My Dream House
Junny Tsiba, a refugee from Congo Brazzaville, spent two years preparing to buy her home. “Renting was fine, but having your own place makes you live the American dream and rewards me for my hard work,” she explained.
And hard work it was. Her brand new home in Burlington’s New North End was built by Green Mountain Habitat for Humanity in partnership with the Champlain Housing Trust, which meant she had 200 hours of work to put in. She purchased in August, 2022.
Click here to make more stories like this come true.
This collaboration helped lower the costs, and was supported by the Vermont Housing & Conservation Board, state affordable housing tax credits, and Burlington’s Housing Trust Fund. Junny received an additional subsidy from CHT’s new Homeownership Equity Program, funded by the New England Federal Credit Union, which is expanding access to homeownership to Black, Indigenous and people of color households.
The home will remain affordable forever with CHT’s stewardship. But for now, Junny has no thoughts of moving.
“You can live there forever when you buy a home. I have both my dream house [and one] on an affordable budget.”