“I can’t believe it. I’m standing here, and I’m in awe. This is becoming a reality,” said Maggie Orozco recently, with tears in her eyes, as she visited the Habitat for Humanity in Whatcom County flagship Telegraph Townhome Project. Maggie and her family will be one of the first 8 families to move into Telegraph.
Magdalena (Maggie) Orozco, head of one of our partner families, came to the United States from Mexico as a young woman. She and her three children first settled in the Pasco, Washington, area. The dream of a better life for her children, and of having decent, stable, affordable housing remains stronger than ever.
“The waiting is actually more difficult for my children now, because they’re asking ‘When?’ ‘When?’ When?’ Now that they’ve seen it, they’re more excited than ever to move in.”
Today, Maggie is a single mother and sole provider for her children. Approximately 12 million households in America are headed by a single parent. Of those, more than 75 percent are headed by single mothers. Isolation and loneliness often make life hard for struggling single-parent families. Our Telegraph Townhome Project is designed to be a connected, active community of working families. A perfect place for Maggie and her children.
“My biggest concern has been seeing the rents in Bellingham go up and up and up. I have two jobs, and I still worry about how much more I can work to keep up with rising rents. I get up every day at 3:30 in the morning to get ready for work. But now I can see the light at the end of the tunnel,” she adds.
Her children are involved in extra-curricular school and sports activities, something Maggie encourages for stability and routine. Even with the family’s tight schedule, Maggie and her daughter have found time to work at the Habitat Store for their sweat-equity hours for their new home.
Is the waiting harder now that she can walk into her new home under construction?
“It’s easier waiting for my home to be finished now,” Maggie says, “because I can see it. Now I can see it, and it’s real.”
