By: Jessyka Maliksi
BELLEVILLE – Christmas came early for two families in the Belleville community as they received their keys from Habitat for Humanity for their new homes on Sidney St.
The ceremony took place Tuesday morning, Nov. 21 when Habitat for Humanity Prince Edward Hastings welcomed two new families to the Habitat family.
The key ceremony took place at what once used to be a bungalow on Sidney St., to now a newly built two-story duplex.
Ji Yeh is one of the new homeowners.
She moved from Korea to Canada in 2009, where she first resided in Halifax, then moved out to Belleville in 2011.
She and her daughter currently live in an apartment, where there is no room for her 12-year-old daughter to be active and go out to run around. Being a single mother, Ji Yeh says she’s really busy with working two jobs and wants a place where she can let her daughter run around outside without having to worry about her and the environment she’s in.
“I always imagined that if we had a house, then I would just let my daughter go out and play around in the (backyard) nature outside.” she says.
Ji Yeh says having her own house has always been a dream of hers. But when COVID-19 hit, and house prices started to skyrocket, she felt like that dream was over for her.
Then a friend of hers shared a link on Facebook to the Habitat for Humanity partnership housing application.
When she applied, Ji Yeh says she didn’t think she would get chosen. When she did, she says she felt so lucky, as if all her hard work and those ups and down moments were worth it.
“It feels like all my hard work and hard time, (was) kind of like (I’m) getting paid back somehow. I’m really lucky that I got chosen by Habitat for Humanity.” she says.
With being a single mother of a pre-teen daughter, balancing two jobs and attending university, this opportunity has lifted a lot off her plate she says. Over the years, Ji Yeh says one of her biggest stresses was being able to have her own place that she and her daughter can call home.
Now that she’s a homeowner, Ji Yeh says she can now focus on other things.
“I can now focus on my work to serve our community, young children and family.” she says. “I can focus more and put more effort and more energy into this community and help.”
Ji Yeh says her family’s Christmas holiday began when her application got accepted by Habitat for Humanity.
“It’s already been our Christmas holiday since I got chosen until now.” she says.
The second family to receive their keys are in the same boat.
They feel as if Christmas came early for them this year, says Jeanette, the second new homeowner on Sidney St.
Jeanette says when their application got accepted, they completed their 500 hours of volunteer work in a timeline where they would have the house just before Christmas time.
She says this is their family’s first real Christmas together in the past four years.
Jeanette says their family has never had their place set up for the holiday season because their one-bedroom basement apartment was too small for a Christmas tree. But she says this year is going to be different now that they have the two-story house on Sidney St.
Aaron, Jeanette’s partner, says he’s lost for words when it comes to being able to have their entire family under one roof for the holiday season.
“I’m just getting almost like a loss for words for once, and sort of getting emotional.” he says, “Christmas is going to be huge. So just having a first real Christmas together, (it’s) just like it’s going to be starting over for us.”
Living in the one-bedroom basement apartment was hard for the family, but Jeanette says they made work with what they have.
Their place was small for their family of four that included Jeanette, her daughter, Aaron, and his daughter. Since their basement apartment only had one room, both daughters had to sleep upstairs, Jeanette says.
With this new place, they have a common family area where they can all spend time together, and then head to their bedrooms on the second floor together.
Jeanette says when she noticed her family met the criteria for the new homes, she applied.
When her application got accepted, she says her whole family was shocked, but grateful.
“When we got the message that we got it, it was like are you kidding me? This is so surreal.” she says.
“Just unbelievable, just shocked but elated as well. Again grateful.” Aaron added, “Not for it to sound like (we’re) bragging (and) everything. (But) it’s that we deserved it. Like finally, getting something good to happen for us.”
Aaron says this whole experience is like a dream that he doesn’t want to be woken up from.
Aaron and Jeanette say they’re thankful for their whole journey and this experience.
With their new house, Jeanette says their future is looking stable for their family.
“We’ve got stability. Now, we’re not looking at the next place.” she says.
Aaron says their future is going to focus on growing as a family within their new home.
“Just continue to grow as a family and make me many happy memories. I can’t wait.” he says.
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