Karmen's Family Story
Karmen and her four sisters were raised by a single mother who worked hard to support them but was never able to afford a home. The family moved frequently, often staying with other relatives.
After graduating from high school, Karmen joined the Army. During this time, she also enrolled in a for-profit college and learned she was pregnant with a son, Jacob. She later got involved with a man in North Carolina and had a second son, Paul. When her partner became abusive, she and her sons returned to Colorado, where they slept on her mother’s couch.
Eventually they were able to move into public housing, and Karmen took a job at a fast-food restaurant. Hoping to improve their situation, she looked into management training but was told that as a parent she would not be eligible for that position. Her younger son’s father came back into their lives, and after further abuse she was able to move into a new place, thanks to VAWA (Violence Against Women Act) funding.
Karmen was receiving SNAP, Medicaid, and cash assistance. She has been employed at her current position for more than three years, is working her way off public assistance, and has taken steps to improve her credit. Unfortunately, the for-profit college proved to be fraudulent, so she is involved in a lawsuit for loan forgiveness.
Paul's drawing of the family's new home
Becoming a homeowner will mean moving out of public housing, providing stability for her sons, and joining a supportive community. Right now, she says, “I can’t pick where I live and rent. The neighborhood has no kids to play with…. My neighbors barely talk unless it’s something rude.” In addition, her car was damaged in a hit-and-run accident in the parking lot.
Karmen decided to apply to the Pikes Peak Habitat for Humanity Veterans Build program because she wants to live independently. After spending the past eight years in public housing, she doesn’t have a rental history that would help her qualify for a lease, and finding affordable housing on the private market has proven impossible.
Jacob's drawing of the family's new home
She also is motivated by a desire “to break my generational ‘curse,’ just breaking the cycle of generational poverty,” she says. “I don’t want my boys experiencing it when they get older. I’m the first of my four sisters to own my own house.” Her sons are excited about having their own rooms.
She views sweat equity as both an investment in her family’s new home and an educational opportunity. “It means a chance to learn something new each and every time,” she says. And it “gives you a chance to say, ‘I did that,’ no matter how big or small.”
She expresses gratitude for those within her community who are making homeownership possible. “I will be forever thankful for all the sponsors, donors and volunteers. I will carry them in my thoughts and prayers,” she says. “Without all of you, these things would never happen.”
As a future homeowner with Pikes Peak Habitat, Karmen says she and her sons “can finally stop looking for a home because we are home! When we were house hunting we got a bunch of impossibles, but now with Habitat it’s possible!”
Karmen in the News
Local Army Veteran Picks up a Hammer and Helps Build Her New Home (KOAA, July 25)
Read about The First Days of Homeownership (blog post from July 14)
Check out Fox 21's story on Karmen's home dedication July 8!
Read Catching up with Karmen (blog post from June 8, 2023)
See the coverage of Karmen's roof
Veterans Helping Veterans: Roof Deployment Project Helping Provide Veteran With New Roof (KRDO Newschannel 13, April 11)
A Colorado Springs Veteran Gets New Home Despite Rising Cost of Materials Thanks to a Nonprofit (KOAA 5, April 11)
Army Veteran Receives New Roof Thanks to National Program (KXRM Fox 21, April 11)
About Veterans Build
Veterans Build is Habitat for Humanity’s national initiative to provide housing solutions and volunteer and employment opportunities to U.S. veterans, military service members and their families.
As an official Veterans Build Affiliate with Habitat for Humanity International, Pikes Peak Habitat is part of a national effort to not only provide affordable and decent homes for men and women who have served but also join a larger voice advocating for the needs of our veterans and their families.
