in school.

Josiah, a 7th-grader, is excited to live in Boulder where he can hike and bike as much as he wants. The family’s King’s Ridge home will also be a great place for Josiah to rollerblade in the neighborhood, play bassoon, and hang out with friends and family.

Both kids are looking forward to having a place that really, truly belongs to their family.

Johnna is inclined to agree. She’s also looking forward to her sweat equity hours, when she’ll get hands-on in building her own home and have the opportunity to interact with all of the amazing Flatirons Habitat volunteers.

“The biggest impact that homeownership will have on my kids is stability and consistency,” said Johnna. “They’ll know where home is - and we won’t have to worry about that changing.”