March 27, 2024 | Alexa Johnson
Taneesha has been blessed at least twice in her life. The married young mother of two was just four-years-old when she and her mother embarked on the Habitat journey of home ownership. Along with her mom, Taneesha – even at such a young age – had an understanding of how this opportunity would enhance their lives.
“It was a great experience,” she recalls growing up in her Habitat home. It was through her mom’s involvement and final realization of owning her home that compelled Teneesha, a graduate of Harding University, to apply for a Habitat home for her family inclusive of her husband and two children. Although the Charlotte native was initially denied acceptance for the program, she charged forward with sheer determination and applied once more. “The first time I received a ‘no’, but that just motivated me even more,” she said.
When Taneesha finally got the call saying her Habitat application was accepted and home ownership was going to become a reality, she was both in shock and excited. In that glorious moment when Tanisha received the phone call at work she said, “All I could do was jump up and down and thank Jesus! I cried! I had to take a moment before calling my husband, mom and my dad…It just didn’t seem real,” she said. “The process after that was smooth and easy,” she added.
The goal is for the Mitchell family to be all moved in by mid-summer. “Every week I ride by our future home. I can see the excitement in my children’s eyes when they say, ‘Mom! That’s our new home!’, she said. Her nine-year-old and three-year-old are delighted because they’ll each have their own rooms. “I cannot put into words how much this means to our family – kids playing in the back yard in our new quiet neighborhood. It will be so peaceful just sitting on the porch of our new home that we helped build from the ground up,” she said. A hesitant Taneesha added that her husband is looking forward to cutting the grass. “We’ll see about that,” she laughs.
Taneesha enjoys the hands-on Sweat Equity work where she participates in projects with kids at the Charlotte Region ReStores. She credits the program’s Homeowner-in-Process Education classes in helping future homeowners to understand everything from finances to general home maintenance.
Last week, a small but mighty group of all female volunteers came together to begin construction on Taneesha’s home in celebration of the 30th Anniversary of Women Build. And what does Habitat Charlotte Region’s Women Build mean to Taneesha? “It feels great! Anything a man can do we can do better. Women can do anything…for 30 years now Habitat for Humanity has been helping women and we’re doing it perfectly.”
Learn more about how we’re continuing to celebrate WB30 and how you can participate in this year’s anniversary initiatives:
