Crystal's Family

An Educator Finds Roots for Her Family, Kicking Off the Rising Moon Development and Housing for Educators Program

“It was kind of like the stars were aligning with me working for the school and the school having this program.”

Crystal, a Widefield School District 3 (WSD3) employee, is a single mom with three kids who needed to find affordable housing in El Paso County to be able to stay in the job she loves.

“I thought I was going to have to leave,” Crystal recalled. “I thought I was going to have to go back to Texas to be able to afford a home because it’s not cheap to live in Colorado Springs.”

Crystal moved to Colorado in 2019 from San Antonio, Texas along with her entire family – including her three kids and her now ex-husband – for a job opportunity. After going through a divorce, she found herself renting a home for her and her kids alongside her brother.

To Her Daughter, Their House “Felt Like a Hotel”

“It’s not the worst,” Crystal admits, referring to her current living situation; however, she knew it wasn’t a long-term solution for her family, and she wanted more stability for her kids. She wanted a space that they could call their own. “My daughter made the comment that it felt like a hotel, because you pay to live there temporarily. You’re just borrowing [the house]. It’s like an Airbnb.”   

 As a special education secretary at a local high school, Crystal enjoys watching the kids she works with grow and mature. “I love being able to see the young kids come in their freshman year. There’s still a lot they have to learn before they step into the real world as adults. But it’s great to see their growth from 14 to 17 to 18. My favorite part of my job is building the relationships with the kids.”

One day, the superintendent of the school came into a staff meeting Crystal was attending and announced that they were launching a new housing program with Pikes Peak Habitat for Humanity. The program, called Housing for Educators, was created to provide affordable housing opportunities for WSD3 employees, as well as create construction education opportunities for underserved youth through Careers in Construction Colorado (CICC).

Using AI to See Her House Before It’s Built

“I tell the kids, ‘Hey, let’s go drive by the house real quick,’ and they’re like, ‘Mom, it looks the same,’” she admits with a smile, unable to hide her excitement. “I’m anxious and ready to see it come to fruition. I took the blueprints and put them into ChatGPT to see what the completed house will look like. It created a generic version of the house, and I tell the kids, ‘Look, this is what your room is going to look like!’”

Aside from being able to put down roots for her and her kids, and to provide them each with a space they can call their own, Crystal also loves sharing her Habitat experience with the students and faculty at her school. “I was able to bring this to work and show them that when you work and try hard, good things will happen… Something good is happening to somebody that works there.”

Crystal, who will both live and work in WSD3, is looking forward to being neighbors with some of her students, who equally share her enthusiasm, and to providing her kids with the opportunity to “see the bones” of their house as it’s being built. “Coming from an education background, my kids having the opportunity to go to the build site and learn is great.”

She believes that all the goodness happening to her and her family is a result of her efforts to give back to her community. “I’m a big believer in Karma – what you put out, you get back… I put people ahead of myself, so now it’s my turn to have something good happen to me or come my way.”

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