Laying the Foundation

Partners: Shoulder to Shoulder

Anthony Nwiyaara is a patient man. Nine years lapsed between owning his first house and once again becoming a homeowner.

While many people will say a house has its own story, Nwiyaara's houses have truly unique ones.

The first house story began in 1996. Anthony states as a result of wide-spread persecution in his native country, Nigeria, his first home was burned down. He, his wife, Blessing, and their one-year old child had to flee the country. They lived in exile for three years before being able to come to America.

The second house story began in 2005. As a result of nearly 100 partners, Anthony and his wife with their three young boys unlocked the doors to their new home in Phoenix, Arizona. And for the first time in many years, as Blessing notes, her family slept quietly, with a sense of safeness and knowing there are good neighbors around them.

Shortly after the Nwiyaaras arrived in America, a friend from their church introduced them to the Habitat for Humanity program. They applied to the local Habitat for Humanity offices to start the process but found out they couldn't qualify to have their house built. At the time, they were living in El Mirage but they wanted to live in Phoenix, nearer to Anthony's place of employment. Some key steps had to be taken to complete their homeownership goal. Subsequently, their file was transferred to the Phoenix office, Habitat for Humanity, Valley of the Sun.

In 2003, a Habitat for Humanity, Valley of the Sun staffer introduced Anthony and Blessing to NHS Phoenix. As part of a long and valued partnership with Habitat for Humanity, NHS Phoenix shares clients by providing HomeBuyer Education and Financial Fitness classes to assist those going through the Habitat for Humanity home process. The Nwiyaaras had to establish a good credit base, not because they had a bad one but because they had always paid with cash and didn't have any credit baseline established.

Being a patient man, Anthony took the necessary steps to learn how to overcome this barrier to homeownership that he was now facing. Through the NHS Phoenix education and counseling programs, he and his wife learned how to avoid the pitfalls of over-using and/or late paying credit cards and lending lines. Side-by-side, Anthony and Blessing were putting in the hard work to make their second house a reality. According to Blessing, "no matter what you dream, you can dream a long time, but you have to be patient to get what you want." They listened. They became informed homebuyers. They were able to save money faster as well as become very adept in the management of their various accounts. More importantly, they qualified for their Habitat home to begin construction.

Then more partners entered the picture. Volunteers from various Valley employers, as well as family friends, came together for thirteen weeks to help Anthony and Blessing build their new home. Through each stage of construction, from putting in the foundation to the minor trimmings, from inside to outside, Anthony and Blessing were partnering. They were lifting hammers and banging in nails. Each spent more than 400 hours to make their house rise up.

On May 19, 2005, Anthony, Blessing and their three sons, Gideon, Kiadum and Needum, excitedly smiled and together walked into their new house.

From the Summer 2005 issue of DoorWays
Written by R.A.Lenio