Habitat's latest home welcomes a striving Durham mother and her son

DURHAM, N.C. (WTVD) -- Tonita Flowers choked up several times after entering her new Durham home on Saturday, one that she helped to build with help from volunteers. It's the latest build by Habitat for Humanity, and the answer to her prayers.

"Big hugs for many years," she said to a group of supporters and executives.

"Paying extreme amounts of money for light and water bills for leaky, rusty pipes. Holes in the floor of leaking ceilings, houses not being up to code and slumlords that bully you into paying market value for houses that aren't even habitable. And with the housing crisis and apartments not even being close to affordable, it was something that really set heavy on me being a single parent to a young man and working hard over the years just to live. And that was all I wanted was just a place for us to rest our heads and be safe, feel loved, and have friends and family over."

They have that now, thanks to a partnership between Habitat and Coastal Credit Union.

"Can't be more excited to see yet another family, have another place for them to sleep, where they can rest, where they don't have to have that stress." said Creighton Blackwell of Coastal Credit Union. "Where they don't have to wonder what's going to be about tomorrow. When you're talking about how they live in their house. This is the lifeblood as to how we live from a community standpoint. Affordable housing continues to be one of the number one issues that our communities are facing. Being able to live close to where you work. How does that affect daycare issues? Education. It affects all parts of your life. So to have these types of resources, to have opportunities like Habitat to come together, to now give you those types of resources that can help you get there."

"I'm able to be able to move, to offer hope that I know." Flowers said. "I can share it with people in our people who have nothing but love and care for the community, into a place where they can be happy and safe and feel love. So thank you all so much I'm so happy! Thank you!"

"That's what community is about. And that's helping to get through some of these major affordable housing problems that we're having throughout our area. There has to be a feeling of pride when we look at the fact that all of us can come together and help do this for this family. I can't help but think about that." Blackwell said.

"It's a struggle. And we're seeing this every day. Affordable housing continues to be one of the number one issues that our communities are facing. Being able to live close to where you work. How does that affect daycare issues? Education. It affects all parts of your life. So to have these types of resources, to have opportunities like a habitat to come together, to now give you those types of resources that can help you get there."