The realization of a dream

In a cramped one bedroom apartment in Chinatown, above the noisy bustle of traffic and passersby, Janette has something else on her mind. Every day that passes in the tiny bedroom, split by a curtain and shared between her children, husband and father-in-law, she thinks of happiness. Every day in the small living room where her sister-in-law sleeps, Janette passes through on her way to her receptionist job, and sees in her mind a new home.

And then, the most beautiful thing: this isn't just a daydream. Janette's home has a foundation, and siding, and insulation, and paint. Janette can tell you everything it's made from, because she, her husband Eric, her father-in-law Fat-Bo and her sister-in-law Jenny helped build it together, along with the hands of many Habitat for Humanity Greater San Francisco volunteers. Waiting for them at the end of the day, the couple's daughter, Leanne, 4, will ask eagerly, "Did you work on my bedroom?" "Of course," they will say, knowing it is the only answer to make her happy.

They'll say to you that the 500 hours of sweat equity weren't hard at all, even though Eric was the only one with an electrician's experience. He's hoping to use the skills he learned onsite to help him find work in construction.

To build a home, and then be able to own it, was something Janette never thought of when she moved to San Francisco from China in 2000. She heard about Habitat for Humanity's work on the news after the Hurricane Katrina disaster. When she saw a Habitat advertisement in Chinese on Channel 26, she applied immediately.

Now, as the day fast approaches when she will move into her new home, she speaks fondly about her experiences and the people she met at the construction site, including the helpful crew that put up solar panels on the house and the team that covered the insulation with whiteboard. From these moments come a new set of dreams. Her daughters, Leanne and Lorabelle, will graduate from college. Eric and Janette will own their own small business (a coffee shop, perhaps, or an independent childcare facility).

And then, when the sudden flow of words and dreams hang over her, she says: "Thank you for this great opportunity, for the rest of my life, and for all the families to come."