A few local families will soon be in brand-new homes, building new traditions just in time for the holidays this year. These new homes wouldn’t be possible without a little community support. Hayley Ball and her two children will be one of those families moving into the New Waves Habitat for Humanity housing development in Leelanau County.

Once completed, the New Waves Development will consist of 14 houses, with several set to be built and occupied by the end of this year. The Habitat program helps families like the Ball family realize their goals of homeownership with support, education, and a little hard work along the way. Hayley and her two kids are part of the program and are actively working to complete all the requirements and move into their new home in the New Waves Development.

Habitat’s program includes several steps and verifications for families to navigate in order to set them up for success. Habitat Homeowner Services Manager Sallie Krepps explained, “This is a hand up, not a handout.” The program is a true reflection of that philosophy.

The adults in each family accepted into the program invest what Habitat calls “sweat equity” into the creation of their new home. Families learn valuable lessons from a home buyer education course and work closely with Habitat and a community mentor, even after they move in. “Habitat really provides opportunity for people who are trying to keep their head above water. It just gives them that foot in the door,” said Hayley.

In addition to education on homeownership, Habitat works to make housing as affordable as possible by working with financial intuitions to keep mortgage rates at 30% or less of a family’s monthly income, while bridging the gap to maintain the home’s value. This process makes homeownership possible and attainable for hardworking families in this community. “We do not want to set people up to fail. We know owning a home is a costly thing. So, there’s quite a criteria. We’re not the step out of homelessness. There is a step in between homelessness and us,” said Sallie.

“Habitat gave me the means and the plan to step forward and be able to rebuild my life,” said Hayley. Even with that help, Hayley was cautious. But Sallie says, “We felt her cautiousness was healthy.”

Hayley had applied to the program several times over the years, so when her application was finally accepted, she recalled, “I just had to be brave enough to say yes.” And she was!

She broke ground on the land where her home will stand back in June. Since then, she’s invested time planting the gardens around the subdivision and even joined a team from Cherryland Electric Cooperative to volunteer on the construction of houses like hers. She is a willing and full participant in this process.

Habitat’s homeownership program doesn’t just give families a fresh start—it creates a sweeping impact across the community. The way participants invest their time and effort into their new homes while seeing how volunteers and local organizations invest their time and effort into their future creates a unique connection that has a ripple effect. “It instills a sense of community even after I am done with my sweat equity. I want to be part of this program,” Hayley said. “It is so good for the kids to see people can come together because we don’t know 90% of the people working on our house, but they’re building us a home.”

This kindness builds the community. Hayley just hopes other families get the “bug” to continue to give back and be part of the community that gave them this gift—like she did.

Hayley is just one of many examples of how this program and this development will change lives and better the community we live in. Sallie gets applications for the program every day. After a call for applications, she received almost 60 of them; however, only a handful were eligible for the program. Even so, Sallie says her favorite part of her job is instilling hope for these families. She says, “Even if people aren’t eligible, I spend a long time trying to get them to be eligible.” Hayley added, “That shows just how much Habitat cares.”

When looking toward the future, Sallie said, “We hope to have them [Hayley’s family] moved in by Christmas.” With a groundbreaking just earlier this year, it shows just how powerful a little manpower, ingenuity, and commitment can be. As for Hayley, she and the kids are just excited to have a fresh start and a space of their own to put down some roots.

If all goes to plan, they’ll finally be able to soak in that feeling of being home for the holidays.