Donna has fulfilled a lifelong dream to purchase her own home. A survivor of traumatic brain injury, she signed closing papers in 2007 at a cooperative mobile home park. “I’d always dreamed of having a double sink in the kitchen next to a sunny window,” says Donna. “Can you believe it? My wish came true!”
Donna’s brain injury left her with severe memory loss, lack of peripheral vision and unsteady balance. Following a long, grueling rehabilitation, she rented an apartment for twelve years in an aging building. With great difficulty, she negotiated narrow stairs and slanting floors.
In 2006, One Sky and the NH Community Loan Fund began exploring the possibility that she might buy her own home. She was guided through issues of budgeting, grants, tax exemptions and a home maintenance account. Finally, the softening housing market brought prices down to a level Donna could afford. Her home is newly built, all on one floor, with its own garden plot. When she tripped on her front steps, One Sky made funds available to add an entry ramp.
Donna supports herself cleaning and doing light maintenance at area businesses. She gets rides to work with a job coach from Residential Resources, who also helps Donna shop and get to appointments. In her old neighborhood, Donna never got to know her neighbors, even after years of living there. When she came here, she met her neighbors right away. “They’re some of the nicest people I’ve ever met!” she exclaims. “We knock on each other’s doors to borrow ingredients for cooking… I’ve never been happier in my life!”
