Heroes Build Home Sponsor CSX joined HabiJax and numerous representatives from military supporting organizations, the City of Jacksonville, and the Eastside neighborhood to celebrate the new home of Mia, an art teacher and Air Force reservist.
Mia’s home is HabiJax’s first to be built as part of Heroes Build – a renewed effort to support military-connected families in achieving homeownership. The journey to homeownership with HabiJax began almost 5 years ago for Mia. An overseas deployment interrupted the entire process. While leaving the program midstream would ordinarily be the end of the partnership with HabiJax, and while Mia worried that could be the case for her, HabiJax staff made made clear that military deployment was not considered leaving the program. Any “sweat equity” earned was kept, and Mia was welcomed to continue in the process.
Given that her rent increased by $700 by the end of her deployment, homeownership relieved a burden and brought stability to her family of three. Owning her own home also brought Mia a tremendous sense of accomplishment. As she said at her dedication, “My ancestors helped to build this land, and to own a piece of it is such a testimony to what your story can be.”
We celebrate Mia’s spirit of service and look forward to seeing what’s next in her story!
