“Habitat has offered us the opportunity to show how encouraging, uplifting, and hardworking my family can be.”

Essence Duncans, is a secretary and assistant at Mariner Optical, who is working towards her forever home. She is a single mother to her 4-year-old son, King. “King loves to play pretend. At the blink of an eye he’s Batman or Superman. King has an obsession with busses and large trucks. Ambulances and fire trucks are his absolute favorite though. The colors, the sounds all excite him, every time.” A fun fact about King is he can’t swim just YET but you would never guess that the way he’s so in love with water.

The Duncans are a hardworking family who strive for greatness by taking on challenges with a positive attitude. They loved earning their sweat equity hours and Essence states that “Building and living in our habitat home will put us above so many challenges that we have already had to face.”

Essence was overjoyed when she got accepted into the Habitat program. “I was excited when I found out I was accepted in. I worked very hard to get in all of my information and every single piece of paperwork. It was a long awaited process but so worth it.” Since being welcomed into the program, Essence has felt relief knowing that she will be able to have a stable, comfortable upbringing for her son in their forever home.

“I’m really looking forward to being comfortable in MY own home. Knowing the mortgage is going to stay the same and knowing I’m safe is extremely important. I can’t wait to make memories and begin new traditions with my family in our new home.”

Essence encourages anyone to get involved with Habitat’s programs. “Habitat for Humanity is a great opportunity if you are ready to be stable, in your own home, if you’re ready to learn more about finances and if you’re ready to learn about maintaining a home.”

The Duncans Family Home was dedicated on September 20th, 2021 and was sponsored by Wells Fargo.