Michelle’s Story
Posted by flatironshabitat on June 23, 2009
Michelle’s Story ….
by Michelle Graham
Michelle Snyder never prayed for anything so much in her entire life. Life before Habitat consisted of living in a mobile home that was in poor condition and she was concerned about how long she and her family could live there safely. At the time, her family included three children; a teen-aged son and daughter and an elementary-aged son with special needs. Michelle heard that Flatirons Habitat was looking for families to live in new Habitat community to be built in Broomfield called Emerald Hill. Like a lot of others in her situation, Michelle didn’t think she would qualify. “I thought Habitat was just for poor people,” she says. “Not a lot of people are educated on what it’s really about.”
She prayed and applied. She filled out piles of paperwork and went through a financial review. Six months later she got a call from Flatirons Habitat telling her that her family had been selected and they would begin building soon.
Michelle’s life sped up. She was a single mom working full-time as a server and attending Metropolitan State College working on her undergraduate degree in biological science. She was so moved by her experience with Habitat volunteers, that she changed her major to human service work and graduated with her degree from the University of Phoenix after she moved into her new home.
Today, Michelle and her youngest son, now in high school, have lived in their Habitat home in Broomfield for five years. She continues to work full-time at the Village Inn and volunteers often for Flatirons Habitat and at her church, Flatirons Community Church. Her recent volunteer activities include joining FHfH’s board of directors and recently took a two week humanitarian trip to Afghanistan with members of her church, to support the immediate and long term needs of the people there who are affected by decades of war.
