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Rachael has always loved fairy tales. She even named her three daughters — Anastasia, 13, Aurora, 12, and Evangeline, 10 — after Disney characters. When she moved her family into their new Habitat home this August, it felt like her own magic moment.
Growing up, Rachael always noticed the ‘King City’ sign on the drive to visit her grandparents’ house. She smiles recalling how she thought it sounded like something out of a fairy tale as a child.
“I remember thinking, ‘Oh, I want to live there,’” she says.
Now, she and her daughters do. And while there may not be talking animals or magic carpets at King City Commons, their new home is certainly a dream come true.
A sense of relief
Rachael says it still feels surreal to walk into a home that she owns after renting her whole adult life.
“It’s hard to believe it’s really my house,” she laughs. “When we finally got this place and I got the keys, it was such a sense of relief.”
A child sits in her brightly decorated room in her Habitat home, hugging a stuffed animal.
Rachael’s daughters are equally excited. They have lots of ideas for their new rooms.
Anastasia plans to paint one of her walls green, her favorite color, soon. Aurora’s room is already full of pink — blankets, plushies, and décor — her personal favorite. Evangeline loves pink and purple and hopes to make her already vibrant room shine with purple LED lights.
As for Rachael, she jokes that her favorite colors are red and leopard. She is currently searching for leopard print wallpaper for an accent wall.
Rachael says decorating is still a work in progress, but whatever comes next, she is excited that it will be permanent. More than anything, she is excited to give her kids a place they can always come back to.
Struggling to find safe, affordable housing
Rachael has always been self-reliant. Leaving home at 18, learning the medical assistance trade through Job Corps, and now supporting her three daughters herself, she has always found a way to take care of herself and her loved ones.
“I’ve always done everything on my own,” Rachael reflects.
As hard as she works, supporting a family of four on one income is challenging. Rachael is a full-time medical assistant and office manager at a private practice but still struggled to find affordable, safe rentals.
Rachael tells me she never liked letting her daughters out of her sight at their previous rental.
Anastasia says she didn’t feel safe at the family’s old apartment in Hillsboro. She says that there were often robberies and strange noises. Her sisters groan, remembering the car alarms that woke them nightly.
At their old apartment, Rachael and Anastasia each got their own room, while Aurora and Evangeline shared a bedroom, and the whole family shared one bathroom.
The final straw
The cramped environment and safety concerns already weighed on Rachael. So, when the management company decided to raise rent by 10% to around $2000, it was the last straw.
“I always felt like I was just getting by, barely by the skin of my teeth, every month,” Rachael recalls.
Determined to create a better future, Rachael applied for Habitat’s Hillsboro community in early 2024. Applications are processed by randomly assigned numbers, and by the time it was Rachael’s turn, the community was full.
But she didn’t give up. A few months later, she applied again — this time for King City Commons.
An unexpected fork in the road
While Rachael waited for a decision on her application, a friend made her an offer to rent a house close to her for a very affordable price. The catch? It was in Omaha, Nebraska.
Realizing she could work anywhere, Rachael visited Omaha and started picturing a new life there.
“I was pretty much one foot out the door,” she says.
Just weeks after visiting Omaha, and this close to moving,Rachael got the news.
She had been approved to buy a three-bedroom, two-bathroom, one-office home in King City Commons. Her family would stay in Oregon.
A Habitat homeowner's furniture decorates their living room. A red, lip shaped sequin pillow sits on a leopard print chair.
Rachael shows off her favorite colors throughout her home.
Building a forever home
Growing up, Rachael’s family rented houses until her parents bought a two-bedroom home when she was 13. One of four siblings, Rachael shared one bedroom with her brothers and sisters. After she left, other family members needed the room.
Now, she wants to give her daughters a permanent place to come home to, since she never got one.
Rachael always dreamed of homeownership but didn’t feel like it was possible for her.
“I thought it was going to be an impossible task, and it’s impossible for many people,” she says.
According to the City of Portland’s 2024 State of Housing report, the average household can only afford to buy in three neighborhoods — and for single mothers, that number drops to zero.
Setting up her future
Rachael, a Habitat homeowner, smiles, sitting in her living room.
Rachael is grateful to finally be in a position where she can start building a future with more financial security. Her Habitat mortgage allows her to not only become a homeowner, but to save money she used to spend on rent.
“Being able to be in a place that’s so much more affordable and knowing that no one can take this away from me,” she says, gives her the foundation to start building up her savings.
“I can start building that nest.”
She is grateful to have a home where she is in control. With no more surprise rent raises or intrusions, she can focus on her life on her own terms.
Finding support in their community
What feels so special, Rachael says, is not just stability. It’s finally finding a safe, welcoming community.
Rachael started forging connections with her current neighbors last year while King City was being built.
While she was nervous to meet her new community at first, once she loved started volunteering at the build site she realized her new neighbors were “the loveliest people.”
“It’s hard to imagine people all coming together and working together for the same thing as a team, you know? So that was nice.”
Now that she’s all moved in, Rachael is spending time with neighbors she befriended during her homebuying journey. Her daughters have made friends, too, and the whole family feels safer in their new community.
The girls wait at the bus stop with friends from King City in the mornings, and Anastasia can even wave to one of her new friends from her bedroom window.
Rachael is relieved to finally have her daughters in a community where she doesn’t feel the need to keep such a constant watchful eye on their every move.
Moving forward
Now, the family looks forward to celebrating the holidays in a welcoming neighborhood that they expect will be full of festivity and decorations.
Rachael is excited to dust off her light-up Santa Claus, an heirloom from her grandmother, now that she has a porch to decorate. The girls can’t wait to see houses covered in festive lights and decor.
They will all set off to Disneyland on Christmas Day for what they hope will become a new family tradition. When they return, Rachael feels relief knowing they will come back to a permanent home.
“These children of mine will always have a place to come home to, even if they want to go out on their own one day,” Rachael says. “To be able to say I have this place for them forever if they need it, that feels good.”
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