MILWAUKEE — Shirron is a proud mother of 3, and just wanted a safe place to raise her family. She was renting a three-bedroom home but quickly running out of space. She spent years trying to find a stable place to call home.
Shirron got involved with Milwaukee Habitat for Humanity, with the dream of having a fenced-in backyard that her family could enjoy.
She is now the proud homeowner of a house she built with the help of volunteers at Milwaukee Habitat for Humanity in Milwaukee’s Harambee neighborhood.
Milwaukee Habitat for Humanity CEO Brian Sonderman says, “Harambee was the center of African American business and arts life in this community. There are so many proud residents of Harambeem, and it has such a rich history that our goal is to come around residents and to help with the revitalization of the neighborhood to see it become greater than it once was.”
What makes Shirron’s home special is that it was part of Women Build, which is focused on the inclusion of women helping in the home-building process.
“The idea, really, is to gather women together from the community: some of whom are incredibly gifted in the area of construction, and some are just learning. So we gather people together to volunteer,” says Sonderman. “There’s community that’s built. There’s friendships that are built. But it’s also a way to galvanize support for Habitat.”
A team from Good Karma Brands consisting of women from 620 WTMJ, 101.7 the Truth, and ESPN Milwaukee all took part last September in Women Build to help Shirron with construction on her home.
“I’m finally in my home, which I love dearly,” Shirron says. “It’s nice. It’s brand new. It feels like a hotel, how I have the rooms set up”.
She says the best thing about homeownership: “I don’t have a landlord. I am the landlord. I don’t have anybody else to call on but myself.”
Sonderman acknowledges that the desire for homeownership remains high in Milwaukee. “Right now there are tens of thousands of Milwaukee families that want to become homeowners, especially people of color who are struggling because of high rent, the needed high down payments required, as well as high mortgage rates. So Habitat comes alongside home buyers to make it possible.”
Shirron recognized that this process takes time and required hard work. “This was not an overnight process for me,” she says. “I’m very humbled in this situation.”
But the assistance from Habitat doesn’t stop once the keys are handed over. “They help you to be educated on what you’re getting into,” Shirron says. “You take educational programs, helping you with your finances to be able to sort those things out.”
“We love to see our homeowners become active leaders on their blocks and in their neighborhoods,” says Sonderman. “We continue the education process, things like writing a will, planning for the future, financial savings. Things that aren’t just about the building of a home but are really about all the other aspects of building a great life.”
“We measure our success not in months, but in decades,” he continues. “The best part of my job is every month, I sign ‘mortgage satisfactions’, which means that the homebuyer has paid off their mortgage in full. That’s a tremendous accomplishment for that family and a great part of the journey of being part of Habitat.”
For Shirron, it comes down to her family. “My boys are happy. I have three boys, and they’re happy. It’s great.”
