“Having a Habitat Home will make for a bright future for me and my son. A place where he can grow up in and a backyard to run free.”

Nathaniel Johnson is a Youth Specialist at READY FOR LIFE in Largo and is on his journey towards achieving homeownership with Habitat. He is a single dad to his nine-year-old son, Nathan. Nathaniel loves being around people and helping others. Nathan takes after his dad as he also enjoys people and uses his positive outlook just like Nathaniel. “My son is high energy and bubbly,” Nathaniel tells us. “Nathan is a very loving kid and everyone who comes in contact with him really enjoys his energy and good nature.” Nathaniel enjoys doing whatever his son does. “Nathan is really into Hot Wheels and the Mario Cart characters. He also loves board games and is talented at UNO.” Nathaniel has been working hard to find a permanent place for Nathan so that he can truly grow up and establish roots. “Being able to have our own home will end the cycle of renting, moving, renting, moving. I am excited to lay down a permanent foundation for Nathan.”

Nathaniel and his son are living in an apartment right now thanks to READY FOR LIFE. But that is only a temporary place and the burden of always wondering about rent and possibly moving again was a big reason for Nathaniel to apply to the Habitat program. “We need a forever place,” said Nathaniel. “Having a Habitat Home will make for a bright future for me and my son. A place where he can grow up in and a backyard to run free.” Nathaniel felt his first bit of relief when he was accepted into the Habitat program. “The first thought that went through my mind was, ‘is this real?’ Nathaniel told us. “I was smiling so much that day of my acceptance. I was so thankful to everyone who was there to watch me get my certificate of acceptance into the program.”

The goal for this father and son is to build their forever home that can become part of their family history. “I want a house for Nathan to grow up in and come back to when he is comes home from college,” said Nathaniel. “I have a vision board and on that board is a house. I want that vision to come true so, going through the Habitat program will help that dream become reality.”

Nathaniel knows that Habitat Homes are not built without volunteers rolling up their sleeves and coming on site. “Being a volunteer will bring smiles to so many families that you help along the way. The more smiles, the more families that are going into their forever homes.” To learn more about volunteering on one of our construction sites please visit the Volunteer Page on our website.

“The Habitat program is turning my dream of homeownership into reality.”