Meet Desiree!

A parent’s dream is to have the resources to properly raise children: a safe home; enough money to feed and clothe the kids; enough spare money to have fun things to share with kids; to watch them grow into thriving young adults.

For Desiree, that is all a dream.  While things were on a good path forward with positive things in her life, one day all that came to a quick halt. 9 months after giving birth to her daughter, her second child, she had difficulty standing. This unexpected experience led to a 2 week stay at St. Joseph’s Medical Center in Brainerd followed by a transfer for a 2 month stay at Rochester Mayo where she was diagnosed with breast cancer and a rare complication from this cancer. A month later, after surgical removal of the cancer and chemotherapy, her world changed to assisted living centers and specialized care…and a motorized chair. Her world was turned upside down.

A search for handicap adapted units in the Brainerd wide area, including St. Cloud, resulted in long waiting lists, ultimately leading Desiree to a unit in Brooklyn Center…all while her son and daughter lived with her mother in Brainerd. It’s a daily burden for Desiree to not be there for her kids and to watch them grow up through video calls. But until she has a place to accommodate her needs locally, this is what they must do.

What Desiree most wants from a Habitat home in Brainerd is what any parent would want: to be reunited with her children and to be the one to raise her children. She is so thankful to her mother and blessed to have her step in but to hold her kids…every day…and to share with daily activities is what home means to her.

Desiree’s home is slated for construction summer of 2022 on a Pine Street lot just 4 blocks from her mother. What a reunion this promises to be!