Abdullahi, his wife Amina, and their five children, currently rent a home overlooking Ruby Hill Park. While the view may be spectacular, the neighborhood has proved to be unsafe for their children and crime is of great concern for the family. But Abdul and Amina are all smiles when discussing their new home currently under construction in the Bails Townhome Community.

Abdul and Amina have lived in Denver since 2005 when they immigrated to the United States from Uganda. Originally from Somalia, the couple fled an on-going armed conflict and spent two years living in a refugee camp in Uganda before moving to an apartment in the Ugandan capital city of Kampala. The family was then accepted into a refugee program in 2005 and moved to Denver.

The family’s current home has five bedrooms and plenty of space for the children, but the rental home has heating issues, plumbing leaks, and the children do not have a safe area to play outside. Abdul is very excited about the location of their new home on Bails. "We are going to be near the city, near our community (Denver’s Somali community in Aurora), and closer to work," he said. Abdul is also excited that the children will attend better schools and that the home will be near mass transit.

Abdul and Amina are most looking forward to having an affordable place to call their own. Currently, their landlord enters their home without permission, and the couple has been forced to move to avoid rent increases. Abdul learned about Habitat for Humanity from friends. One thing that stands out in Abdul’s mind about Habitat is the openness of the organization. "Race and religion didn’t matter. The people were very open. It makes me proud of the organization the way they treat me," Abdul said.

Both Abdul and Amina have completed over 150 of their sweat equity hours, both at the outlet store and working construction. "It’s been very good," Abdul said. "We’ve worked and seen the construction, and it looks very good. I’ve met so many people on the construction site. All the people work together and help each other. I enjoy working with all the people." Amina said the construction work has taught her many things about the way homes work, and she will be able to fix things in their new home.

The family is very grateful for the opportunity to become homeowners through Habitat. "I appreciate the way the volunteers are helping us, the way they work. I want to be one of them! Everyone works like professionals." They send a special thank you to their sponsor, the Habitat Interfaith Alliance, and look forward to meeting this partner in building their future.