Meet a Partner Family

As volunteers and staff continue to work on the Ivanhoe project in Commerce City, meet a partner family who can't wait to move into their new Habitat home:

For Ali and Aliya, finding safety for their two young daughters is difficult, if not impossible for them at their current apartment complex.   Dangerous criminals and frequent assaults haunt the hallways and common areas throughout their Aurora apartment building.  In the 4 years that they’ve lived there, there have been 3 murders, including two people who were gunned down on the doorsteps to Ali and Aliya’s building.  And more recently, a woman was attacked and robbed in broad daylight in their parking lot. 

Ali and Aliya do everything they can to shield their daughters from the dangers that lurk outside their front door.  The girls spend much of their free time playing inside the small, 2 bedroom and 1 bathroom apartment since there’s no safe place to play outside.  In addition to the two daughters, Ali’s aunt Shabo (not pictured) also lives with them, making their apartment extremely cramped for the number of people in their family. 

Ali and Aliya can’t stop counting the ways that their lives are going to change when they move into their Habitat home this year.  “It’s such a great opportunity for our family,” Ali says.  He knows becoming a homeowner will impact their family immediately with more living space and a safe neighborhood, yet he’s also excited about the stability it will provide them for the future.  “We will finally feel settled.  Our dream is going to be true very soon – we are very happy.”

Ali and Aliya are both hard at work on their sweat equity hours and are enjoying learning new skills and seeing how the homes are constructed.  They are so thankful to be working with Habitat and looking forward to meeting their sponsor, Thrivent Financial and Holy Hammers, and the volunteers who will be helping them build their home.  “Thank you for giving our dreams a chance.  I have so many things to say to everyone helping.  This is such a great opportunity – thank you to everyone involved and for making a safe future for my family.”

To volunteer at the Ivanhoe project and help build Ali and Aliya's home, visit our website.