The American Dream Has Found a Home in Alamance County

More than twenty years ago, when Wokie Tayn immigrated with her husband to the United States from Liberia, West Africa, she did so in search of the “American Dream” that most of those who emigrate from their native countries hope for. It’s been a long and difficult journey since then, but finally that dream is real for her.

Wokie settled in Haw River, NC, all those years ago, but the picture looks different than it did back then. She’s a single mother now, raising four children and working full-time as a certified Nursing Assistant. With her limited income, she and her children were living cramped in a dilapidated mobile home.

That’s when Alamance County Habitat came in to help. In 2015, the State Employees Credit Union Foundation challenged Habitat for Humanity of North Carolina to build a house in every county in the state. The Foundation would finance each of those homes by buying the zero-interest mortgage from the Habitat affiliate that built it, in this case Alamance County, for a total of $10 million. The money from the sale of the mortgage could then go immediately back into building a home for another family.

In response to that challenge, Habitat for Humanity of Alamance County built the house on Malone Road that would finally make Wokie Tayn a homeowner. A joyous home dedication service was held for Wokie and her children on March 29^th, 2018.

Thanks to the work of the Alamance County team and community, innumerable volunteers, and Wokie, herself, who in addition to attending classes on homeownership and financial management, completed a required number of “sweat equity” hours building her house, she and her family are finally home. And despite her difficult journey to get there, Wokie has always maintained her hope and positivity. “I still believe that the American Dream can be mine,” she said before she moved in. Through Habitat, now her dream is a reality.

All photos courtesy of Habitat for Humanity of Alamance County