the Simon and Rosinefamily

After the waiting, after the saving, after all the hard work and the relocations and the many periods of starting over…there’s a greater chance at flourishing.

Simon and Rosine entered The Neighbor Project Networked Saving program in 2013. At the time, three boys and multiple full-time jobs kept them incredibly busy. But they sailed through the program and managed to keep their boys on track with school and with sports.

And after all that work and saving with the help of The Neighbor Project network, Simon and Rosine purchased their own townhouse in 2014.

Settling into their own place meant, in Simon’s words, that “we were able to start redirecting money from a landlord’s account to our own.” They’ve been able to make some job changes, too: Simon now works for himself, driving for both Uber and Lyft. And Rosine has been able to take some time off to stay home with the greatest change of all: a new baby, their first darling daughter.

These are all welcome changes for the family.

All six are content in their neighborhood and thankful for the friends that they’ve made. But now, with the addition of their baby girl, they feel that it might soon be time to get a bigger house with a little more space to spread out. They’d prefer to stay close and purchase something in their neighborhood—and the equity that they have in their current home should give them the flexibility to do just that.

Simon and Rosine are experiencing more stability in their family these days. What they may not see is that they’re also adding to the stability and strength of their neighborhood and their community. They’ve lived in the same spot these past three years—an experience that’s rarely possible for renting families living paycheck to paycheck. They’re building closer relationships with neighbors and friends than they could have otherwise, re-investing their own love and talents into the people and places around them—and hoping to stay close and keep doing that for the foreseeable future.

And because children from home-owning families are 25% more likely to graduate from high school and 116% more likely to finish college, this investment could continue to pay dividends for generations to come.

Simon and Rosine aren’t just building up their family; they’re building up their community and their world. So are all who participate in the great project of human flourishing. So are all who partner in the Kingdom of Heaven.

So are you.