Habitat for Humanity of San Antonio fulfills first-time homeowner’s lifelong dream

A new home filled with laughter, family and food for the holidays had been a lifelong dream for Maria Crispin, a single mother of two.

“It’s the best thing that ever happened to me,” Crispin said.

Although she and her children had been living with her parents, Crispin said, “They didn’t have that feeling that they have their own home.”

Now they do, and it’s a house that their mother helped build. She even surprised them with the keys to their new home in Rancho Carlota, a 90-acre Habitat for Humanity community on Watson Road.

Crispin was so determined that she turned to Habitat for Humanity of San Antonio three times before her application was finally approved.

The nonprofit’s vice president, Stephanie Wiese, said Habitat for Humanity doesn’t simply turn families down.

“We give them a roadmap for what they need to do, what barriers they have to homeownership,” Wiese said. “We do everything to be able to empower our families.”

Like other Habitat for Humanity families, Crispin and her neighbors helped build her house, and she did the same for them, investing hours of “sweat equity” in their homes.

“It was well worth it, every second of it, ” Crispin said.

Crispin also said she’ll always hold the families who helped her in her heart, along with everyone at Habitat for Humanity and its sponsors.

She said the experience has been a lesson for her children, and she hopes they’ll always remember “to never give up on life.”

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