The Bryce Family

The Bryce family lived in a two-bedroom duplex. Mom and 3-year-old Christopher shared a room, and so did Sean Casey, 13, and Kaleb, 10. Then, the rent was raised, the home became unaffordable and they moved in with Christina’s mom.

But just before Christmas, they got to move into their Habitat home.

“It’s a dream come true, honestly,” Christina said. “When I say we started with the world against us, we really did.”

Christina is now 33 and has worked in housekeeping at TTI for five years. But as a toddler, she was taken from her home. She lived in four or five foster homes, and from ninth to 11th grade she lived in a girls home.

When she was in 12th grade, she moved in with her boyfriend and quit school.

“I ended up leaving him and moved back in with my mom,” Christina said. “That’s when I met my oldest two boys’ dad.”

For three years, they had no stable home. She moved to Georgia to live with her dad, moved back in with her mom, her boyfriend’s mom and friends.

“It was pretty rough,” she said. “We ended up getting evicted from the house we lived in.” Christina’s boyfriend had lost his job and she wasn’t working.

Finally, Christina got a job. She was the only one working, paying the bills. By the time Christina finished paying for everything, her money was gone. The responsibility and the reality hit hard.

“I just woke up and said I’m done, I’m sick of living like this,” Christina said. It was New Year’s, right before Kaleb turned two.

She packed up herself and the kids and left. She moved in with her mom, then her grandma, then eventually used her tax return to get her own apartment. She hasn’t looked back.

Christina first thought about applying for Habitat’s program after seeing her half-sister’s Habitat home.

After applying four times, Christina was finally approved. She had to pay off collections debt, but she was determined to do it and to have something of her own she could appreciate.

“Hard work, perseverance, never giving up,” she said. “Even if you take two steps forward and one step back, you just have to keep going and keep your head up.”

Christina’s favorite part of Habitat’s program is the sweat equity.

“I love volunteering,” she said. “We’ve had a lot of great opportunities; when we finish the program, we would like to continue to help. Actually getting out there on the jobsite and working — you might learn something that might be helpful to know down the road.”

Christina knew nothing about construction when she first started.

“I work for a power tool company,” she said. “But until I came out to the jobsite, I’d never actually used one.”

The Bryce’s new home will provide everyone with their own bedroom for the first time.

“I’ll have my own room that doesn’t have bugs in it!” Kaleb said.

Christina is excited to have a dishwasher and two bathrooms to share.

Best of all, the kids will have the stable home Christina never did.

“It will be our home and might help us get along better because everyone will have their own space, and it will improve things because it will be more affordable,” Christina said. “It feels awesome.”