Between the busy construction season, all the activity at the ReStore and the fundraising activities, it can be easy to forget about why Habitat Camrose exists in the first place. We recently sat down with the Carrolls, one of our latest Habitat families, and asked them about what partnering with Habitat has been like for them.

How did you come to apply for a Habitat home?

MacKenzie Carroll: I found out from neighbors that they got a Habitat house. After you know, days and days of asking them questions, and then weeks of thinking about it, I finally went and applied for a Habitat house. I was actually really, really scared to do it because, well, what if they don’t call me back, what if, what if, what if? And then I decided just do it. The worst they can say is no. And they didn’t say no! They said yes.

Tyson Carroll: And Habitat offers a certain level of stability, so we don’t have to worry. Realistically, we have four kids. We’d have to have at least a three-bedroom house. And that’s expensive. And if we’re putting that much money into renting a house, we might as well just buy a house and put that money to actually owning it.

MC: Why rent when you can buy?

TC: We’ve had a lot of bad experiences renting. If you have a maintenance issue, it often takes them awhile to get around to you if it’s not a priority. There’s also a certain level of judgment that comes from them [landlords] too about normal children wear and tear.

 

How long have you been in Camrose?

MC: Four years. Actually we were homeless for a weekend. We were living in Tofield, and we couldn’t keep up with the rent. One thing led to another, we became homeless for a weekend. That Monday we got a place here in Camrose.

TC: The nice thing with Habitat, they’ve been pushing us to be responsible financially. The credit courses we took through them really opened our eyes as to how much money we had coming in and how much we were wasting on frivolous things. We’ve had to actually really look at our debt. We’ve spent the last eight months working extra shifts, budgeting everything to the last detail. We’re doing exceptionally well.

TC: This past Monday actually, we paid off one of our student loans that’s been around for…

MC: Ten years!

 

What are you guys hoping for the future through being involved with the Habitat? 

MC: Well we’re looking at doing more volunteering. We really enjoy it, we enjoy the people, and we see them even outside of the ReStore. Now we really want to give back to them even more and volunteer even after our house is done.

TC: Yeah, helping other homeowners in the future, absolutely, building roots like that in the community.

 

Do you have any future goals that you’re looking forward to in terms of your family?

TC: The girls are definitely excited to have their own individuality in their rooms. With the financial education we received, that gives us a little more freedom to do things with them like go on trips. I’m actually going to be finally going back to school because we couldn’t afford it before. It gives us a little more perspective on what our future could be. It’s all on us, which is nice. It gives us that freedom of responsibility.

 

What’s the best thing about getting a Habitat house?

MC: One of the best things about getting a Habitat house is it gives you hope for the future. Because living in like say, just an apartment, it feels like you’re stagnant, you’re not building your future, your future is just there and that’s it. But with a house, with your own house, with a Habitat house, it feels like you’re actually going somewhere.

TC: It’s sort of like you’re being gifted a future. It’s actually something that’s going to come along that’s great, and it’s just going to keep getting better.

 

MacKenzie and Tyson Carroll were interviewed by Brenda Murdock, Habitat Camrose’s Project and Volunteer Coordinator. 

Interview transcription by Kelly Milne.