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A fresh start in Illawarra

Tanya never thought that she would own a home of her own. A mother of two, she had moved from Sydney to the Illawarra region, following the death of her partner. Tanya had also lost her home during the Christmas Day bushfires in 2001.

“We sort of struggled from then on,” she said.

Determined to give her family a brighter future, Tanya reached out to Habitat for Humanity New South Wales’ Illawarra Chapter who helped provide the family with a low interest loan so they could have a home of their own.

This is part of Habitat for Humanity’s home building program where partner families contribute 500 hours of their own time in the planning and construction phases. This is called ‘sweat equity’ and is recognised in the 5% discount on market value that we return to them. For Tanya, this meant helping with renovation work like painting and landscaping.

After countless days of renovation work that started in late 2016, Tanya and her family have finally moved into their new home.

“This has given me so much hope and just to have a permanent roof over our heads so we don’t have to struggle anymore is wonderful,” she said.



Greg Boyd, Illawarra Chair of Habitat for Humanity said that they are always happy to help people in need.

“She has had a hard life but the house gives her stability and gives her children the chance to be in a permanent residence,” said Mr Boyd.

Habitat for Humanity believes building a decent home provides much more than bricks and mortar – it provides real hope for the future. To date, Habitat has built more than homes in New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia, Queensland and Western Australia.

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