“My biggest goal as a mother is to provide a safe, stable, and happy home for my children.”
Jevenni Murray is a hard-working single mother to four children and a Front Desk Check-In Receptionist at Florida Medical Pain Management. She and her kids, Juanari (age 12), Jhai (age 11), and twins Jelonni (age 4) and Jrake (age 4) are very close knit with one another. they love to spend quality time together by going on walks, telling jokes, going swimming, and going to church. Jevenni says “I have instilled faith/Christian values into my children and try to lead by example at all times.” Her children are each unique and have a variety of interests. Her oldest son, Juanari, loves to paint and listen to music. Her middle son, Jhai, loves football and playing video games. Her only daughter, Jelonni, loves playing with her Barbies and playing dress up. Jelonni’s twin brother, Jrake, loves dinosaurs and watching movies.
The Murray family experienced a whirlwind of housing issues before getting accepted into the Habitat program that unfortunately hindered their quality of life. After 9 years of being on the waiting list, Jevenni was finally selected to receive a housing voucher. This was such exciting news and a sense of relief for her family, as her living conditions at the time were becoming unbearable. The 2-bedroom home she had been living in began to experience mold issues that affected her family’s health, the A/C was continuously broken since the day she moved in, and unstable wiring in the home would smoke. Some nights, the family would have to sleep in their car because the heat was so overwhelming and her landlord would never fix it. Jevenni also was in constant fear of her house catching on fire due to the unstable wiring. She knew that this home was not safe for her children, so she began her search for a new home that would qualify for her housing voucher. After multiple attempts at securing a home, too many of the landlords were being dishonest about their properties and the other half did not pass the inspections. Jevenni was forced to move her family in with her mother, step-dad, and their dog, which resulted in less space than they started with. Thankfully, a family friend came through and allowed the Murray Family to stay with him temporarily. Jevenni never gave up hope and kept her faith as she applied for the Habitat program. Finally, she was accepted and will move in with her family where they no longer have to worry about unsafe living conditions or extremely high rent.
Receiving the news that she was accepted into the Habitat program left Jevenni and her family feeling ecstatic. She tells us “My first thought when I was accepted into the program was “Prayer works” and that “God Is Real”! Never in a million years did I think I would be getting a house built for myself and my family.” She has not yet begun her sweat equity hours, but she says “I know that it will help me value things a little more because I have worked hard to achieve my goals. Sweat equity will also teach me discipline and the importance of team work by being hands on and helping myself and others achieve the same goal.”
Habitat’s mission could not be possible without volunteers from our community. Jevenni says “If someone is thinking about becoming a volunteer with Habitat, I would encourage them to GO FOR IT! This type of volunteer work is for a great cause and you are helping others in so many ways. This great organization is always looking for volunteers so I know that they will be happy to have as many volunteers as possible and welcome you with open arms.” If you are interested in volunteering on a build site, in our ReStore, or at one of our events, please check out our Volunteer Page for more information.
“I work hard every day to reach this goal because I know my family is so deserving of this amazing opportunity! I know that with the help of Habitat of Pinellas I can provide them with a life that I always longed for growing up. I know that a blessing is coming for us. My children will be overjoyed if we could call a Habitat home our “FOREVER HOME”.”
The Murray Family home was dedicated on October 28th, 2022.
