Twenty-one-year-old Samar has a passion for learning. When she was 12, she moved into a Habitat home, a catalyst that allowed Samar to dream about her future, including her education.

“I definitely couldn’t have invested in my education without Habitat, it’s the one single thing that’s allowed me to reach a potential that in the past I thought was totally out of reach.”

Before partnering with Habitat, finding safe and affordable housing was a challenge for Samar, her mom and her three siblings. Unaffordable rent increases meant constant uncertainty and frequently moving between cramped apartments in unsafe neighbourhoods.

“It was hard to ever feel fully settled,” says Samar.

But everything changed when Samar’s family applied to be a homeowner with Habitat for Humanity Halton-Mississauga-Dufferin. “The moment we found out our mom’s application was successful, we were filled with an overwhelming sense of relief and joy,” Samar remembers. “I think I actually wrote a poem. It was really just me saying thank you 14 different times! A brighter chapter had been opened.”

In their previous neighbourhood, graduating from high school seemed like a lofty goal. Samar hadn’t even considered life beyond that milestone. But living in a safer community shifted her perspective dramatically, and expanded her dreams to be bigger than ever before.

Now, with a secure place to call home, Samar made deeper connections with neighbours and brought friends over for visits. She volunteered in her community, played sports like flag football, and developed lasting friendships – building her self-confidence while flourishing academically.

It also changed her family's outlook. “After we moved, the financial relief was immediate,” says Samar. “We no longer had to allocate such a large part of our income towards housing, which allowed us to really invest in education.” This included signing up for specialized programs and academic extra-curriculars. It also meant buying another laptop instead of sharing one computer between four kids – a challenge to getting schoolwork done.

Alongside being in need of housing and the ability to make affordable mortgage payments geared to income, one of the key criteria to becoming a Habitat homeowner is a “willingness to partner.” This includes families investing 500 partnership hours. For Samar’s mom and two older siblings this meant volunteering at their local Habitat ReStore and pitching in to help paint their own home.

For Samar, all of this has built a strong foundation for higher education. In June 2024, she graduated from Schulich School of Business – York University in Toronto, with her mind set on entering the field of public policy, particularly in housing, so that other kids like 12-year-old Samar can set their goals high and have the foundation to build them on.

So that the unimaginable can become attainable through a safe place to live.